Mascara - A crime in a little tube and one girl’s journey to find a chemical-free version.
*queue “The Sounds of Silence” *
My dear friend,
I’m sorry to say goodbye to you,
When I realized how crude,
Your ingredients list was.
ahhhhhhh
In the trash you gooooooooo….
Today I would like to say a few words. Benefit mascara was a dear friend. This little tube took me to many places; parties, weddings, and even tackled plots to take over the world. But now…. *wipes eyes*…. We must say goodbye to this great and wonderful partner.
And those crocodile tears were really wiping out that last swipe of mascara. I made that tube last. If there was a way, I found and used it to make every darn drop come out. I didn’t want it to end but, eventually, good things do end and I was left with nothing to volumize or lengthen my lashes.
Armed with my phone, advice from the sister-in-law, and a budget I pledged to correct a wrong. It was time to find a chemical-free version.
A few clicks, some interesting descriptions, and random guesses later, I came down to two brands; Zuzu Luxe and 100% Pure.
Zulu Luxe
$17.60
Think Dirty Rating: 3 (Contains Titanium Dioxide)
Overall Thoughts: Would never wear again
Let’s start with the fact that I was won over by the price tag; that and they used the word lengthening in the description, my biggest want in mascara. Sold. On top of that, the brand is local to Seattle, owned by larger company Gabriel which has been in production for decades, and what???? Insta-gratification. You can buy it at Whole Foods. Here…. Take my money.
Should have known the price tag came at a cost. The cost of the worse tube I’ve purchased since my pre-teen years. The goop got everywhere. And I’ll call it that because it smells horrible. Really makes me want to second guess that natural thing.
I understand that we’re going natural here but that doesn’t mean you should give it the worst wand on the face of the planet. I ended up applying the stuff to my old benefit wand to get something to happen. Clump after horrible messy clump. I ended up looking like a five-year-old that got into the makeup bag and decided to play dress up.
100% Pure
$26.00
Think Dirty Rating: 3 (Contains Origanum Vulgare Oregano Leaf)
Overall Thoughts: Takes time to get used to but now I’m hooked
Good news, there is hope out there. This little brand has started to grow along the West Coast and I’m so happy because *little dance* there’s a store the Seattle area. I really didn’t want to pay for shipping on one product, especially if I ended up hating it. I wasn’t too confident after my first natural attempt. Maybe it would have been better if I had tried some other product like blush?
First stop in the store and I was so happy. Sadly for my husband, we ended up walking out with more than just the mascara. I’ll note that not all items fall into the zero range as shown above. Their nail polishes are ranked pretty high on the toxicity scale. In terms of this mascara, they do have zero ranked versions, I want to say that the ranking is more due to allergic concerns than toxicity.
Ok back to my thoughts.
I’m going to stick with this brand for a while. The wand is amazing, producing lashes just like Benefit. Downsides though, the stuff does tend to get everywhere during application, doesn’t last for all-day wear (needs to be reapplied after a few hours) and getting those nice lashes takes work. We’re talking multiple coats with curling in between.
Overall, I have hope. There are brands out there that could give me the results I want. Sad part is, the quality comes with a price, something that we should all know when buying makeup. Let’s see how 100% Pure’s other products go. I don’t know. I might get brave and try out a few other brands.
Love Kait
