Makeup ingredients are different from food ingredients, and we’re not always great about reviewing the ingredients before making a beauty purchase. However, with some icky rumors out there it’s important to pay attention to what goes on your face, just as you pay attention to what goes in your body.
The good news is that mascara is not made of bat poop. The bad news is that some mascaras can still contain some gross products, so it’s important to learn the good and bad ingredients in your favorite eye makeup.
The Overview
Mascara is made of a combination of oils, waxes, and preservatives to create a brand’s unique combination of ingredients. Oils and waxes are used for consistency and color, while preservatives eliminate the dreaded clumping or separation.
Mascara relies on a few major ingredients in its product:
- A pigment to darken lashes
- A film to coat lashes
- A thickening agent to thicken lashes
Different brands and formulas have some variation to this formula, as they want to focus or highlight certain features. For example, volumizing mascaras and lengthening mascaras might be slightly different from each other. However, these are the key ingredients in each mascara.
Should I Skip Mascara?
Simply put, a makeup routine is incomplete without a layer of mascara. Now that we’ve determined there is no bat poop in mascara, you should feel comfortable including this in your beauty routine.
Mascara will make your natural eyelashes look darker, fuller, and longer. This will make your eyes look bigger and pop. Some people opt for a simple makeup look and only wear a handful of products, including mascara.
Any additional eye makeup you choose to wear, such as eyeliner or eyeshadow, will look more vivid with mascara. There are many options for safe mascaras out there and you don’t need to worry about too many chemicals in your product. Don’t skip this step in your beauty routine!
The Good
With any kind of makeup, you want to make sure you’re paying attention to the ingredients in the mascara you select. If you find a mascara with the right ingredients, it can make your lashes look healthy in addition to being a fun makeup tool.
Biotin
You might have heard of this ingredient in hair serums and it’s just as important in mascaras. Biotin is known to nourish your lashes and support growth.
Kaja Beauty’s Wink Lash Trio uses biotin in addition to avocado peptide to help condition and enrich lashes. This mascara will help boost the look of your lashes with each application.
Panthenol
Panthenol seals the surface of lashes protecting and supporting each lash. Keeping your lashes healthy and conditioned will make mascara application easier for you in the future.
Natural Products
As more and more companies make the shift to natural and clean products, more and more mascaras contain ingredients that you also might find in your kitchen. These include sunflower oil to coat lashes, cocoa powder for color, and beeswax for binding.
The Bad
Unfortunately, government regulations are not as strict for beauty products as they are for other household items. Because of this, there might be ingredients in your favorite makeup that could cause harm to you. It’s important to educate yourself on dangerous ingredients and eliminate these products from your routine.
Carbon Black
Carbon black can be used to give mascara its dark color, however, it also comes from coal tar—ick! That’s definitely not something you want to put on your face!
In addition to coal and tar being gross ingredients, carbon black could also lead to cancer and organ toxicity. You definitely want to steer clear of this!
Butylated Hydroxytoluene (BHT)
This ingredient, used as a preservative in mascara, is in the top three common causes of a common skin rash. Check the ingredient list and avoid this to make sure your skin stays healthy.
When you find a mascara you like, do a click glance at the ingredient list and make sure neither of these fall on the list. Kaja Beauty’s Wink Lash Trio is one mascara without these products so you can feel great and safe about your makeup!
Animal Products
Being a vegan is a personal choice that one does not always realize extends to their beauty products. To make a commitment to an animal-product-free lifestyle, be sure to check if your favorite mascara is vegan. If you want to ensure your mascara is vegan, look out for the following ingredients.
Beeswax
Although a natural ingredient and free from harmful chemicals, beeswax would not meet the criteria for a vegan mascara. Beeswax is used as a binding agent to ensure mascara covers lashes, as well as making sure the consistency remains intact. Steer clear of beeswax mascara if you want to use vegan beauty products.
Guanine (Pearl Essence)
Guanine, or pearl essence, comes from fish scales and is used to give a shine to mascara and other beauty products. This ingredient is often confused for bat poop, and although it is much less gross than bat poop in mascara, it still creates a product that is not vegan.
Wrapping It Up
You might be overwhelmed with lots of chemical names running through your mind, but no need to freak out. Remember—mascara is not made of bat poop or any other disgusting ingredients!
It’s easy to find a mascara that excludes harmful chemicals and includes ingredients that will help your lashes. Do your research and look at the ingredient list to include such items as biotin and panthenol, and avoid carbon black and BHT. Keep an eye out for vegan products if that’s important to you.
With this information from Kaja, you can feel great about your safe mascara choice! You can look like a million bucks while knowing your eyelashes are safe from harm!
Sources: