100% Natural Nourishing Mascara, Black Brown vs Great Lash Waterproof Mascara: which is safer?
Burt's Bees 100% Natural Nourishing Mascara, Black Brown is the clear pick. Maybelline Great Lash Waterproof Mascara carries a failing PFAS grade, and we never recommend buying a failing product.
Our pick
Burt's Bees
100% Natural Nourishing Mascara, Black Brown
PFAS grade
Overall grade
Verdict
Hazard flags
Material
Confidence
PossibleFragrance allergens and undisclosed sensitizers
PossibleBacterial growth and contamination in wax formula
Maybelline
Great Lash Waterproof Mascara
PFAS grade
Overall grade
Verdict
Hazard flags
Material
Confidence
LikelyPFAS in water-resistant film coating
PossibleFragrance allergens and undisclosed fragrance components
ReportedBacterial growth in mascara wand and tube
Where these two actually differ
- We flag Fragrance allergens and undisclosed sensitizers and Bacterial growth and contamination in wax formula on the Burt's Bees and not on the Maybelline.
- We flag PFAS in water-resistant film coating, Fragrance allergens and undisclosed fragrance components and Bacterial growth in mascara wand and tube on the Maybelline and not on the Burt's Bees.
- The Burt's Bees is Wax, pigments, natural oils (typical mascara base) where the Maybelline is wax, film-forming polymers, water-resistant film coating, which is most of the difference in these two grades.
- The gap is 45 points, wide enough that this is not a close call, and the Burt's Bees is the one to buy.
- We are less certain about the Maybelline grade, at 35% confidence against 78%, because it discloses less.
Both products run through the same public rubric: materials, coatings, brand disclosure, lab findings, and recalls, plus a beyond-PFAS hazard analysis. Grades are model-based estimates, not lab tests. How grades work →
More waterproof mascara: see the full ranking