Gimme the Good Stuff

Mascara is kind of magical, especially if you’re like me and are hashtag-blessed with stubby, pale, stick-straight eyelashes. I don’t often wear makeup, but with just a couple of swoops of a mascara wand, I look and feel refreshed and more put together. I guess I’m not alone, because many readers and clients have asked me to recommend the best non-toxic mascara. We are finally done with our research for this new Safe Product Guide, and thank you all so much for your suggestions–you guys put a bunch of brands on my radar that turned out to be Good Stuff. 🙂

I finally am able to recommend several mascaras that I consider to be Good Stuff or Okay Stuff. Because we’re talking mascara—and not some product that you smear all over your skin or put in your mouth—I think that using Okay Stuff truly is okay in this case. You’ll even find one Good Stuff pick that you can buy at the drugstore!

And, as always, I have lists of Sneaky Stuff and Bad Stuff, including some of your beloved favorites (sorry!).

Note: Products like mascara are constantly being re-formulated. The information in this post is based on the most current ingredient lists we could find as of October 2016.

My Top Pick for Best Non-Toxic Mascara

Beautycounter Lengthening Mascara is the only mascara I use, not only because of how it performs, but also because I love that Beautycounter tests it for purity after production to ensure it’s not contaminated with anything sketchy.

Buy Now from Beautycounter

What is Mascara Made of?

Mascara ingredients range from familiar and harmless things, like water, to head-scratching ones like fragrance/parfum, which I was surprised to find in most mascara formulas.

Honestly, cosmetics are my least favorite things to research. They often have super long lists of ingredients, many of which are synthetic, impossible to pronounce, and problematic. Cosmetics can contain ingredients– including natural ones– that have little or no safety data to back them up. And some ingredients that are known to be toxic are permitted for use under certain “restrictions.”

I’m no cosmetic chemist, but my basic understanding of mascara formulas is that they usually include the following:

• Solvents or diluents are the unifying base for the formula (water, isododecane, alcohols, glycerin, propylene glycol, etc.).
• Pigments provide color (iron oxides, ultramarines, titanium dioxide, mica, etc.).
• Waxes, gums, polymers, fibers and starches stabilize and thicken the formula; some form a film on the lashes and provide “volumizing” benefits; fibers “lengthen” lashes.
• Fats like oils and butters provide moisturizing benefits; other ingredients with humectant/emollient/“skin-conditioning” properties include glycerin, silicone and some plant extracts.
• Some waxes, fatty acids, and surfactants act as emulsifiers to mix water and water-soluble ingredients with non-water soluble ingredients.
• Preservatives and pH adjusters prevent (or at least limit) the growth of microbes.
• Fragrance ingredients mask the unsavory smell that many mascara formulas would otherwise have, and in some cases, give mascara a signature scent.

Why You Shouldn’t Freak Out About Mascara

Relatively speaking, mascara is a lower-concern product– you use small amounts of it, it’s not applied directly to your skin, and it tends to stay in place. (And if you’re like me, you don’t even use it every day any more!).

Unless you eat your mascara, have a habit of rubbing it into your eyes, and/or sleep with it on, don’t worry if you’ve been using the Bad Stuff for more years than you wish to count.

If you want to upgrade to a safer mascara, there is plenty of Good Stuff and Okay Stuff you that will give your lashes a boost without exposing you to a bunch of toxic ingredients.

Mascara Ingredients to Avoid

Although mascara is of relatively low concern, I don’t consider it to be zero-concern. Some of us do use mascara daily, and it can flake off and migrate into your eyes and onto the skin under your eyes, where ingredients can potentially be absorbed into the body. And a lot of conventional mascara has concerning ingredients, such as:

• Retinyl acetate (aka vitamin A acetate) is a synthetic form of vitamin A that is used as a moisturizing ingredient (or “skin conditioner”) in some mascaras. EWG gives it a whopping 9 on their hazard scale. The FDA classifies retinyl acetate as a “known reproductive toxicant”; it’s also a possible carcinogen.
• Parabens are a family of preservatives that are found everywhere, although many companies are now making paraben-free products. Parabens mimic estrogen and are implicated in breast cancer. No causal relationship has been proven, but because we’re exposed to parabens from many products, I recommend avoiding them wherever you can—including in mascara.
• Diazolidinyl urea is a formaldehyde-releasing preservative with an EWG score of 6. In addition to the fact that formaldehyde is a known carcinogen, exposure to formadehyde-releasers can cause people to develop allergies to those ingredients and formaldehyde in general. Another formaldehyde releaser to watch out for in mascara is imidazolidinyl urea.
• Propylene glycol is a skin conditioner known to be allergenic and potentially toxic to non-reproductive organs. As a penetration-enhancer, it can make the skin vulnerable to other harmful ingredients.
• Triethanolamine is used in some mascaras as a pH adjuster and emulsifier. It’s considered a skin toxicant or allergen, may be harmful to non-reproductive organs, and can be contaminated with nitrosamines.
• Be suspicious when you see fragrance or “parfum” listed on a any label, including mascara. Many nasty chemicals can hide under that umbrella, including phthalates, which are hormone disrupters and possible carcinogens.
• Geraniol, limonene, linalool, citrol and citronellol are potentially irritating and allergenic components that have synthetic as well as natural versions (the latter being a naturally-occurring component of some essential oils). Honest companies disclose them on their ingredient labels. In mascara, they are scent ingredients, and some, like d-limonene, also have preservative qualities. If you’re particularly sensitive, try to avoid mascaras that contain them, and note that carcinogenic properties seem to happen only when these compounds go rancid, so adhere to the expiration dates on your mascara.
• Pigments (colorants) can be contaminated with toxic substances, including heavy metals. Look for companies that disclose the specific “color index number” (CI number) of the colorants they use (such as “CI 77499,” an iron oxide), and skip aluminum powder, a neurotoxin.

Preservatives in Mascara

You’ll notice that many of the ingredients I’m concerned about in mascara are preservatives. Preservatives are necessary to keep mascara from becoming a host for bacteria and other microbes, but they’re also problematic.

Both natural and synthetic preservatives can be irritating to various degrees. Given that we use mascara around our eyes, which are sensitive organs, I worry about preservatives in mascaras. Even natural preservative ingredients that are considered to be safe can be contaminated with toxic parabens.

Non-Toxic Mascara Ingredients

There are a lot of companies using safe (or safer) ingredients to make mascaras, including many that get high marks for performance, like their more toxic counterparts.

Mascaras didn’t have to be “natural” in order to make our list of Good Stuff or Okay Stuff. In fact, many of those products contain lots of synthetic ingredients. You may have heard that not all natural ingredients are safe. It’s also true that synthetic ingredients aren’t necessarily unsafe (although in general, I am biased against too many synthetics, especially in products for babies and kids).

Here are some of the ingredients you’ll find in the Good Stuff:

• When it comes to mascara, I think that “food-grade preservatives” like sodium benzoate and potassium sorbate are an okay choice. They’re definitely lesser evils than parabens and might be better than some naturally derived preservatives that are newer and haven’t been extensively studied for safety. Note: You’ll also see phenoxyethanol in some of the Good and Okay Stuff. I’m not nuts about it—it’s potentially irritating preservative, with an EWG score of 4—but it’s better than spoiled or contaminated mascara. Skip phenoxyethanol-containing mascaras if you’re sensitive.
• Good mascaras include natural and organic waxes, such as beeswax, candelilla wax, and carnauba wax.
• Good mascaras also contain natural and organic oils and butters, such as jojoba oil, sunflower oil, cocoa butter, and shea butter.
• I like to see starch, oil, wax and gum derived from organic rice, which doesn’t carry the same pesticide-contamination concerns as conventionally farmed rice.

What About Eyelash Extensions?

I’m working on a separate post about eyelash extensions, since I looooove them. (I mean, look at these stunners on the left!) Anyway, I always assumed that skipping mascara was one of the benefits of wearing eyelash extensions, but I’ve since learned that some people with extensions use mascara, too.

Based on my research, if you’re wearing extensions, you should choose mascara that washes off easily–not a waterproof formula—so you can remove it without damaging your extensions or natural lashes. There are lots of non-waterproof mascaras on the Good Stuff and Okay Stuff lists.

You should also protect your extensions and natural lashes by only applying mascara to the outer part of your lashes.

Be Kind to Your lashes

One of the best things you can do to enhance your lashes is to be gentle with them.

Here’s how:

• Choose water-based, non-t0xic mascara for everyday use; they are gentler on your lashes because they’re easier to wash off than waterproof formulas.
• Don’t sleep in your mascara! Remove mascara gently at the end of the day—minimize rubbing, and don’t tug. My favorite way to do this is with this incredible makeup remover that doubles as a treatment oil.
• Condition your lashes overnight with a tiny bit of oil (like olive or coconut) brushed gently onto the outer part of your lashes. Wash off in the morning to avoid build-up and irritation. (I’m too tired at the end of the day to implement this, but it’s a goal for the future!).

The Good Stuff

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The Okay Stuff

The Bad Stuff

The Sneaky Stuff

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