I was looking for a new mascara at the
sephora website. I have to be very careful with eye products as I have a
chronic problem (they get irritated very often). And here came the question,
what makes a mascara more expensive? I supposed it would be the components, but
I wanted to prove it. I chose the most expensive mascara I could find: the Noir G de Guerlain Exceptional Complete
Mascara and Maybelline´s the rocket mascara, which is pretty affordable. I
spent a couple of hours checking out the components of both mascaras and doing
some research on them. (I am taking biomedical and chemistry classes)
So here are
the results:
Guerlain
|
Maybelline
|
Water
|
Water
|
Beeswax
|
Beeswax
|
Polybutene (a liquid oligomer, an organic molecules that
consists on various monomers or smaller molecules joined together, used in
cosmetics for its stickiness, also used in additives in oils, gasoline, adhesives…)
|
|
Ammonium Methacrylate Copolymer, another compound made of polymers
|
Ammonium Methacrylate Copolymer
and Ethylenediamine(another copolymer with the same
function)
|
VP (free-flowing powder
that helps hold hair by absorbng its ability to absorb moisture)
|
VP
|
Bis-Diglyceryl Polyacyladipate-2 + stearic acid
|
Stearic Acid (very similar, same but with 10
carbons more)
|
Paraffin (a wax that acts
as an emulisying agent)
|
Paraffin
|
Carnauba (thickener, good
texture, moisturizer)
|
|
Butylene glycol (viscosity
decreasing colorless liquids)
|
Butylene Glycol
|
Cetyl Alcohol (prevents emulsion)
|
|
Palmitic Acid (opacifying agent)
|
Palmitic acid
|
Lithium Magnesium Sodium Silicate
(used to dilute other solids and
increases viscosity)
|
|
Triethanolamine (reduces emulsion)
|
|
Silica (prevents clumps
and gives opacity)
|
Silica
|
Acacia Senegal Gum
(adhesive)
|
|
Phenoxyethanol (prevents
microbial growth and spoilage)
|
Phenoxyethanol
|
Caprylyl Glycol (Prevents microbial growth and
spoilage)
|
Caprylyl Glycol
|
Sodium Dehydroacetate(Prevents microbial
growth and spoilage)
|
Sodium Dehydroacetate
|
Sodium Laureth Sulfat (emulsifies or solubilize oils, and suspend soil.)
|
|
Tetrasodium Edta (helps prevent the
deterioration)
|
Tetrasodium Edta and Disodium edta
|
Hydroxyethylcellulose (adhesive, bulking
agent and emulsify)
|
|
Trihydroxystearin (Thicknesses
the oils, preventds the loss of water)
|
|
Dimethicone (prevents the loss
of water and is an antifoaming agent)
|
|
Butylphenyl Methylpropional (fragrance)
|
|
Fragance
|
|
Tocopheryl Acetate(antioxidant)
|
Tocopheryl Acetate
|
Dimethiconol (antifoaming)
|
|
Laureth-21 (emulsifying
agent)
|
|
Peg-40 Hydrogenated Castor Oil (emulsifying agent)
|
|
Polyurethane-35 (provides binding
between the components)
|
|
Linalool (fragrance)
|
|
Artemia extract (skin
conditioning agent with protective, regenerating and repairing agents)
|
|
Citronellol (fragrance)
|
|
Alpha-Isomethyl Ionone
(fragance)
|
|
Potassium Sorbate (fragrance)
|
|
Oleth-7(emulsifying agent)
|
|
Benzyl Benzoate (Fragrance)
|
|
Geraniol (Fragrance)
|
|
Limonen (fragrance)
|
|
Citral (fragrance and flavoring
agent)
|
In
conclusion, both products have the same basic ingredients. None of the
chemicals they contain are harmful or dangerous.
The
differences: Guerlain mascara has more fragranced products, so like most of the
high street brands; I suppose this has a strong smell. It is not a bad thing,
but it will probably be more irritating. I suppose it is also more liquidy, as
it contains more emulsifying agents. As you know, oils cannot mix with water
soluble substances. Why? Water molecule is polar, and fats are not. Polar
substances are soluble in polar solvents and apolar substances in apolar
solvents. So, what these emulsifying agents do is break the oils into super
small droplets (made of few molecules) so that water surrounds all of them and
it seems like they have dissolved, when in reality they are still there.
Maybelline
mascara has way less products, but I don´t know how to feel about this. I am
not sure if it means that as it contains less chemicals it is more “neutral” or
if in the other hand it is not as complete as the Guerlain one.
Thank you
so much for reading this post, if you would like me to do another investigation
comparing any other products just let me know! xx
