Bat your lashes

By Good Magazine

June 2, 2017

the best natural mascaras—and could lash treatments be more trouble than they’re worth?

Even women who don’t usually wear
makeup will put on a little mascara for
a special occasion—and many of us
wouldn’t step out the door without it. Lash
treatments save time and fuss, but could
they be more trouble than they’re worth?

I have managed to eliminate most of the chemical nasties
from my health and body regime—all except for my eyelash
tint. Do you know of any product that could be used? —Sarah

There’s no two ways about it: dying your eyelashes is a
risky business. Hardly known for its safety-consciousness
on cosmetics, the US Food & Drug Administration prohibits
only nine of the 10,000-plus ingredients used in personal care
products—and among them are the colour additives used for
tinting eyelashes and eyebrows.

Like hair dye, brow and lash tints blend hydrogen peroxide
and ammonia (or similar ingredients) to create a chemical
reaction that changes your hair colour (see good.net.nz/
ammonia). An allergic reaction to any part of the dye could
cause your eyelid to swell or blister, increase the chances of
infection or even risk blindness.

Dying your brows is probably safer than dying your lashes,
but neither is recommended and dying them yourself is the most
dangerous option of all. The more often you tint your lashes, and
the more dyes you try, the greater the risk of allergic reaction.
A compromise might be to tint your lashes only when mascara
isn’t an option—before a beach holiday, say—and stick to one
trusted beauty therapist and a single brand of dye.

You might be tempted to try eyelash extensions, where
synthetic lashes are glued individually onto your real ones,
but it’s an expensive and time-consuming process that needs
repeating every few weeks, and the weight of the extensions
can make your real lashes fall out.

Then there’s eyelash growth stimulators: prescribed drugs
that are newly popular in the US, where Brooke Shields fronts
a campaign for leading brand Latisse (a glaucoma treatment
now being sold for its eyelash-thickening side-effect). If that’s
not warning enough, the drugs are expensive, results last only
as long as you keep using them, and they can permanently turn
light-coloured irises brown. Yikes!

The safest option is to stick with the tried and tested: an
old-fashioned lash curler and a lick of mascara.

Natural mascaras won’t give you
special effects like waterproofing
or curling (you need plastic
polymers for that), but they’re a
safe everyday option—and you
won’t need a special eye makeup
remover to get them off.


Aveda Mosscara (Earth)
Captures
all the little lashes and adds good
thickness. $51 for 8g,
www.bodyscape.co.nz


Miessence Mascara (Pure Black)

Subtle and clump-free. Several
coats needed for strong definition.
$30 for 7g, www.earthyorganics.
miessence.com


Living Nature Thickening Mascara
(Jet Black)
One stroke gives
length, two needed for thickness.
$38 for 8ml, www.livingnature.com


Jane Iredale Longest Lash
(Black Ice)
Impressive coverage
and soft, clump-free thickness with
one stroke. Six colours available.
$68 for 12g, www.janeiredale.co.nz


Dr Hauschka Volume Mascara
(Black)
Good thickening effect,
with a soft feel. Comes in three
shades. $49 for 10ml,
www.drhauschka.co.nz

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