of Urban Decay cosmetics. The selection of colors is nice. So is the promise of long wear. But mostly it’s the names. “All-nighter” make-up setting spray. “Perversion” mascara. A lip liner called “Catfight.” Who could resist?
As I mentioned in my post Makeup confessions, I am extremely picky about what I put into my body. And just as careful with my skincare. You could literally eat everything I use to wash my face (coconut oil at night, raw honey in the morning). And I rub that same coconut oil all over my body as a moisturizer. But when it comes to makeup, I’m not as careful. And I promised to try to make some changes, and report back.
So I started with mascara. I’m addicted to UD’s Perversion mascara. It promises lashes that are “bigger, blacker and badder” and completely delivers. But I figured that it had to be full of toxic chemicals. After all, it’s not a “natural” brand.
So I went back to Ulta, and checked out the Tarte display. According to Tarte’s marketing, they are “high performance naturals.” In some cases, that is definitely true. I use their maracuja oil. (Please don’t ask me to pronounce that!) It comes elegantly packaged, has only one ingredient, and is an amazing facial oil that absorbs well. So I figured Tarte’s mascaras would be a much safer choice. After talking to a helpful, enthusiastic Ulta worker, I bought Tarte’s mascara primer (Opening Act) and their waterproof mascara (Lights, Camera, Splashes).
I’ve been using the Tarte all week. The combo of primer and mascara gives me long, thick lashes with no smudging at all. It’s easy to remove at night with coconut oil. The primer is white, so it’s pretty freaky looking when you put it on. Let’s just say you look worse before you look better. And the mascara is black, but not the same intense, bad-ass black as Urban Decay.
It suddenly dawned on me that maybe I should do a little more research. So I went to the Environmental Working Group’s Skin Deep Cosmetics Database. This is an online guide to help people find safer cosmetics. Products are given a hazard score from 1-10, with 1 being the safest. They are also given a data availability rating of none, limited, fair, good or robust. This is because there is very little safety data even available on certain ingredients.
Wow, what an eye opener! (Pun intended). While data on both products was limited, my beloved Urban Decay Perversion mascara had a hazard score of 2, which is very low. Tarte’s Lights Camera Splashes, the one I thought would be safer, had a hazard score of 4!
The big lesson here is not to just fall for the marketing. Do a little research. (Or let me do it for you!)
In these posts I always talk about feeling happy, healthy and hot…so here goes. Urban Decay mascara definitely makes me happy. While I can’t really say that it is healthy, the lower hazard score is a good thing. And the promise of bigger, blacker, badder lashes? That sounds hot to me!
Love any good mascara ! Thank you Eliz! Never asked you about sun block and all – can’t remember what you do ??
Wow, thanks for asking Patty…sunscreen could be a whole series of posts. In general, I look for a physical block, like titanium dioxide, rather than a chemical one. The problem is, some of the formulas look white on your skin, which is not a great look. Many mineral makeup brands have sunscreen built right in. Burt’s Bees used to make a decent mineral sunscreen but haven’t seen it anywhere lately. I will test out some new ones this spring!
Glad to know I’m not the only sucker for fun makeup packaging! I get in trouble every time I step foot in Ulta!! And wow, really good and surprising to know about Tarte. I used to use their lights camera lashes mascara a few years ago, too.
I was surprised about the Tarte too. And will keep trying others…it’s so much fun!
Where is the urban decay available at? Ultra???
Yes, Ulta and Sephora. So much fun!!!! I’m such a sucker for fun names. But the mascara is amazing!!!