When you head to the store to buy mascara or eyeliner you’re faced with safe and unsafe choices. The problem is, you can never guess by the packaging – toxic varieties come in the same kinds of containers and packages as safe ones. So how can you make the safest choice?
As I explained earlier this week (you can read about eyeliner here and mascara here), the Environmental Working Group has rated the safety of 527 eyeliners and 613 mascaras.
I haven’t issued any Reduce, Reuse & Recycle Challenges for five months – but they’re back! And this week’s Reduce, Reuse & Recycle Challenge, if you choose to accept it, is to learn more about your eyeliner and mascara.
Image courtesy of marin/FreeDigitalPhotos.net
1. First of all, gather all your cosmetics and find your eyeliners and tubes of mascara. Have any really old ones that you just haven’t thrown away yet? Find them.
2. The next step is to check their safety ranking on the Environmental Working Group’s Skin Deep Cosmetic Database. You can check for the safety of eyeliner here and the safety of mascara here. How do you like your results?
3. Don’t close the Cosmetics Database just yet – make a note of all the different kinds of safe varieties you’d be interested in trying. I’ve found that when using the database, it’s helpful for me to make a fairly long list of acceptable products. Typically it’s difficult to find all of the safe varieties at my local stores, so I’ve learned to not be incredibly choosy.
4. Now … it’s time to throw away your dangerous products. Go ahead and recycle them at the nearest Origins retails store or makeup counter.
5. While you’re at it, throw away mascara and eyeliner that you’ve had for a while. According to Good Housekeeping, pitch all tubes of mascara that have been open for more than three months. For eyeliners, toss liquid varieties that have been open for more than three months – and get rid of pencil varieties that have been open for two years.
Bacteria thrive in the dark, wet environments of mascara and liquid eyeliner tubes. Once you open the product and use it just once, you’ve introduced bacteria – and that bacteria can harm your eyes. Plus, certain ingredients will start to degrade once a product is exposed to any air.
If you love liquid liner and mascara, get into the habit of using new (safe!) products at the beginning of each season.
Talk back
What did you discover as you checked the safety ratings of your mascara and eyeliner? If you needed to make a change, what did you decide to try? Please let me know by commenting below. Or, share your experience on Facebook.
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So I looked up the two types of mascara in my makeup bag; Almay One Coat Thickening waterproof mascara in black/brown had a score of 5, and Neutrogena Healthy Volume mascara in black/brown had a score of 6. I know that commercial mascaras aren’t all that great, but I thought that Almay would do better. I don’t use these products very often as I consolidate my errands into one day a week, but I do like to wear mascara in public–usually the only makeup I wear. I’ve got sensitive skin and I’m allergic to (feels like) everything airborne. I have noticed that more and more often lately my eyelashes hurt when I wear mascara. The edges of my eyelids get sore, and sometimes itchy. I’ve been collecting the ingredients to make my own mascara (and just misplaced my activated charcoal) but haven’t bought the mascara tubes as it’s not a priority purchase. Because of the bacteria issues, I don’t think cleaning out my current tubes is a good solution. Low funds/low priority=no clean tubes=no homemade mascara=still using the stuff that I react to. Makes sense, doesn’t it?! I’m more motivated to get rolling on this project now, thanks to you!