WASHINGTON, D.C. ? If you think beauty can’t go more than skin deep, swallow this: Health officials on Thursday said drug companies could start gussying up their pills with pigments like those that give cosmetics a pearly sheen.

The pearlescent pigments can be used in any drugs that are swallowed, including pills, tablets and liquids, the Food and Drug Administration said. As a result, drugs may never look the same again.

The pigments can produce sparkly metallic, satiny and shimmery finishes, as well as different hues of red and gold, depending partly on the color of the underlying drug.

The FDA’s publication of a final rule approving their use came eight years after EMD Chemicals Inc. of Gibbstown, N.J., first petitioned the agency.