Course:SPPH 381 Mascara Risk Assessment

 Mascara Introduction Mascara Resource Extraction Mascara Manufacturing Mascara Distribution Mascara Recycling and Disposal Discussion and Conclusion 

MASCARA

Mascara is one of the most popular cosmetic products that responds to the consumers need of enhancing the beauty of one’s eyelashes . This product aims to add length, volume, and definition to the lashes, making them look fuller and more pronounced

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History and Introduction

The concept of beauty and the need to define eyelashes have a 6,000-year-old history from ancient civilizations like Egypt, Rome, and Europe . In Ancient Egypt, men and women used Kohl and ointments to darken their lashes and protect themselves from the sun . Having long, thick, curled eyelashes in Rome was considered a beauty trait 1. In addition to being considered a sign of a woman’s chaste character . For this reason, women used to burn corkwood and rose petals to date pits and ashes to darken their eyelashes .

Moreover, during the Queen Elizabeth age in Europe, women dyed their eyelashes to match their hair color . For this, they would crush berries and collect soot from fireplaces to come with dyes. Unfortunately, due to using toxic ingredients, women would have to deal with lashes falling off . During the Romantic era, cosmetics came into use. The first mascara was developed by Eugène Rimmel, a perfumer to Queen Victoria, who created the mascara out of coal dust and petroleum jelly . This cosmetic had a cake form and came with a scraping brush. The application was messy but rapidly became a popular product in countries like Spain, Portugal, Greece, Romania, and Iran . Finally, in 1913 the chemist Thomas L. Williams created a mascara made from coal dust, burnt cork, and Vaseline. He saw a business opportunity in his product and created the brand Maybelline. The first mascara was in a pod that was applied with a brush, and then it shifted to a cream version that could be squeezed from the tube directly onto the brush .

The need for enhancing the visibility of eyelashes has placed the mascara industry as a billion-plus dollar industry globally that continues to grow . Consumers, primarily women, state that this is one of the cosmetic products that impact overall appearance, to the point that many women will state that they feel self-conscious if they are seen without mascara . This product's high impact on women’s lash beauty has made many consumers wish they could have the product all the time .

Historically, there have been two mascara types: water-resistant and waterproof. The first one refers to the mascara that can be removed with warm water and soap, and the second one refers to the mascara that needs to be removed with a make-up remover The high demand for this product generated the need to develop a third type, a semi-permanent mascara. This type of mascara aims to eliminate the need for reapplication during the day and at the same time be removable with soap and water or make-up remover product .