Review: Physicians Formula Organic Wear Mascara

Okay, fine. I admit to being a hippie green chick at heart. When the Physicians Formula Organic Wear range finally launched in Australia a couple of months back, my little heart skipped a beat for joy.

Unfortunately, the prices are really high and the while the packaging and designs are really cute, the colours wouldn't show up on my skin. The only thing I would consider getting is the pressed powder and that will have to wait until I am done with the rest of my powder foundations.

What I really was lusting after though was the Organic Wear Mascara. I had read some really nice things about it and the cute packaging was irresistible. A leaf handle! How cool is that? I had to get it.

Justifications over, let's get on with the review.

The mascara formula is not waterproof so it was pretty runny when I first opened it and took ages to dry on my eyelashes. Blink too hard and you are left with black smears under your eyes. Thankfully, the formula is less runny after a week or so's use and it dries much faster now.

The Physicians Formula website claims that the mascara has a 5x Lash Boosting effect. Err.. right. It lengthens and holds a curl pretty well but 5x? Nope. I just get very pretty and natural eyelashes with no clumping. I like the effect but I could do with a leetle bit more volume.

The plastic brush is okay but not fantastic at combing out eyelashes. The mascara tends to gather up at the sides of the brush and encourage clumps so wiping lightly on a piece of tissue beforehand prevents this. The comb tips are kind of pointy so be careful. I accidentally knocked my pupil with it and was dancing with pain for a while.

Concealers and eye sunscreens usually cause some amount of smudging with my good ol' Full 'n Soft but I didn't experience that with this mascara. No smudging or flaking even at the end of a hot day. Woo hoo!

The only smudging I got was when my eyes teared up from yawning and cutting onions. Well, the first gave me slight inky marks while the latter left me with a big black smear. Both were quickly remedied with a bit of damp cotton.

One of the drawbacks to this mascara is that it has a bit of an odd smell. I don't know how to describe it but the nearest thing it reminds me of is cow dung, only in a less pungent-I-am-going-to-puke-now way. It definitely makes you do a double-take and while the smell fades off, you still get whiffs of it through the rest of the day to remind you of what you are wearing.

Rest assured, you won't be losing any friends. I got friends to sniff around me (yes, I make my friends do weird things) and they said that they couldn't smell anything.

For a product which is supposed to be earth-friendly, this mascara sure uses a lot of packaging. Check it out. One huge cardboard box and additional plastic holders to package one tube of mascara. What wastage!



Being eco-friendly sadly does not come cheap. This mascara retails for AUD 24.95. Ouchie. I got it on sale for about AUD 21 but it's still pricey for a drugstore mascara.