Ditch Your Eyeliner Make-Up

I think this 7-day “Ditch Your Makeup” challenge is going to well! I am so happy you are hanging in here, learning vital information, and hopefully making smarter, safer choices. So, are you ready to keep detoxing your life? I got you! The sixth item up: Ditch Your Eyeliner Make-Up.

Detox Your Life: Ditch Your Make-Up Day 6

Eyeliner… my arch nemesis.

Are you like me? Do you have a shaky hand? Does you liquid eyeliner look more like a 4-year-old’s doodle?

Same, girl.

I fair better with a pencil eyeliner, but it’s still not great. 🙂

Most of the time, I just go without…

After looking at the ingredients in some of the most popular brands, I’m glad I often go without.

Why You Should Ditch Your Eyeliner

Here are 5 common ingredients in most major name brand eyeliners, why they are used, and how they are detrimental to your health.

Please note that each brand of eyeliner has different formulations.

Not all of these ingredients are found in every eyeliner.

Additionally, there are other questionable ingredients in eyeliners.

In an effort to spare my sanity and not inundate you with TOO much information, I decided to pull out 5 of the most commonly found ingredients and explain those.

Please feel free to do additional research on the other ingredients in your products.

Sodium Laureth Sulfate (SLS)

SLS is typically used as a foaming agent in products like soaps and shampoos.
It is problematic because it can be potentially contaminated with high amounts of two other harmful ingredients: ethylene oxide (a known carcinogen) and 1,4-dioxane (a potential carcinogen).

Black 2

This ingredient is often found in eyeliner and in mascara.
It provides the color pigment to the product…
and to other products like printer ink, rubber, and paint.
Scientists have found that this ingredient is potentially carcinogenic and may cause organ system toxicity.

Cyclopentasiloxane

Cyclopentasiloxane is another silicone-based compound and used as a hair conditioning and skin conditioning agent.
Some health issues this compound may cause is endocrine disruption, organ toxicity, and bio-accumulation (when an ingredient builds up in the body or environment, which negativity impacts our bodies and environments).

Propylparaben*

Propylparaben is commonly used as a preservative and as a fragrance ingredient.
It’s considered harmful because people can be allergic to it (which can cause skin and respiratory issues).
Science has also found that propylparaben is a possible “endocrine disruptor.”
Endocrine disruptors mess with the bodies hormones and can potentially cause a slew of health effects like birth defects, cancer, and even developmental defects.

Methylparaben*

Methylparaben is also a commonly used preservative and fragrance ingredient.
Like propylparaben, science says that methylparaben alters our cellular composition and can disrupt hormones as well.
Methylparaben can actually mimic estrogen in the body and may play a role in breast cancer as some studies show methylparaben build up in breast tissues of breast tumors.

*All parabens (propylparaben, methylparaben, ethylparaben, isobutylparaben, etc.) are frequently used in cosmetics and deodorants because they are anti-fungal and anti-microbial. This is great for killing fungus, yeast, and germs, but the health consequences are far too great.

What to Use Instead

There are safer alternatives than those major name brands we are all accustomed to.

Check out:

Burt’s Bees Nourishing Eyeliner Pencil

Extra Challenge

Go without!

Oy. I know I’ve probably struck a cord there.

But… you. are. beautiful. with or without eyeliner.

I promise.

**The information on the ingredients in this blog post come largely from the Think Dirty App. If you don’t already have the Think Dirty App (where I check the safety of all my products), you really need to.

Please know that the products I recommend at rated at a 0/10 in terms of toxicity. They are as safe as they can ever be. To me, if it’s not a zero, it’s a definite no-go.

If you want to check out my last challenge, you can find the links here.

Ditching:

Plastic Cooking Utensils

Dryer Sheets

Did you enjoy this post? Please pin this image ↓ Happy Homesteading! (: