Mascara.

I am going to let you in on the most awesome discovery I've made lately: mascara!  Not just any mascara (and not the one to the left of this paragraph, although that one is far more widely available and much cheaper), but mascara that smells edible, is vegetarian, is completely natural, and mostly importantly, works.  I guess I get excited about a lot of things (I'm just that type of person), but really, this stuff is a good find.  Get a pen out... 


I went through an awful lot in order to find this stuff.  I read reviews.  I sent Tim to the Nature's Fare in Kamloops to try to look for another brand (Suncoat), before I read some terrible reviews and decided not to get that brand (it turned out they didn't have it in stock, so not an issue).  I had tried making my own mascara, which did not work out for me, so at that point I decided I would just have to buy the most natural mascara possible instead of making it, and I think that I have succeeded.

It is called 100% Pure Fruit Pigmented Mascara.  If you would like to read about what the company means when it says "100% Pure", read all about it here.  I had Tim pick me up a tube from Nature's Fare in Langley when he was out there today.  At $25 a tube, it doesn't come cheap, but it lives up to the hype, it lengthens, goes on exactly like the mainstream brands, smells divine (like berries!), and is going to last me a year or so, so it's worth it. There are Nature's Fares throughout the Interior of British Columbia, but Langley is the location that is the closest to the Lower Mainland.  If you live elsewhere, you can order from 100% Pure's website, and they have lots of things other than mascara so it's worth a look (including some really interesting makeup and body care sets under the "Gifts" tab).  I called the manufacturer to try to figure out where their mascara is sold in Canada and they were really unhelpful.  I know they have stores in California (in Berkeley and San Jose).  So are you interested in reading the ingredient list?  Here it is:





Organic Green Tea, Vitamin E (a-tocopherol), Honey Beeswax, Contains All or some of the following Pigments: Blackberry, Blueberry, Black Tea, Grape Skin, Pomegranate, Acai Berry, Boysenberry, Blackcurrant and Raspberry, Oat Protein, Wheat Protein, Provitamin B5, Seaweed Powder, Coconut Stearic acid, Mica (for shimmer in the Blackberry and Blueberry), Cocoa Butter, Pearl Powder, Rice Powder, Cacao Powder and Powdered Coffee Beans, Lavender Honey, Extracts of Oregano, Thyme, Rosemary, Lavender and Golden Seal.


Just in case you were wondering, here is the ingredient list for Maybelline Great Lash Mascara (a.k.a. the "World's Most Popular Mascara"):


Petroleum Distillates, Pentaerythrityl Hydrogenated Rosinate, Carnuba Wax, Polyethylene, Synthetic Beeswax, Quaternium-18 Hectorite, Ceresin, Magnesium Carbonate, Beeswax, Kaolin, Aluminum Stearate, Silica, Propylene Carbonate, Cetyl Dimethicone, Tocopheryl Acetate, Wheat Germ Oil, Methylparaben, Propylparaben, Butylparaben, Iron Oxides (May contain), Titanium Dioxide (May contain), Ultramarines (May contain), Mica (May contain)


I think I've found my winner!  If you would like more information about parabens and why you may want to give some thought to switching to other makeup products that do not contain them, here is a great article which really breaks down the debate in a neutral way.  The bottom line is that we are suspicious that parabens may be harmful but there is no definitive proof, so it may be prudent to avoid them.  Food for thought.