Since its creation in 1872, mascara has been used to enhance the look of eyelashes by lifting, lengthening, thickening, and darkening their appearance. A multifunctional product must need a variety of ingredients, but what ingredients are used to develop this everyday makeup product and what does that look like chemically?
Makeup is certainly no new player in the cosmetics industry. Dating back to 6000 BCE, makeup was a popular tool in Egypt among both men and women of all social classes to allow Egyptians to feel closer to the gods. Although the Egyptians weren’t selling their products via Sephora’s website, their invention has paved the way for long-lasting impacts.
Makeup has been around for millennia, but as society continues to establish a demand for newer and better makeup products, the focus isn’t “What am I putting on my face?”, but rather “How does this make me look?”. Of course, one of the main goals of makeup is to enhance one’s features and embrace a certain stylistic choice, but whether it’s for the school play, for personal enjoyment, or even for the red carpet, makeup is all too common in a society that doesn’t emphasize the importance of learning the chemistry behind it.
Pigments
Ever wonder what makes mascara so dark? You can thank carbon black for that! Although the name may seem unfamiliar, carbon black is certainly no new ingredient. From vehicle tires to printer ink and even the roads that you drive on, carbon black can be found everywhere! Being one of the most prominent ingredients found in mascara, carbon black helps to achieve the dark black pigment found in many everyday items.
According to the United States Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA), Carbon black is produced by combining a hydrocarbon fuel like an oil or gas with limited combustion air between 2400°F to 2800°F. The unburned carbon, holding the shape of a black fluffy particle, is then used to create the dark black pigment. Derived of mainly carbon particles, carbon black combines hydroxyl (OH) and carboxyl (COOH) functional groups to create particles. The smaller the particle, the darker the pigment, but the larger the particle, the lighter the pigment. Both of these sizes can have their benefits; having a smaller particle increases the concentration of the pigment, whereas having a larger particle, although decreasing this concentration, will allow the creation of a more evenly spread distribution.
Oils
There are a multitude of oils that can be found in Mascara but some of the most common include castor oil, jojoba oil, and shea butter. Castor oil is a vegetable-based oil commonly used in mascara for the purpose of nourishing lashes and creating a thicker and darker look. Similarly, jojoba oil helps to nourish and moisturize the lashes by adding strength to hair follicles and allowing the lashes to grow longer and thicker before falling out. Shea butter includes vitamins A and E which help to foster hair growth, leaving you with longer lashes. All 3 of these oils target different needs in your mascara. If you’re looking to strengthen and thicken the appearance of your lashes, make sure that your mascara has either castor oil or jojoba oil in it, and if you’re looking to enhance lash growth, make sure to look for shea butter or another safe nourishing oil!
The oils in most pigmented mascaras are comprised of triglycerides/fatty acid chains which, when mixed with pigments and waxes, work to create a thickened appearance in the lashes. Oil is composed of hydrophobic molecules, meaning that its molecules are repelled by water molecules and will not mix with them. Water on the other hand is hydrophilic, meaning that it is attracted to water molecules and will mix with other water molecules.
If you’re ever curious about the base of your mascara, take a swatch of your favorite mascara, put it in a cup of water, and see if it dissolves! If it floats or doesn’t dissolve into the water, then the mascara is oil-based, and if the water turns pigmented and leaves no trace of mascara clumps, then the mascara is water-based.
Waxes
Some of the most well-known wax ingredients found in mascara include beeswax and lanolin. Beeswax, which is produced by honeybees, helps to shape and nourish the lashes by creating a “protective cover” over them to reduce clumping and brittleness. Lanolin, which is the grease extracted from a sheep’s sebaceous glands, performs very similarly, with a focus on hydrating and softening lashes. If you’re looking for a mascara that will moisturize your lashes and prevent that sticky, brittle feeling, beeswax and lanolin may just be two of your best cosmetic friends!
Both beeswax and lanolin wax are natural waxes composed of esters, long fatty acid chains (similar to oil!), and hydrocarbons. As explained by ThoughtCo, esters are organic compounds that replace a compound’s hydrogen molecule with a hydrocarbon (hydrogen and carbon) molecule. Fatty acid chains/triglycerides on the other hand are found in oil or oil-based products and encompass a chain of connected carbon and hydrogen molecules alongside a carboxyl group (COOH) as the head of the chain. These lipid structures when working together aid the creation of a water-resistant foundation on waxes. Water resistance is essential in wax because most waxes are oil-based. Since oil is made up of hydrophobic molecules, it only makes sense that oil products, such as many waxes, are hydrophobic as well thanks to the ester and fatty acid chains!
So what?
Although mascara products have been around for centuries, the chemistry behind the ingredients of these products remains unfamiliar to most. Knowing what products best suit your needs in mascara cannot be done without understanding the function and make-up (get it?) of the ingredients behind the cosmetic. Although mascara may reflect solely a creative mindset, what tends to be forgotten is the scientific aspect behind creating makeup! The outcome or the finished product tends to be recognized more than the molecules, bonds, and functional groups that are altered in order to create the infamous pigmented liquid. Next time you’re looking to buy a new makeup product, don’t be afraid to take a look at the ingredients to understand the chemistry behind its functionality!
Sources
- https://www.britannica.com/science/fatty-acid
- https://bcachemistry.wordpress.com/2014/05/31/402/
- https://www.chemistryislife.com/the-chemistry-of-mascara
- https://www.thoughtco.com/definition-of-ester-605106#:~:text=An%20ester%20is%20an%20organic,a%20hydrocarbon%20in%20an%20ester.
- https://www.healthline.com/health/beauty-skin-care/what-is-mascara-made-of#what-to-look-for
- https://www.halifaxpubliclibraries.ca/blogs/post/teen-volunteer-joods-brief-history-of-makeup/#:~:text=Makeup%20dates%20all%20the%20way,all%20social%20classes%20wore%20makeup.
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