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If I were stranded on a deserted island and could only bring one makeup item with me, it would be mascara. Mascara makes your eyelashes look longer, thicker, darker, and more voluminous, creating a bright-eyed, glamorous look. It’s truly a can’t-live-without makeup item. However, despite all the great things mascara does to transform your eyes, there is one ingredient in most mascara formulas that may or may not change how you feel about piling the product onto your lashes.
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Mascara and other eye makeup may contain aluminum powder, a highly flammable metallic substance. According to Fox News Health, aluminum powder, often listed as “aluminum, LB Pigment 5 or pigment metal” in cosmetics, is a neurotoxin and “has been linked to organ system toxicity.” Yikes!
Aluminum powder is “rated as a high concern by the Environmental Working Group’s (EWG’s) Skin Deep Cosmetics Database for being a neurotoxin,” Art of Organics, a beauty brand and blog committed to “clean beauty,” reports. “Long term exposure of aluminum powder can impair the body’s ability to excrete mercury. This can result in making any amount of mercury that is in the body even more toxic.”
Medical Daily reports that aluminum powder may be even more harmful than mercury, another toxic, metallic substance. “[Aluminum powder] is considered to be far worse than mercury because it has been linked to interfere with a variety of cellular and metabolic processes in the nervous system and other tissues, says a study published in the Journal of Pediatrics.” Sounds like something you want far, far away from your eyes.
The good news is that there are plenty of natural, organic-based mascaras on the beauty market that contain no harmful chemicals.
Physicians Formula Organic Wear 100% Natural Origin Mascara ($9.84)
We love this clinically-tested, 100% natural origin formula mascara that’s free of harsh chemicals, synthetic preservatives, parabens, fibers, and dyes.
And, as always, be sure to read the labels of beauty products before you purchase and use them!
