Every girl knows that selecting makeup requires time, research and a lot of trial-and-error. You have to find the brand that carries the perfect shade. You have to find long-lasting or moisturizing or mattifying. You have to find products that you can continue to purchase as needed while still being able to pay your rent on time. You want the packaging to be aesthetically pleasing so that when you pull it out for a retouch, you aren’t wincing with humiliation. But are you considering how healthy your makeup is for you?

You might unknowingly be using a foundation that has cancer-causing agents in the ingredient line, or using a mascara that has properties of developmental toxicity. But don’t worry your pretty little heads, everyone. Environmental Working Group’s Skin Deep has devoted their time and effort into determining how safe (or unsafe) your makeup is. It has a huge database, which is growing every day.

Here are some of the safest mascaras, foundations and lipsticks to use – and some of the worst.

 

www.amazon.co.uk

www.amazon.co.uk

 

Safe Mascara: Boots No7 Lash 360 Mascara

This is one of the healthiest mascaras out there. It contains no known risks of cancer, developmental or reproductive toxicity, allergens or immunotoxicity. The only scar on the face of Boots No7 is that it does contain limited amounts of PEG-75, which can cause organ system toxicity, though not in reproductive organs. Basically, you are good to go with this mascara.

 

 

www.ewg.org

www.ewg.org

Safe Foundation: Rejuva Minerals

If you’ve already heard of, or are already using, Rejuva Minerals then you deserve serious respect. This foundation is probably the only thing anyone should ever be putting on their face. It doesn’t cause cancer, it has no toxicity, and it has no concerning levels of basically anything. The skin on your face is one of those things that you really want to protect and pamper, and Rejuva Minerals might just be the best way to do that.

 

www.beautylish.com

www.beautylish.com

 

Safe Lipstick: bareMinerals Pretty Amazing Lip Color

Like most of you probably are, I wasn’t surprised to see bareMinerals on the safer side of the cosmetics spectrum. A lot of us are already familiar with their mineral-based foundations, but it’s probably about time we start venturing into their other products. The concerns attributed with this lipstick were low across the board. This lipstick is safe enough to be an everyday product, so try some of these Pretty Amazing lip colors the next time you want to swipe on some color.

 

 

www.toofaced.com

www.toofaced.com

 

Dangerous Mascara: Too Faced Size Queen Mascara

They say that beauty is pain, and that’s certainly true for this volumizing mascara that I once lusted after (and wore religiously for about a year). Though it might make your eyes look fabulous and framed by fringe, it’s also absolutely awful for you. It ranked moderately high on overall concern, with low to moderate concerns regarding cancer, and incredibly high concerns regarding developmental and reproductive toxicity. I don’t know about you, but I’ll pass on the dangerously thick lashes.

 

www.ewg.org

www.ewg.org

 

Dangerous Foundation: CoverGirl Natureluxe Foundation

Call me gullible, but I always want to trust companies when they put the word “nature” in their product title. This foundation, however, is every reason not to be that gullible. This foundation rated an eight on a scale of zero to nine, with zero being the safest and nine being the most harmful. This foundation was shown to cause changes at the cellular and biochemical level, disrupt endocrine and produce irritation to the eyes, skin or lungs, among other things. We tend to want to trust the household brands, this foundation is exactly why you shouldn’t.

 

www.everydaymakeupblog.com

www.everydaymakeupblog.com

 

Dangerous Lipstick: Wet ‘n Wild

Not only did our makeup look pretty bad in middle school, apparently it was bad for us, too. My sister and I had Wet ‘n Wild lipsticks in every color of the rainbow spread all over our bathroom for a good three or four years. These lipsticks show risks of cancer, changes at the cellular level, and extremely high levels of organ system toxicity. That ninety-nine cent lipstick on your snaggle tooth? Yeah, that could have given you cancer.