When you cut an onion, do your eyes burn and water? And do you avoid getting soap and shampoo in them? There’s no denying the sensitivity of our eyes (and the importance of), so it comes as a shock that we, without thinking twice, cover them so heavily in cosmetics. 

On a typical day, we trace their contour with eyeliner, add mascara to our lashes, and coat the lids in eye shadow.  Now consider how many times a day you rub your eyes. We interact with our makeup so often throughout the day, that eye shadow is easily shifted here and there, which can result in clogged tear ducts, product getting stuck behind contacts, bacterial infections, and, most commonly, red and watery eyes. Then, at the end of the day, we scrub and scrub trying to take the darn stuff off.  Seems like an impossible task, and sometimes it is, resulting in even more stuff in our eyes and remnants of makeup and cleanser left behind. Knowing this, it’s important to be conscious of what we’re painting on our lids.

If the carcinogenic and irritating ingredients typically found in eye shadows were not enough to scare us straight, while on our quest for total beauty bag health domination we came across carmine dye, a common ingredient used for color. This dye is made from carminic acid, which is extracted from the bodies and eggs of the Cochineal bug and is mixed with aluminum to make the dye. After discovering this, we were determined to create a healthy eye color that did not use carmine. There was no way we or our customers were going to be painting our eyes with bugs.

Luckily there are ways to get beautiful color and beautiful eyes without exposing yourself to toxic ingredients or bacteria commonly associated with eye makeup.

GET EYES THAT POP THE HEALTHY WAY:

• Avoid products that contain carmine dye by looking for the ingredients: Cochineal, Cochineal Extract, Carmine, Crimson Lake, Natural Red 4, C.I. 75470, and E120
• Avoid shadows that contain parabens and other potentially harmful ingredients
• Be wary of shimery eye colors and avoid products that contain bismuth oxychloride, a known eye and skin irritant.
• Check the expiration dates of your eye makeup products. While eye shadows will say 12 months, we suggest starting with a new product after 6. Eye shadow can get easily contaminated with bacteria and fungi and you don’t want to risk of an eye infection.
  
• Never share a brush or wand with anyone, as they are bacteria culprits. If you love experimenting and sharing products, keep a stash of clean brushes or smudgers on hand.
• Use a non-toxic, non-irritating cleanser that will ensure that if it does leave behind any residue that it will not be harmful to your skin.
  

While we're busy perfecting a healthy shadow recipe or hunting down a shadow we love (if you have a great brand, we'd love to hear about it!), we've created B Smudged.  It is not a typical powder shadow color, but rather a creamy tint that you smudge on your lid close to the lash line to add subtle color. We look at is as a way to make your eyes pop without a rainbow of color. 

After years of perfecting blending techniques with powder shadow, our B Smudge took some getting used to.  It's more of an eye liner than shadow, but it's working for us! It's the perfect, simple note to top off our makeup routine.

While you experiment with this healthy alternative, we’re experimenting with the color palate.  What colors would you like to see added to the B Smudge collection?