Homemade mascara

I love mascara. It is my favorite cosmetic ever, and I would forsake all other cosmetics for it. The only problem I really have with it is that often it is quite thoroughly loaded with all kinds of weird chemicals. If you want to get one that is not chemical-saturated, it's definitely going to cost you. Well, being a broke student entangled in a complex love affair with mascara, I decided I needed to find a solution that doesn't involve drugstore mascara.

I am attempting to make my own mascara with the following ingredients:
- purified water
- avocado oil
- activated charcoal or cosmetic grade black iron oxide
- candelilla or beeswax
- vitamin E oil

This ingredient list is a composite I've created from a number of different recipes; no one recipe looked good to me, so I picked bits and pieces from multiple different recipes and essentially created my own. I don't know what proportions I should mix these in, but I figured I'd wing it until I get what looks to be a good consistency. I'm not sure if this is going to work, but it seems like it would: the oil providing the slip, the wax providing a bit of thickness, and the vitamin E oil serving as a mild preservative. We'll see though.

Disclaimer: I am not a professional cosmetic manufacturer, and to be quite honest I don't know much about making cosmetics at all, so if you choose to try this recipe, I am in no way, shape or form responsible for anything that might happen to you. Proceed at your own risk.

*photo by AndreaNicole