http://www.care2.com/greenliving/green-girl-looks-behind-the-masc-ara.html
Green Girl Looks Behind the Masc(ara)
By Lily Berthold-Bond
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I don’t know about you, but when I started using makeup I didn’t know what on earth I was doing. I think I started in eighth grade and goodness gracious, was that a disaster. I call it my “goth phase” because, while I certainly did not have the goth attitude, my makeup reflected a different story. Yes, I was a black eye liner and mascara addict. I admit it. |
Five years later, I would like to believe that I have a better handle on my makeup. Unlike high school (my high school, at least) where it was social suicide not to wear tons of makeup every day, college is a place where you don’t necessarily need to look very put together all the time. This said, most days I do wear some makeup. My choice? Tinted moisturizer (my face gets very dry), chapstick, and mascara. It’s the perfect combo: In as little time as possible, I can look presentable.
Mascara, mascara, mascara. I do love you so. Who doesn’t? After all, from the instant we see Disney movies with those princesses and their long, dark, beautiful lashes we’re shown what the ideal eyelash should be. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not condoning stereotypes for women to fall into, but I certainly want my eyelashes to look like that. And there’s long lash mascara, no clump mascara, extra volume mascara, and dozens of other styles to give us just those Belle or Arielle lashes.
So, yes, I use mascara a lot. It’s my makeup item that I can’t live without. But is this a good thing? No, it most certainly is not. Mascara, in fact, might easily be your downfall. Mascara, you say? That tiny tube of black gunk?
Yes, that tiny tube of black gunk. Let’s take a closer look at said gunk. As I wrote this I thought to myself, “Hm, I wonder what’s in my mascara?” Now, my mother would not be happy at all if she knew that I was using a drug store mascara, but I am: Cover Girl LashBlast. Looking up the ingredients, the ones that stand out to me are: petroleum distillates, polyethylene, propylparaben, and phenoxyethanol. Perhaps the letter “p” denotes “carcinogenic.”
Between these four ingredients alone, you have the possibility of cancer, organ system toxicity, neurotoxicity, developmental and reproductive toxicity, endocrine disruption, and immunotoxicity.
The worst? Petroleum distillates. Banned by the European Union but still used in American cosmetics, these chemicals rank high in terms of hazard to your health and can be found in the majority of drug store brand mascaras (Maybelline, Cover Girl, Max Factor, L’Oreal, Mary Kay). Not my idea of healthy. Maybelline also uses ethylacrylate in at least one of their mascaras—on the Environmental Working Group Web site, this chemical is listed as having the highest hazard ranking possible.
target=”_blank”> It is linked with the same diseases listed above.
So what do you do? Do you give up on those gorgeous lashes? Well, I’m not giving up on them. But I am giving up on my Cover Girl. Instead I’m going to go for Aveda, which I’ve used in the past. Aveda mascara (or “mosscara”) is made from plant-based materials; its main ingredient is carnauba wax (a hard beeswax) (). Sounds a lot better to me. Also, it isn’t that much more than drug store mascara (only $12).
Note to self: Switch to non-everykindofdiseaseimaginable mosscara.
MORE ADVENTURES OF GREEN GIRL
The Adventures of Green Girl
Splat! Green Girl whacks air fresheners
Green Girl zaps flying fridges
Green Girl’s secret power? Tea
Green Girl: Neti pot conquers congestion
Green Girl Quashes Laptop Radiation
Green Girl Waxes The Tea Kettle Electric
Green Girl Fights Food Coloring
Green Girl Turns Her Nose to Perfume
Green Girl Pans Plastic water Bottles
Lily Berthold-Bond grew up in a chemical-free zone and has struggled her whole life to understand and accept this non-commercial lifestyle. Now a freshman at Tufts University, she has embraced her green life and hopes to share its possibilities with the rest of her generation.
More on Green Girl Adventures (37 articles available)More from Lily Berthold-Bond (37 articles available)
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28 comments
add your comment »Aveda was bought out by none other Este group! I love the Real Purity brand been using it for a couple of yrs now. You should replace it evey 3mths. realpurity.com get it direct.
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After doing some reading up on Aveda I've found that they're not so safe and natural. This makes me sad cause I do love their products and who doesn't love that Aveda smell?
Some companies that make paraben free mascaras:
Afterglow Cosmetics
Honeybee Gardens
Also these companies make some mascara's that are supposed to be safe:
Miessence
Ecco Bella
Pangea Organics Real Purity
Gabriel Cosmetics Zuzu Luxe
Suki Color
Hope this helps...
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I found a really good company that does not test on animals and has healthy mineral based make-up and skin care. See, www.shaklee.net/daydesigns/getclean/index
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If you want to find out what's in your beauty products and how safe they are, check out a site called "Skin Deep" (ewg.org). They've assigned overall safety ratings to thousands of products based on the safety of each individual ingredient against a number of criteria. It's been very helpful to me for choosing safe products.
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I saw it coming when she mentioned Aveda. BWC also has some bad ingredient so I threw it out. Hands down the best I've seen is Real Purity, 100% natural and gorgeous lashes! It's $11.99 on www.purebodysolutions.com and I think it's on the first website mentioned above for just a little more money:
http://www.naturalbeautysolutions.net/index.htm
Everyone I've recommended it to is in love with it!
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Check out this great webiste for makeup and other products without parabens or dyes:
http://www.naturalbeautysolutions.net/index.htm
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The website, www.cosmeticsdatabase.com mentioned previously is a very good place to start to see what is actually in your cosmetics. Unfortunately the cosmetics industry needs more global regulation as one third of all personal care products contain 1 or more ingredients classified as possible human carcinogens. The average adult uses 9 personal care products daily, exposing them to 126 chemicals every day. Over 80% of the more than 10,000 ingredients used in personal care products have not been evaluated for safety and only 9 of these have been banned or restricted. So what are you putting on your skin...............
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http://www.theorganicskincare.co.uk/ sell organic cosmetics and mascaras the ingredients are very natural of the mascaras, the site is UK but the products may be available on US web sites, and international shipping is available although the cost might be high Mascara: Aqua (water), Ricinus communis oil (castor oil), Kaolin (halloysite clay), Cetearyl wheatstraw glycosides (&) cetearyl alcohol (wheatstraw extract), Candelilla cera (candelilla wax), Cera Carnauba (carnauba wax), Jojoba esters, Mel (manuka honey), Cera alba (beeswax), Sclerotium gum, Citrus grandis seed extract (grapefruit seed extract), Lavandula angustifolia oil (lavender oil), Tocopherol (vitamin E), Bisabolol, Leptospermum scoparium oil (manuka oil);
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Beauty Without Cruelty Cosmetics on google
have a range of cosmetics and other beauty products that don't test on animals and have ingredients that are less toxic than most cosmetics. The mascara does not mention Petroleum distillates and they try to produce ethical cosmetics, I have bought their products and i recommend them to anyone.
C13-14 isoparaffin, alcohol, quaternium-18 hectorite,
pvp/ eicosenecopolymer, kaolin (natural clay), hydroxypropylcellulose (plant fiber), aqua (water), acrylates/octylacr ylamide copolymer, polyvinyl methyl ether, propylene glycol, panthenyl ethyl ether, tocopheryl acetate (vitamin E), propylparaben, imidazolidinyl urea, methyl paraben, phytantriol, talc, [+/- (may contain) ci 77007, ci 77289, ci 77491, ci 77492, ci 77499 (iron oxide), ci 77510, ci 77742, ci 77891, mica (crystallized minerals)].
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Beauty Without Cruelty http://www.beautywithoutcruelty.com/ingredients.php
have arnage of cosmetics and other beauty products that don't test on animals and have ingredients that are less toxic than most cosmetics. The mascara does not mention Petroleum distillates and they try to produce ethical cosmetics, I have bought their products and i recommend them to anyone.
C13-14 isoparaffin, alcohol, quaternium-18 hectorite, pvp/ eicosenecopolymer, kaolin (natural clay), hydroxypropylcellulose (plant fiber), aqua (water), acrylates/octylacr ylamide copolymer, polyvinyl methyl ether, propylene glycol, panthenyl ethyl ether, tocopheryl acetate (vitamin E), propylparaben, imidazolidinyl urea, methyl paraben, phytantriol, talc, [+/- (may contain) ci 77007, ci 77289, ci 77491, ci 77492, ci 77499 (iron oxide), ci 77510, ci 77742, ci 77891, mica (crystallized minerals)].
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