Beauty Bug is bugged: The Beauty Bug got into a mascara conversation with the Store Director of Sephora who said that all/most drug store formulations contained tar which makes your lashes fall out. Is this true? The Left Brain responds:

We love these stories about how salon/specialty store products like Blinc and Darphin use safer chemicals than mass market products. If you compare the ingredients you’ll see that many of these brands use similar, if not identical, ingredients.

So how did this rumor about tar in mascara get started? It could be because “coal tar” dyes have been used in permanent hair colors. But these chemicals are not approved for mascara.

So you can rest assured that Revlon, Covergirl and the other drug store brands do not contain tar that will make your lashes fall out. Thinks about it - MILLIONS of women use these products. If they did make your lashes fall out, our cities would be filled with bald-eyed women!

By the way, if you’re interested in learning more, read our post on how mascara works.