If you have sensitive skin and eyes or allergies, many of the chemicals used in mascara could irritate your eyes and skin. If you are a vegan, vegetarian or someone that is interested in leading a chemical free-cruelty free lifestyle, you might prefer to make you own makeup at home. Fortunately, there are a number of substitutes you can use to create longer fuller lashes that do not involve heavy chemicals or ingredients derived from animals.
There are also ways to make your eyelashes look darker without the use of conventional mascara or liners. Before we tell you how to make homemade mascara, try the all-natural techniques below for fuller, darker, and longer lashes.
To create curly, fuller looking lashes, simply use a eyelash curler. After curling the lashes, you may use an all-natural black or dark brown eyeliner pencil to line the upper eye line. This will create a more dramatic effect for the eyes. Another technique involves the use of all natural un-petroleum jelly. Un-petroleum jelly has the seal of approval by most vegetarians, vegans, and cruelty free advocates. Try un-petroleum jelly by Alba Botanica (www.albabotanica.com). All you have to do is rub a small amount of un-petroleum jelly between your fingers and smooth it along the upper and lower lashes. You can curl the lashes first then apply the jelly or you an use it alone.
To make homemade mascara, fitness101 at the Long Hair Community (www.longhaircommunity.com) offers the following recipe:
Approximately 1/2 teaspoon of a pigment color of your choice. I would do charcoal brown, because my lashes are pretty dark. You can buy mascara pigments at any master makeup store like Sephora or Ulta. You want to crush it up even more with a mortar and pestle (Ceramic bowl with ceramic mallet).
Add 1/2 teaspoon of aloe vera gel (FOTE) and mix well; you can keep adding a bit more and more until the mascara is a shine to your liking.
Voila! You have your mascara! It’s seriously that easy. You can put it into a sealed container, and use one of your old wands to apply. Or, stores like Sephora and Ulta of Sally Beauty Supply should sell empty containers for you to use.
It is important to note that this homemade mascara recipe has not been approved by the FDA, but users – even users with sensitive skin and eyes, have reported success. If you are a little skeptical, simply use the mascara on a few outer corner lashes for several hours. This should be enough time to see if an allergic reaction will occur or not. Good luck!