As someone who gets paid to trial skincare and makeup for a living (sorry!) and has done for 15 years, I think I’ve got a fairly firm grasp of what women are looking for.

Common questions pop up time and time again. A lot of the time they are around skincare routines, or makeup application, and increasingly I’ve noted more and more people asking me about natural beauty products.

How do you know if a product is really natural or if it’s just tricky buzzwords? What’s with all the confusing certifications? And do natural products actually work?

While the answers to the above questions are long, varied and complicated, I do have a shortlist of brands I recommend to people who want to switch to toxic-free alternatives.

One of those brands is INIKA Organic. It’s a 100 percent natural and certified organic makeup brand.

 

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Lack of regulation in the industry can make label-reading very confusing and sadly there are brands out there making claims that are not certified. On the other hand, INIKA Organic products have all these certifications under their belt:

• Cruelty-free by Choose Cruelty-free Australia.
• Vegan by Vegan Society UK.
• Halal by the Australian Federation of Islamic Councils (AFIC).
• Organic by Organic Food Chain Australia or Cosmos international standard.

Now we’ve got all their impressive credentials out of the way, I’m here to tell you what happened when I road-tested their new range of mascaras.

The brand is probably best known for their (very excellent) loose mineral foundation and liquid foundation, but recently they launched three new mascaras to join the already existing award-winning Long Lash Vegan Mascara. The three new guys are:

• The Mascara (Certified Organic), for everyday organic goodness and glossy lashes.
• Bold Lash Vegan Mascara, for those who feel they have thin lashes or want volume.
• Curvy Lash Vegan Mascara, for people with straight lashes.

Of the above options, Bold Lash definitely best describes me (gimme aaaall of the volume) so I selected that one to put it through its paces.

For complete transparency, I curled my lashes first before applying the mascara. I always do, no matter what mascara I wear. It's like my beauty security blanket. Reason being I have very unremarkable lashes. They are not long, or curly. They are not short either - they are just your stock standard lashes.

On the first day I wore the formula with just a few light coats, which gave my lashes pretty separation and subtle volume. The next day (and subsequent days after) I applied a few more coats and was a little more heavy-handed. That gave the exact impact I wanted.

The mascara wore all day in the places I put it, AKA it didn't travel in smudges on my eyelids or flakes under my eyes.

Come night time I tried various removal methods (including Micellar water and microfibre remover pads). I'm happy to report the formula was easy to get off no matter which method I used.

All up, the INIKA Organic mascara range comprises of four different variants. All 100 percent plant-derived, vegan formulas. All great for sensitive eyes. All winners.