If you haven’t heard by now, conventional makeup is full of unnecessary ingredients that can speed up aging, irritate your skin, and hurt our planet’s ecosystems when they get thrown away or get mixed into our water system.

Non-toxic eyeshadow is one of those clean beauty staples that are a good investment if you don’t have the budget to overhaul your entire makeup collection because eyeshadow can be one of the worst offenders as far as its effects on your skin and the planet.

We want to go a little deeper here and go over a few of the reasons that non-toxic eyeshadow should be in your makeup bag if it isn’t already:

Non-toxic eyeshadow prevents irritation for sensitive eyes

Conventional eye makeup is made to look good, not necessarily to feel good. If you’ve ever experienced red or watery eyes after trying a new eyeshadow or mascara, whether immediately or after a few weeks of wear, it probably wasn’t a coincidence. 

Conventional eyeshadow can contain harsh ingredients that can trigger a reaction called irritant contact dermatitis, which is when your skin gets red and itchy upon contact with something it (or your immune system) doesn’t like. Allergic contact dermatitis, on the other hand, can cause more extreme reactions like rashy, dry skin. Often, contact dermatitis develops over time after prolonged exposure to whatever ingredient (or multiple ingredients) your body doesn’t like. 

The skin around your eyes is the most delicate area of your face, so it’s important to use non-toxic eyeshadow and other eye makeup made with gentler, more natural ingredients.That said, it’s always important to look at all of the ingredients in the makeup you’re using, and sometimes irritation can happen in response to plant-based ingredients, too, depending on your own personal body chemistry. But, it’s far less common to experience unwanted reactions to mineral-based makeup.

Non-toxic eyeshadow is better for the environment

All that glitters is… plastic, unfortunately.

Shimmery, glittery eyeshadows are essentially a cocktail of plastic and petrochemical-based chemicals, all of which get flushed back into our water systems and other ecosystems. With so much focus on how what we use on our bodies affects our health, it’s easy to forget that what we use affects the health of our planet and the natural habitats within it, too.

Non-toxic eyeshadow is free of those environmental pollutants, and most companies (like ours!) also try to keep packaging waste to a minimum by providing things like eyeshadow palette refills and reusable sample jars.Similarly, non-toxic eyeshadow and other non-toxic makeup are typically cultivated with non GMO, plant-based ingredients that when thrown away or mixed with our water systems are significantly less troublesome for the planet.

Non-toxic eyeshadow helps better prevent premature aging

Again, the skin near our eyes is delicate, but it’s where we pile on some of the most makeup and products. After layering our moisturizer, serum, toner, and primer, we top it off with foundation, concealer, three different shades of eyeshadow, eyeliner, mascara, eyebrow pencil, and setting powder.

When you stop and think about how many unnecessary chemicals we’re piling onto a highly sensitive area, it makes sense that our eyes are typically the first place where we start to see premature aging.

A lot of the ingredients that go into conventional eyeshadow are synthetic and can dry the skin out (especially if you do get irritant contact dermatitis). Retaining moisture is the key to youthful looking skin, so the more we use toxic makeup, especially around our eyes, the faster we’re aging ourselves.

Non-toxic eyeshadow is usually made with gentle, moisturizing ingredients that are plant-based and collagen-boosting to speed up cell turnover and slow down the aging process.