plastic-free vegan black mascara in a tin

Pretty yourself without dirtying the environment! Plastic-free mascara in a 10ml metal tin.

Flutter your eyelashes to your heart’s content knowing that a cheeky wink of your volumized and defined lashes won’t leave the earth an ugly mess. 😉

*This mascara does not come with an application wand so make sure you save one from your old mascara bottle, but new wands can be purchased separately without a container.*

Suitable for sensitive eyes, but as with all make-up, do a patch test first just in case.

How to apply:

Wash your mascara wand under the tap for a few seconds, shake off the excess water. You just need the wand to be damp, not soaking wet. Roll your mascara wand back and forth in the tin to pick up the mascara on the wand. Apply to your lashes as normal. For a fuller lash effect, wait for the first coat to dry, then add more layers as needed. Avoid pulling too hard on the brush when getting the mascara out of the tin, as this will result in clumping. Be gentle, practice makes perfect. This mascara can also be used as an eyeliner or eyebrow filler, so have a play about with it!

Mascara

£9.00

Quantity

Just go down to your local Boots or Superdrug and flinch in horror at the aisles upon aisles and rows upon rows of little plastic bottles in the make-up section. Make-up is big business. There are hundreds of brands all making, let’s face it, basically the same products, but packaged in brightly coloured and gaudy plastic containers to make us understand the ‘differences’ between them all. Well, there’s no difference to where they’ll end up, which is most likely landfill. Awkward to recycle, as most make-up containers are made using mixed materials, and are difficult to clean so will quite possibly be rejected as a contaminant in recycling plants. The make-up business has a lot to answer for with the amount of waste it’s responsible for creating. The beauty industry is more of a beast when it comes to the environment. Ugly, stubborn and unwilling to change its ways. Pollutants aren’t pretty.

It’s not just the packaging that’s plastic either. Did you know that waterproof mascara tends to contain plastic in the ingredients? That’s what makes it waterproof! I used to only use waterproof mascara, and now knowing that I was coating my eyelashes in plastic every day concerns me somewhat….
When my first foray into trying plastic-free make-up was a mascara in a bamboo case that came off as soon as you blinked, I wasn’t particularly impressed. So it was a relief to find that this mascara by Bain & Savon had much better staying-power, and can withstand blinking, as well as a bit of a drizzle of rain, plus a little bit of eye rubbing by accident. There is a little bit of flaking off, but it’s not too bad at all I’ve found. It can be used with a lash curler, before or after application.

This isn’t ‘the best’ mascara in the world, but one that does the job and doesn’t involve putting a multitude of synthetic chemicals near my eyes or add to the plastic waste piling up in the world. That, to me, is more important than having my eyelashes described as ‘full, plump, voluminous lashes’ or whatever. Not every product I sell will be necessarily ‘better’ than the plastic version of a product in terms of its efficacy, but it will ALWAYS be better from an environmental point of view, and for a more natural ingredients list, which is probably better for you than lots of random combinations of synthetic ingredients. Only you can decide if you can take the compromise that dilemma throws up.

It’ll only clump as much as the mascara wand applicator you’re using lets it. If you wipe off the excess on the side of the tin, or better yet, save an old mascara bottle and dip the wand in that to help get the clumps out, it works well. I take no responsibility for any excess clumpiness you find when using this mascara, take two seconds to wipe some off otherwise it’s your own damn problem.

For those who suffer from panda eyes, a good trick is to avoid putting moisturiser around your eyes and eyelids. If your skin is oily around your eyes, the mascara will seep into that oily patch, as this mascara has an oil base, and oil attracts oil, just like oil repels water. Which is why this mascara shouldn’t be affected by a spot of rain, and yet still does explain why you sometimes get panda eyes for no apparent reason. If you aren’t moisturising around your eyes and yet still look like that loveable no-longer-quite-as-endangered-as-it-used-to-be animal, then, unfortunately, you might just have oily eyelids. Which sounds gross, but that is how our skin works, and some people produce more sebum than others, so blame your genetics, and embrace panda life. Just try and blot some of the oil away before you put on your mascara. There are worse animals you could look like after putting on make-up… the back end of a baboon for instance. Panda eyes don’t seem so bad now, do they?
Despite using make-up nearly every day, I have always hated buying it. The choices baffle me, and the prices always seemed absurd, as the same product could cost £5 or £30 depending on the brand. I always tried to buy mascara that was no more than £10 as that seemed to be reasonable when considering the range of prices.

To find a mascara that was completely plastic-free in ingredients and packaging, that also fitted into my idea of a ‘reasonable price’ for mascara, was fantastic. Finally! Just what I was after. This mascara, at £9, is even £1 cheaper than the previous brand I used to sell, so thumbs up for the price. The previous brand I used to sell, Luna Beauty, which was the UK first for plastic-free make-up, sadly gave up, so I had to look elsewhere. (Sorry it has taken so long!) There are a few more brands in the UK now that have forayed into the plastic-free make-up biz, and this is one of the more reasonably priced brands that I’ve found so far.

It may be a small tin, but it will last a long time. Unless you are really going for it with the doe-eyed lash effect, you barely use any of this per application. A couple of quick swipes left and right in the tin and you should have enough to give your lashes a good coating. If you try too hard to pull this mascara onto the brush, it will clump so be warned. Layer by layer please for the Bambi look!
What is it made from?

Container: An aluminium metal container with paper stickers.

Ingredients: Ricinus Communis Seed Oil (Castor Oil), Prunus Amygdalus Dulcis Wax (Sweet Almond Oil Wax), Kaolin, CI 77499 (Black Iron Oxide). Also includes a ‘broad-spectrum 100% organic preservative to avoid long term microbial growth’. – This preservative isn’t named, but we can take an educated guess as to what this could be, see this link for more info.

Where does it come from?

Made in Cumbria, UK.

Is it sustainable?

Aluminium - is one of the most easily recyclable materials in the world, and is infinitely recyclable, meaning that once recycled, this metal container could become another metal container, ad infinitum, rather than downcycled as plastic is.

Castor Oil – Castor oil is used as a replacement for petroleum-based substances in many products. It is a much greener alternative as, unlike petroleum oil, it is renewable.

Sweet Almond Oil Wax –

Kaolin - Kaolin clay is an abundant mineral; the UK is the world’s third-largest exporter of this product. (It is mined in Devon and Cornwall) As this is homegrown stuff, the environmental footprint of kaolin is smaller compared to many other materials.

Black Iron Oxide - Has been used in cosmetic products for over 100 years now, they are generally used as colourings. Iron oxides are a natural mineral material, we all know what rust is, well, that rich red colour of rust is an example of iron oxide. Iron oxides are used for black, yellow and red pigments. The colours of iron oxides are light-fast, so they don’t pale over time in response to UV rays, and are resistant to moisture, which is useful in cosmetic applications as this means less unwanted bleeding/smearing. Iron oxides are also noted for their ‘staying power’ which means fewer applications of the product are needed, so constant bathroom break touch-ups of your make-up shouldn't be necessary. Despite being found naturally, most iron oxides used in cosmetic products are synthetically produced, as this has the advantage of creating a pure iron oxide that doesn’t contain any impurities, which might be found if you were to scrape some off a rusting metal bar for example. Synthetic iron oxides are therefore considered to be safer, being both non-toxic and non-allergenic, so are ok to use even for those with sensitive skin. Black iron oxide is made using the mineral magnetite. When produced synthetically, the natural ores are still used, and methods include precipitation or reduction of organic compounds to get the required material.

How about ethical?

Handmade in the UK, so all workers standards should be assured.

Extra good stuff:

Bain & Savon make zero-waste beauty and bathroom products that are eco-friendly and contain natural ingredients. They use recycled paper and cardboard for their packaging, along with paper tape. They make sure that their products are packaged in recyclable containers, and are plastic-free. The products they make are free from parabens, SLS’s, and palm oil, (the nasties), but they are cruelty-free and biodegradable (goodies). They even grow their own colours, the natural dyes they use to colour some of their products are created from herbs and plant they grow in their garden.

Conclusion –

Make up your mind to use ethical and natural make-up in sustainable packaging, making yourself feel pretty without having to make the environment ugly!