I never expected that finding mascara that did not contain parabens, fragrance, or harmful preservatives would be such a challenge. Parabens have shown to cause endocrine disruption. Endocrine disruptors are chemicals that when absorbed into the body either mimics or blocks hormones and disrupts the body’s normal functions. This disruption can happen through altering normal hormone levels, halting or stimulating the production of hormones, or changing the way hormones travel through the body, thus affecting the functions that these hormones control. Fragrance which also goes by the name triethanolamine has been shown to cause allergies and disrupt the immune system. There are also many other chemicals, preservatives and other ingredients added to mascara that has very little research on the effects it may have on the body.
There are several companies that manufacture “clean” mascaras, but most of them have a lot of negative reviews as to the quality of the product, i.e. flaking, smudging, and clumping. I guess that is the downside to manufacturing”clean” mascara. I decided to not waste my time with the companies that received bad reviews and test out the two companies that had the best reviews.
Honey Bee Gardens
Is a pretty “clean” product it does contain a preservative which is rated a 4 out 10 on the Environmental Working Group’s skin deep website, www.cosmeticdatabase.org. It does flake, but only after about 4 hours of wear. This mascara did not clump or smudge. Honey Bee Gardens is available for purchase through www.honeybeegardens.com and www.vitacost.com.
Real Purity
This mascara is one of the “cleanest” mascaras available. It only contains 5 ingredients and is rated a 2 out of 10 on the skin deep website. I love the way it does not flake, clump or smudge. It wears well for over 10 hours. Real Purity is available for purchase through www.realpurity.com .
