Four Plastic Free Mascara Brands That Are Changing the Cosmetics World

woman with a plant in the background

Choosing a plastic free mascara is a great way to support the brands that are aiming to tackle the packaging issues of the cosmetics industry. Cosmetics packaging alone accounts for approximately 120 billion units of packaging each year, and most of that isn’t recyclable. Plus, the amount of plastic packaging on products in the U.S. has increased more than 120 times since 1960. About 70% of that packaging goes to landfills.

Interestingly, the packaging for beauty and personal products alone makes up about $25 billion in sales for the packaging industry. Not only is it cheaper for beauty companies to make plastic-packaged goods, but there’s an entire industry that wants to continue to push plastic packaging. In order to drive change, we need to put our money where our mouths are and choose ethical products, like plastic free mascara, over the traditional options.

 

Must-Try Plastic Free Mascara

Mascara is a tricky item to make plastic free, as there’s no great alternative for the spoolie, or applicator. While it’s almost impossible to find a completely plastic free mascara, there are several options that save on copious amounts of plastic while delivering a great product.

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  1. Izzy

Izzy mascara is fairly new on the scene and is the first zero waste, refillable mascara. It comes in a stainless steel tube and though the applicator is plastic, every aspect of the mascara packaging is recyclable and reusable. Every 90 days, you send back your mascara and Izzy will clean and reuse it, sending you a new mascara. It uses 94% less plastic than industry standard. The mascara itself is buildable, offering volume and length. The formula is vegan, cruelty free, gluten free, and ethically sourced. 

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  1. Elate

This mascara comes in a bamboo tube. Though the inner tube is plastic, you can clean and recycle it at end of life, while composting the bamboo. Since Elate is a Certified B Corp, they meet rigorous standards for environmental and social responsibility. The formula is lengthening and plumping while also being water and sweat resistant. It’s vegan, cruelty-free, gluten-free, and non toxic. It also comes in a brown shade.

 

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  1. Nudi Goods

A truly plastic free macara option, this mascara comes highly rated and is a mascara cake housed in a tin container. You can choose to add a spoolie onto your order, though that is plastic, You can also choose to buy bamboo spoolies that contain less plastic. You can wash and reuse the spoolies to create minimal waste. With cake mascara, it’s important to note that application can take a bit of time to get used to and you won’t get quite as long of wear out of it. However, this mascara has thousands of happy reviews.

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  1. Clean Faced Cosmetics

This lengthening mascara includes organic ingredients and is vegan and cruelty-free. It comes in a glass tube with a metal lid, both of which can be recycled at end of life. It comes with a bamboo applicator with plastic bristles, which you can clean and reuse with each application. It’s buildable, with lots of 5-star ratings noting that it stays on for a full day with minimal smudging.

Which plastic free mascara will you try? Leave a comment and let me know. For more plastic free cosmetics, check out my blog post here!

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