Dipping into the world of natural makeup can be overwhelming. More and more natural brands hit the market each year and the benefits vary.
Whether you seek organic, cruelty-free, vegan, gluten free, sulfate-free, all of the above, or if you simply want to start using natural makeup for your health, you’ve got options.
My personal journey of switching to natural makeup
My personal journey of switching to natural makeup products began within the last year. Colleen had already moved to only natural nontoxic makeup products, and so I knew some basics about why people switch, such as avoiding ingredients that aren’t so good for your body.
What really pushed me to begin the switch was a recommendation from my eye doctor, Dr. Golie Roshandel-Keovan of Ashland Eye Care. While at my exam for a contact lens fitting, Dr. Golie asked what brand of eye makeup I use.
For liner, I had been extremely loyal to gel liner for at least 10 years and used both MAC and Bobbi Brown liners because of their long lasting effects. I take my love for the look to an extreme, rarely leaving my house without a strong swipe of liner.
After hearing my eye makeup brands of choice, Dr. Golie strongly encouraged me to switch to a natural brand of eye makeup for my eye health. She said those particular brands are some of the worst offenders for harmful ingredients.
Fast forward to an activity that has become a fun part of my beauty journey: Trying new beauty products that are healthy and finding some that even have fun, unexpected perks, such as the following product I’d like to share with you.
The best smelling mascara I’ve ever used
One brand of natural mascara that I recently tried is 100% Pure. They carry products in my local Walgreens at six corners in the Wicker Park neighborhood of Chicago. 100% PURE claims to be “natural, 100% cruelty-free, 100% free of artificial colors, artificial fragrances, synthetic chemical preservatives and all other toxins."
One advantage of shopping at the six corners Walgreens in Chicago is their setup for testing products, similar to a Sephora, where tester products are on display along with applicators and cotton. Not that I encourage sharing beauty products with the public. In fact, at Journey to Good we strongly discourage it because of the risks of eye infection or bacteria transfer. However, there is still value to tester products, such as the opportunity to experience opening the product, seeing it, and smelling it.
Speaking of smelling it, and the genesis of this blog post, I wanted to share with you that 100% PURE mascara is by far the best smelling mascara I have ever encountered.
They color their mascaras with an incredible list of natural pigments, so you end up with a mascara that smells like berries!
Below are my ratings for 100% Pure’s Maracuja Mascara, Black Tea.
Ratings are 1-5 with 5 being best:
- Outer Packaging: 5 / 5 (it comes in an adorable pastel paper tube decorated with illustrations of the ingredients)
- Wand: 3 / 5 (fairly standard, a bit larger than others on the market)
- Product Consistency: 3 / 5 (a thick consistency)
- Scent: 5 / 5 (the best smelling mascara I have ever encountered)
- Long Wear: 3 / 5 (traditionally it’s difficult to find natural products that are long wear)
- Feel-Good Factor: 5 / 5 (see ingredients below)
To understand why I gave 100% Pure’s Maracuja Mascara, Black Tea a feel-good factor of 5/5, all you need to do is see the ingredient list. The main ingredients include:
- Organic Green Tea
- Vitamin E
- Honey Beeswax
Then for the pigments (and scents) their mascaras will contain all or some of the following: Blackberry, Blueberry, Black Tea, Grape Skin, Pomegranate, Acai Berry, Boysenberry, Blackcurrant And Raspberry, Cacao Powder And Powdered Coffee Beans, Lavender Honey, Extracts Of Oregano, Thyme, Rosemary, Lavender And Golden Seal, and more.
For a full list of ingredients, visit the 100% Pure website. Additionally, you can see on their site that 100% Pure has a full line of fruit dyed makeup beyond mascara, for eyes, face, cheeks and lips.
How do you choose the right natural products and brands for you?
If you are new to natural makeup products, it can be tough to decide which brands to use, especially when the products themselves can be costly and may not yet have a large number of online ratings.
One thing to consider is that this is a journey, and you don’t have to switch all at once. Whether you stop into a retailer that allows you to try products, such as Walgreens, Sephora, or whether you prefer to read online reviews, it is worth a little time and effort to research what you put on and in effect, into, your body.
While I am still making the full switch to natural beauty products, I am committed to making a full switch by the end of 2017.
As Colleen and I try more natural beauty products we will share our opinions, so stay tuned to the blog to learn more! Please comment below if you have discovered natural beauty products that you love and let us know what makes them great.