While I typically don’t wear makeup in my everyday life there are times when I feel like putting on my face, just a little, before leaving the house. When I have a job that requires me to do my makeup I try my best to keep it minimal. Here are just a few of the products I use to achieve a nice flawless look that works well with both situations…
Wait, wait, wait! This was going to be an awesome post about how I have been using these products for years and they are wonderful. I was going to talk about how they feel light and make my skin look effortlessly even-toned and naturally put-together. Then I realized, to my horror and dismay, not all of Physician’s Formula’s products are vegan!
I am still on my journey as a vegan and every now and then find a thing or two that has gotten passed me. Since I don’t wear makeup often this is, yet, another one of those “doh!” moments when I find out that I have some more investigating to do.
So how can you avoid making the same mistake I did? Know what to avoid!
Jello
Ok, not actual jello. But the stuff out of which it’s made, gelatin, is not only eaten but used in creamy beauty products, as well. Bones, hooves, ligaments, and skin of animals are boiled for its protein.
*Check for and avoid: Gel, Hide Glue, Gelatine, Isinglass, Kosher and Halal Gelatin.
Wool Sweat
Sheep are forced to sweat to overproduce a waxy substance known as lanolin used in lip balms, lipsticks, and other creamy makeup products.
*Check for and avoid: Aliphatic Alcohol, Cholesterin, Isopropyl Lanolate, Laneth, Lanogene, Lanolin Acids, Wool Fat, Wool Wax, Lanolin Alcohol, Lanosterols, Triterpene Alcohols, Lanothionine.
Bugs
Certain insects are crushed in order for the pigment (especially red) in their shells or from their insides, due to the plants they eat, to be used for lipsticks and eye shadows. Why not just crush flower petals? Well, I’d have to do more research to find out but it seems like an easy fix, to me.
Check for and avoid: Red Color, Chochineal Dye, Charmine, Carminic Acid, Dactylopius Coccus Extract
Fish
Scales of these poor creatures are ground up and added to nail polish, eye shadows, and even lipsticks because they provide a shimmering affect.
*Check for and avoid: Guanine.
Wax
There are some obvious products that use beeswax such as lip balms, for example. But did you know it’s also used in some mascara brands? Yep!
Secretions
This yummy substance called shellac is scraped off of trees after leaving the bodies of lac bugs and used in lipstick and mascara. As with the gathering of a lot of other insect and animal by products, this process often causes these creatures to be harmed and killed.
Lab Testing
Not only do companies test on animals but once the helpless creatures die their dead bodies often go on to be used in beauty products. Much like gelatin, tallow is created by boiling the bodies of dead animals. In addition, dead animals from zoos, animal shelters, labs, and even expired grocery meat are also used. The fatty byproduct is used in foundation, lipstick, and eye products.
*Check for and avoid: Tallow, Sodium Tallowate, Hydrogenated Tallow, Fatty Acids, Sodium Salts, Suet, Lard, Animal Fat, Stearic Acid, Dihydrogenated Tallow Phthalic Acid Amide, Hydrogenated Tallow Betaine, Oleic, Benzoic, and Myristic Acids can be derivatives.
Cruelty-Free
Just because a product has the cruelty-free logo on it and claims that it does not test on animals, that doesn’t mean it’s vegan. Strangely enough, a company can use things like goat’s milk in a product, say it doesn’t test on animals, and then claim to be cruelty-free. This should really be changed but until then, keep an eye out for each individual ingredient.
When in doubt, Google it. I often stop, before buying an item at a store, and pull out my phone just to make sure it’s vegan. I guess I had been using these products for so long that I didn’t think to double-back and check. Time to find some new makeup!
Photo Credit: Lola O Photography