How mascara is made

Mascara is pigment suspended in wax, oil and water, so it clings to lashes and stays flexible.

stations: 6
things upstream: 32
raw sources: 13
steps from the ground: 6

The short version

Mascara is an emulsion of waxes, oils, pigments and preservatives. Waxes and oils are melted in one vessel, water and thickeners are heated in another, and the two are combined under a high-speed mixer with black pigment. The thick liquid is filled into tubes and a brush is fitted.

Melt the wax phase

Beeswax and other waxes are heated with oils until they form a clear liquid. The waxes coat each lash and keep the color on it.

Goes in
Honeycomb Paraffin wax Vegetable oil
Prepare the water phase

Water and a thickener are heated in a second tank to the same temperature as the wax phase.

Goes in
Water
Disperse the pigment

Black pigment, typically a carbon black or an iron oxide, is milled until each particle is separated. Clumps would show up as streaks.

Goes in
Carbon black Pigment
Emulsify the batch

The two phases and the pigment are blended under a high-speed mixer. Droplets of oil and wax end up evenly spread through the water, giving a thick, glossy black paste.
Add the extras

Preservatives go in as the mixture cools. Some formulas also add short fibers of nylon that stick to lashes and make them look longer.

Goes in
Nylon
Fill the tubes

A nozzle fills each tube from the bottom or top. The wand, with its brush end, is pressed into the neck.

Goes in
Polypropylene

End of the lineMascara

Worth repeating

Thomas Lyle Williams made a mascara-like product for his sister Mabel in 1915, and in 1917 it became a mail-order business that grew into Maybelline.
Most mascara formulas share the same basic components: pigments, oils, waxes and preservatives.