Why You Should Look for Organic Mascara

The last drop that made me shift to organic mascara was when I learned that there are still some companies that have the audacity to use a preservative in regular mascara that is derived from mercury. While I’ve been crazy trying to avoid fish, checking the baby thermometers are feeling smug watching documentaries about misguided ancient emperors, I was shocked to learn that thimerosal, a mercury derived preservative is used to keep some mascaras fresh and bacteria-free.

Now, let’s get it straight. Mercury in mascara is rare. In fact, I don’t even know what brands have it.

But it is still just a bit shocking that here we are in the 21st century knowing what we know about the damage this heavy metal can cause to the brain function and there is a preservative on the market that is derived from it.

Beauty industry is furious over the whole controversy. “We haven’t been using mercury in ages!” and “only two cake mascara brands have been implicated” is all you hear from them…

But had the beauty industry being more transparent and proactive in removing dangerous chemicals, this issue would never have implicated anybody. Instead, it’s the fact that this is the tip of the iceberg that bothers people. So you don’t have mercury? Fine… What do you have? What are the ingredients in your mascara? Do you have any proof that these ingredients are not linked to cancer or other health concerns?

If there is one thing that came out of this controversy, it is that people started paying closer attention to the ingredients on their makeup. And the what they read is not too pretty.

Here is a list of mascara ingredients from a very popular brand taken from the cosmeticsdatabase.com

Ingredients: Water, Beeswax, C18-36 Acid Triglyceride, Glyceryl Stearate, Copernicia Cerifera Wax (Carnauba), Stearic Acid, Alcohol Denat., Polyisobutene, Isododecane, VP/VA Copolymer, Glycerin, Silica, Ethyl Trisiloxane, C10-30 Cholesterol/Lanesterol Ester, Limnanthes Alba Seed Oil (Meadowfoam), Olea Europaea Fruit Oil (Olive), Prunus Amygdalus Dulcis Oil (Sweet Almond), Myristic Acid, Isostearic Acid, Xanthan Gum, Triethanolamine, Trisodium EDTA, Phenoxyethanol, Methylparaben, Propylparaben, Fragrance, May also contain: Iron Oxides, Black 2

Let’s see what we have here:

Methylparaben – allergies, toxicity, irritation (and this is in an eye product!)…
Propylparaben – developmental/reproductive toxicity…
Fragrance – don’t even get me started. Fragrance is a catch-all term for thousands of potential synthetic chemicals
Triethanolamine – cancer, allergies, toxicity
Do we really need to go on?

I don’t know… you can sort of read it for yourself. I can’t see how anybody would want that on their eyes…

Now compare that to organic mascara by SukiColor:

Ingredients: purified water, organic sunflower seed oil, sorbitol, cetearyl alcohol, beeswax, hydrogenated palm kernel glycerides, hydrogenated palm glycerides, organic rose hip seed oil, evening primrose oil, organic food-grade non-gmo lecithin, organic mixed tocopherols, pure rose wax, organic rose extract in food-grade ethyl alcohol, organic food-grade xanthan gum, sodium hydroxide, fragrance (made from only pure, steam-distilled essential oils) [may contain: mica, titanium dioxide, iron oxides]

I think the difference is loud and clear.

This is why I stick to organic.

And I urge you to do the same.