Finding the best mascara. What it should contain?
Do you know what your mascara contains? Some of the ingredients can be harmful for you and other can even nurture your eyelashes. It’s good to know what a natural mascara should contain and which ingredients should be avoided.
These days we are becoming more and more conscious of the possible dangers that can arouse from using the cosmetics that contain toxic chemicals. Many applications have been created that can help you check the ingredients by scanning the bar code or pasting the INCI name. However, it’s always good to rely on your own knowledge of the natural and toxic ingredients of cosmetics. So it’s high time to check what your mascara might contain.
Cosmetic pigments
Pigments seem to be the most important components of mascaras – they darken and define our eyelashes. The most commonly used one is carbon black, which is responsible for the intense black colour. Specific tones and reflections are created by a composition of such substances as iron or chromium oxides, ultramarine, powdered gold or aluminum, as well as mica-type pigments. Inorganic pigments can sensitize, so it’s better to choose the organic, mineral ones.
The nourishing ingredients
Recently the nourishing mascaras are becoming more popular. The main advantage is that while wearing them, they can nourish your lashes in the meantime! Such mascaras contain plant oils (argan, castor, sesame, linseed, eucalyptus), extracts (from wheat, germ, thyroid thyroid, silver linden), vitamins A, C, E and F, as well as keratin, silk, arginine, panthenol, and many more. It is impossible for a single mascara to contain all of the above ingredients but it is worth to look for the one containing as many as possible.
What else can be found in your mascara?
Mascaras are full of substances that give them the right properties, including consistency, viscosity, durability as well as water resistance. Here again, the organic mascaras are much better – instead of paraffin and mineral oils, they should contain nontoxic waxes: vegetable (eg carnauba) or beewax. Many mascaras contain also such substances as polymers, silicones and hardeners, for example cellulose, gum arabic – those are responsible for ink distribution, flexibility, thickening effect, extension and curling.
Unhealthy ingredients
Unfortunately, mascaras often contain ingredients that can harm our eyelashes, cause irritation and sensitization. It is no doubt that they should be excluded from the list of ingredients. Among them are parabens, nickel or mercury compounds, powdered aluminum, alcohols, as well as other types of synthetic and preservative substances. Great preserving properties have also natural substances so the harmful ingredients should be eliminated.
