This molecule is like a squid with a nitrogen body and fatty alcohol tentacles. Hectorite, a powdery volcanic clay, coats the tentacles, giving them bulk and a positive charge. Since hair has a negative charge, the molecule sticks to lashes, making them seem thicker.

Propylene carbonate
A “safe” and environmentally friendly solvent, this keeps the other ingredients from separating. It’s a polar molecule, meaning that each end of it has a different electrical charge that attracts and repels different materials. But it is also aprotic, meaning it can’t release protons, which could react with those other components in the mascara.

Iron(III) oxide
Don’t wear mascara to a cranial MRI! There is so much of this dark black metallic pigment here (as much as 10 percent by weight) that its ferromagnetic properties can screw up the images, creating a splotch over your eye that the doctor will interpret as melanoma. Why is it here? Think “shiny.”

Panthenol
Dry, brittle lashes can break off, taking up to nine months to grow back. The jury is out as to whether panthenol makes hair grow, but everyone agrees that lashes can at least be conditioned and moisturized by this precursor to vitamin B5, making them less susceptible to snapping in two.

Paraffin and carnauba wax
Paraffin comes from a refinery, carnauba comes from the Brazilian rain forest, but both help carry the various pigments as well as artificially lengthen and thicken the eyelashes.

Triethanolamine
This stuff is a thickener and emulsifier and also lowers the surface tension of the mascara, allowing it to adhere to the brush and the lashes.

Ammonium acrylates copolymer
Listed as “practically nonirritating” when tested on the eyeballs of live rabbits, this emulsifier and pigment disperser gives a nice glossy coating to the eyelash and enhances flexibility under the weight of all that iron oxide.

Bismuth oxychloride
Another pigment with strange magnetic properties. Thanks to variations in the thickness of the oxide layer, this compound creates that shimmery pearlescent look on each eyelash. (This effect used to come from guanine, which is probably how the “bat poop in mascara” rumor got started.)

Dichromium trioxide
A dark-green pigment with odd paramagnetic effects like its cousin, CrO₂, a coating for audiotape. Highly resistant to heat, light, and chemicals, this stuff could theoretically be formulated to make your eyelashes reflect infrared light — just like the best military camouflage.

Authors: Patrick Di Justo

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