This girl is saving the planet, 1 tube of mascara at a time

Tribune ConTenT AgenCy

If you wrote the story of Paige DeAngelo’s life so far, it would be in mascara.

Start with dance. Ever since she was a toddler watching her older sisters in dance class in Haddon Township, New Jersey, she loved it. By age 8, she was competing and putting on her own makeup. Lots of mascara there.

Then there’s the weather. Clouds, the stars, it was all magical. In elementary school, her mother took her to meet her idol, the glam orously camera-ready Fox29 weather anchor Sue Serio. Even more mascara.

By the time she entered Drexel University, this Jersey girl knew she wanted to combine her loves – weather, performing, and makeup – for a career as a television meteorologist. She landed a co-op reporting on weather and sustainability for Drexel TV.

But then she started thinking more about what she was reporting.

“I’m preaching to be sustainable, but I realized how much I was wasting,” DeAngelo said. “I thought maybe I could apply this to myself and find reusable makeup. At least mascara, because I use mascara everyday.”

But she couldn’t find a product that fit the bill for quality or safety.

So DeAngelo made her own.

And now that mascara – and her mascara story – just might be taking her around the world.

In early May, the Drexel senior will be one of 18 young people worldwide to compete in the Global Student Entrepreneur Awards (GSEA) virtual semifinals. If she makes it through, DeAngelo and her Aer Cosmetics will represent the United States as one of only six contestants in the final international competition in South Africa. Earlier this month, she placed first in the North American competition, after winning the Phila-