Mascara Mania

Overall, people are not aware of the persuading, and sometimes misleading language used by makeup companies. One of my biggest gripes in particular, is mascara advertising.

I have researched ingredients of different brands of mascara, they all have basically the same ingredients. Silicone, various types of wax and iron oxides for colour. So when Maybelline advertise their 'Colossal Volum' Express Mascara' it is no different to what you're paying for with Lancome's 'Hypnose' mascara.


The difference overall, would be the brush length, size of bristles and the spacing between the bristles. My advice to you, is to find a brush that suits you. What you should be looking for in a brush is one that separates the lash which would therefore coat each one to give a fuller look to your lashes, and by default fuller lashes tend to fool one into thinking they are longer.

There is no magical mascara that will add length to your lashes, it would be the same effect as a brush that adds length to your hair.

As I was researching mascara, I came across some worrying ingredients makeup companies use. Although there are restrictions on the amount used, mercury is not banned for use as a makeup ingredient. Again, the ingredient 'Dimethicone'- a type of silicone, the same used in some shampoos to coat and add shine to hair. I am wary about getting shampoo in my eyes, so why would I apply this ingredient so close to my eye via mascara?

As I was looking into this I came across this brilliant website; Cosmetics Database. It rates each makeup product on its health risks according to its ingredients. Worryingly though, designer brand makeup has made it hard to look up their ingredients. Those listed on the database are marked as 'old products' with formulations only from years ago. Perhaps, this is only to hide the fact that their make up contains the same formulation as drugstore brands, not because they use harmful ingredients.