Dissecting Mascara-Maybe I Shouldn't



Photo by Laura Tourette

 

     Talking about makeup started making me think a bit more on each individual item.  Mascara  seems to be the most difficult to find if your looking for something organic or even just a bit better with less chemicals.  Looking at the ingredients can be like reading greek, unless your greek.   
   I noticed not all the brands list ingredients on their website, and who wants to stand in a drugstore trying to read the fine print of ingredients?  Even if you can read the ingredients, would you even know what they were?  Off to the internet to try to find a perfect mascara, or at least something that I can feel better about putting onto my eyelashes.
  
      The first thing I did was google ingredients of mascara.  It didn't go well since I got so many odd things such as whether there is bat guano in mascara.  What I had to do is find individual mascaras by name, find out the ingredients, and then figure out what each ingredient is, and whether it was good or not so good. 
The first mascara I found that was "classified" as safe wasn't even on the market anymore, since, well, it probably wasn't safe.  I think finding a waterproof mascara that's remotely safe is not going to work.  I did find a few that were smudge resistant that were considered a bit safer.   


Photo by ookikioo

      I then picked a name brand mascara, Mabelline Great Lash Waterproof Mascara.  I searched on Mabelline's website with no success at finding ingredients.  I then went to the Skin Deep website and found that it was a moderate hazard.  I really want to find one that is low or no hazard that works decently. 
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     I also know there are not stringent laws in place.  I'll have to say, that's another topic since just the little bit I dabbled into that area had a huge overdose of information.    Yes, of course there are laws and regulation put out by the FDA on cosmetic safety.  But the FDA approves a lot of things that have not been properly tested.  Plus, it can take years before a particular chemical and a lot of injury and illness before any action is taken. Check this site out organicconsumers and it explains the regulations, and it seems a bit scary sketchy to me on whether we can trust what's truly on a container of makeup.  Then there are different certifications, USDA, then there are the European and Australian certifications too.  Some people feel that the European standards are
With that said, I prefer to make my own decisions on what I put on my skin and not rely on our government to decide.  In the long run, it is our own selves who will have to deal with this.

     I then wondered if in fact there is such as thing as USDA Organic mascara?  While searching that out I came across Fig & Sage: Full Disclosure    which will show you that companies do get away with putting organic on their product when in fact it isn't true.  I did find that very same mascara being sold for $27.50, still saying it is certified organic.  I saw the ingredients, which while not too bad, given the price tag, and the fact that it is questionable whether they are certified I would not buy that product.  I feel there should not be any question of full disclosure of ingredients.
 
      I again went to skin deep and simply typed, mascara.  The very first one was called Coastal Classic Creations Mascara.  If you go to skin deep HERE you will see it seems like a fairly safe mascara, plus the ingredient list is much smaller with a lot of recognizable ingredients.  It all sounds fine to me, except, then go to the website HERE and you'll see a fairly large price tag.
   Well, that doesn't work for me.  I actually did buy an expensive mascara from another company, and you know what?  I didn't like it too much.  So, it now becomes a matter of moving through the list and checking the prices and ingredients of each one.  Another great way to find out about mascara is word of mouth.
   I then went on to the next mascara that markets themselves as a healthy alternative.  I saw an ingredient that I didn't recognize and looked up that particular ingredient HERE.  Scroll down to the safety of this particular ingredient.  Sounds a bit iffy to me.  There were a few other ingredients to check out, but overall it has a good rating, and the price at least right now is good.  By going down the list of mascaras on Skin Deep, you can find many to check out for yourself.  Only you can decide if this is going to be okay for you.
  
     Just because something is marketed as natural or organic and has wonderful ingredients doesn't mean it will be the right product for you.  You could have allergies to even a natural or organic ingredient. 
 
     For anyone who actually has an urge to make their own there are a few recipes online.  I did not like any that use eye shadow and vaseline.  That sounds unhealthy, and seems to counteract any benefits of making your own.  I did see one for using a capsule of activated charcoal and aloe vera juice and blended together.  I'm sure that one is fine, but can't imagine that it would stay on for any amount of time..

   After all my research to find the perfect mascara, I still failed in my attempts to find what I felt was healthy, worked well, and was below $20 dollars.   I did finally find one that looks promising, and after looking at many reviews I think I'd like to try that one.  I've put the link below, it's from a website called 100 percent pure.  It didn't claim to be organic, but there is organic tea in this product.  It looks almost safe enough to be non-toxic. 

      That will have to wait until I run out of what I'm currently using.  That's the Physicians Formula Organic Wear 100% Natural Origin Mascara.  While it isn't perfect, I'm able to buy it just about anywhere that sells makeup.  I always get coupons, and I've found where you get two for the price of one which makes this mascara a reasonable price. If you look at the list of ingredients you will see the difference in that from the pure fruit, but you'll also see that it's much better than other major brands.  This company also discloses the ingredients on their website which gave them one more plus in my opinion. 

Bottom Line:  Don't go by the advertising, the label, or the certification without checking it out.  With personal care items so unregulated it's best to stick with companies that have a reputation to protect, or that you know, or trust or all of those.  Otherwise, run out and buy some activated charcoal....

I know some of this information was discussed in my post about makeup, but I decided to go a bit further in my research so I could possibly find more options.

  

Links:
Organic Mascara-Love To Know

Green Your-How To Buy Natural Mascara

Organic Consumers

100percentpure  (fruit pigmented mascara) $18

physiciansformula


Photos by

Laura Tourette

ookikioo