Natural mascara is always a tricky one.
There are so many ‘conventional’ ones on the market offering promises of thicker, longer, curlier lashes, extreme length, false lash effect, the list is endless. Glossy advertisements entice us in, leading us to believe that we too can have amazing lashes – albeit sometimes with the help of lash inserts ahem L’Oreal. What is it in these formulations that enables these claims to be made? Certainly not natural; I would hazard a guess at lots of synthetic fillers and plasticisers to name a few.
But what alternatives are there if we want to avoid said formulations but still want luscious lashes? There are more natural based ones available now however they don’t all live up to expectation. Unfortunately a lot of the time it is the so called nasties that give mascaras their power so without them, they do lose a little oomph. Many will just give a very natural look, some I’ve found you can build to an extent, however be wary in the rain they can run – certainly no swimming or hot yoga – I’ve tried! It is hard for a mascara to be completely natural, they still need some kind of preservative to be used safely around the eyes. That said as green technology is improving so are the mascaras so there is hope.
I am currently wearing the new mascara launched by Ilia just a few weeks ago. It comes in four colours, I am sporting the black, the other three are a grey, a copper and a brown, all are designed to brighten and enhance the eyes. One of the first things I noticed was the brush, this is the first natural mascara that I have seen with one to rival conventional mascaras. Most others have had just a regular standard brush. We all know from the glossy ads that a mascara brush can make all the difference in the finished look. Too many bristles and there is the risk of clogging, not enough and application can be sparse. The Ilia brush is curved to fit the eye and to get the product on the right bits, not too much in the middle, with a bit more on the ends to lift. The risk of clogging is also reduced by the tight lip of the barrel stopping excess product from going on the brush or being wasted.
I’ve found that the mascara goes on really well and you can build it to a nice thickness – still quite a natural effect rather than a full on look. The longevity is good too, it lasts the day although I do tend to top it up during the day at some point. It has survived a warm yoga class – can’t guarantee a hot one though….haven’t had a chance to test that yet. I think for me this is one of the best I have tried so far. It has really nice packaging as well, a sleek silver tube which looks cool in your make-up bag which is never a bad thing.
