Was recently on the site Skin Deep to see if there was any toxic ingredients in this eye cream I’ve been jonesing over when I spotted this headline: Mercury in Mascara?!

Given everything we’ve learned over the past 30 years about mercury’s ability to damage brain function at low levels, it’s hard to believe it’s still used in cosmetics. But it is. We found it in Paula Dorf mascara, listed as the mercury preservative “thimerosal.” If you get a little bit of mascara in your eyes or face when it clumps or as you wash it off, you may also be getting a little dose of mercury. Watch out for mercury in eye drops, too.

Yikes! I clicked on the list of mascaras to see which brands were included. Luckily, none of them looked or sounded even remotely familiar.

I did look up one of them: Paula Dorf Cake Mascara and found it for sale at the DermStore. What I found most alarming is that the ingredients were listed right there clear as day.

This should serve as a reminder to all of us that we can’t rely on the FDA . We need  to diligently check labels when we’re purchasing products.

All the mascaras listed on Skin Deep were made by Paula Dorf, but there were some eye drops and other pain relief ointments  from Similasan and BHI. To read the complete list, click here.

Thanks Skin Deep for providing consumers with such valuable readily available information.

Until next time,
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