Last month I decided I wanted to start wearing mascara. However, because of my sensitive eyes and general allergy to many cosmetics, I didn’t have too many options.
Physicians Formula’s Organic Wear 100% Natural Origin Mascara was one I was really hoping to like.
(Sorry about the stock image. I don’t have the product anymore.)
The company’s site describes the product as:
- Revolutionary 100% Natural Origin formula contains the purest ingredients and provides 5x Lash Boosting for lash length, volume & definition naturally.
- 100% Recyclable Eco-Brush defines each lash with ultra-soft plastic bristles.
- 100% Free of Harsh Chemicals, Synthetic Preservatives, Parabens, Clumping, Smudging, Flaking, Fibers & Dyes.
All of that sounds really good! Even looking at the ingredients on the box, I didn’t see anything objectionable:
INGREDIENTS: CITRUS AURANTIUM DULCIS (ORANGE) FRUIT WATER*, GLYCERIN, IRON OXIDE, MICROCRYSTALLINE CELLULOSE, GLYCERYL STEARATE, WATER, BEESWAX*, JOJOBA ESTERS, TAPIOCA STARCH*, COPERNICIA CERIFERA (CARNAUBA) WAX*, STEARIC ACID, GLYCERYL CAPRYLATE, ALOE BARBADENSIS LEAF JUICE*, CELLULOSE GUM, CUCUMIS SATIVUS (CUCUMBER) FRUIT EXTRACT*, GLYCINE SOYA (SOYBEAN) OIL*, HYDROLYZED ORYZA SATIVA (RICE) PROTEIN, LEUCONOSTOC/RADISH ROOT FERMENT FILTRATE, MAGNESIUM ALUMINUM SILICATE, OLEA EUROPAEA (OLIVE) LEAF EXTRACT*. MAY CONTAIN: TITANIUM DIOXIDE *PRODUCED FROM ORGANIC FARMING.
So, I went to my local Rite-Aid and picked it up. I can’t remember the price exactly, but it was about $8 – which is an average drug store mascara price and very inexpensive for a natural mascara.
I wanted to like this product, I really did. First problem – it had a weird smell. It wasn’t really a chemical scent, but it smelled a bit sharp? Possibly a little glue-like. That went away though, so it didn’t bother me that much.
The weird, bendy, spiked wand didn’t bother me. Actually, I think it worked pretty well for application. This mascara doesn’t add volume, but it does add some length. It was what I was expecting when I bought, so I was happy with it.
The huge problem was after about 4 hours, it started to flake like crazy. I had black specs all over my face and some of it got into my eyes. I wear glasses constantly and don’t rub my eyes, so it wasn’t even from that.
I figured I would give this product a second chance, so the next day I applied the mascara again. Same thing occurred and this time, my eyes got a bit red and irritated — probably from the black flakes falling in them.
So that was it, I gave up. Thankfully, Rite-Aid has a great cosmetics return policy, so I was able to bring it back and get a refund.
Which is funny, since I bought the Organic Wear because I’d previously returned a L’Oreal Double Extend Mascara, but I’ll talk about that in another post.
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