Vegan Zero Waste Black Mascara

I wanted so very badly to like this product. I am trying to switch all household and personal care products over to more sustainable options. I decided to try this mascara. Packaging and shipping materials were great. I tried to apply the mascara by wetting a spooly wand, rubbing it in the mascara and then applying. It would work fairly well, providing light coverage, but in about 10 minutes time, the mascara would start to run from my lashes leaving large black swatches under my eyes. For light coverage on top lashes it may work, but I am disappointed to say it will not work for more buildable overall cover.

I do love the idea and I was full of expectations about it - even if I don't mascara every day I loved the chance to reduce plastic even on that one, but it just doesn't stay there, and after 10 minutes I look like a panda (nothing wrong with it, but I'd rather cuddle or watch pandas doing random clumsy stuff than look like one of them). I don't sweat much and my skin isn't oily at all. River organics, I trust you folks, solve the panda issue and I'll be back, I promise!

You are NOT going to get a full volume lashes like from the ads with this product. This mascara gives very subtle effect. I used a random wand I had at home and it worked fine for me. Consistency it is smooth and application is easy. Once again, this is not going to give you a stage make up look. It looks very natural. It didn't clump for me, but i didn't use a lot. I like natural look. It's very light and yes it does smudge, but it's actually pretty easy to wipe. I like it. And please, look up how to apply mascara, because a lot of people are doing it wrong. It may help you with volume. I added pictures of myself so you can see the effect. Eye on the left has no mascara, eye on the right has mascara. You can also use it as eyeliner, if you got it with brush or have a flat tip.

So far, I’m not super impressed with this product. It’s very dry so it flakes when I try to apply and gets in my eyes and on my cheeks. I tried adding a bit of water to my brush when applying to smooth the consistency, which helped a little, but may try coconut oil or something like that to see if that is better. At least it’s not in a plastic tube which is the whole point.

I just got it and was so excited to try it out! I’m so so deeply disappointed in this. The mascara is below the edge of the container so the spoolie you buy with it doesn’t fit, but you can dig into it with the tip? Or you can bend the wand I guess? In what world does that make sense? The mascara was difficult to get to “stick” to my eyelashes and ended up with crumbles(?) of mascara. Maybe use the other side of the spoolie that has a brush and kind of “paint” your eyelashes?? But that’s a mess. It seems maybe that was the intention all along for this brush to make sense with this product? To give an idea of what this looks like once applied, It’s black mascara, but doesn’t leave a noticeable change on my blonde eyelashes. You can’t do multiple coats. I wanted to love this product… but it’s not a zero waste product at all if it going to throw away a brand new mascara and buy something else. I will say the packaging seems easy to compost, but I generally prefer not spending $20 on items that go straight to compost. Maybe that’s just me.