The great make-up purge of 2013...confessions of a hording queen. Again.

(Please note: the company lists on this blog have been updated as of OCTOBER 2015)

Oh 2013, you are upon us, and at this time of year we all feel the need to purge. In my case it was with my make-up and I went, well......NUTS! The endeavor to have a vegan make-up kit hath begun.

I've been a make-up artist since I graduated in 2007. Anyone who has seen my kit knows that I own ALL the make-up...all of it. I've actually had pangs of guilt due to owning stuff that I've barely even looked at much less used! But I needn't worry about that any more....cos I've hardly anything left!

In the beginning...

I'm a pretty militant kinda chick. I'm vegetarian and don't cheat. I don't wear leather, fur (it doesn't matter that it's vintage!), silk or pearls. If your gonna do it, do it right. So I thought that my kit was pretty much veggie friendly and cruelty free......oh, how wrong I was. I am in actual awe at my naivety! Seriously, I need a slap on the wrist.....I will now continue writing with red, slapped wrists.

It's been a while since I really looked into ingredients and the information available has dramatically increased. I know the names of a lot of little nasties that find their way into make-up, but, again, I was a complete clown. Such things as tallow and cochineal . Well now cochineal is known as carmine. Carmine is essentially crusted up dead beasties, they are boiled and mashed up, mainly, for the blood red colour. It then goes into lipsticks and pressed powders as well as many other things (I found it in a cake eyeliner).....mmm, smearing dead insects all over your lips for a red pout. Charming. 

Carmine.....1,2,3 - boak..

Tallow is the goop left over in a slaughter house, y'know, bones, fats....gunk really. Well, so is stearate. And it's fecking everywhere! Zinc stearate, magnesium stearate, steric acid...it goes on. Now on the plus side sterate can be of animal or vegetable origin. On the downside it's most commonly animal when it comes to cosmetics and there's no way of knowing unless it states otherwise (such as with Liz Earle, who products have sterate, but no animal byproducts) .  

Thank you Liz Earle for not being minging - ALL products are vegetarian, many are vegan.

(Since originally writing this I have found that Liz Earle is no longer suited to this list. see below for details)

I, for one, do not relish the thought of smearing this over my face, nor anyone else's. And so began the mission to make my kit veggie, but mostly vegan. 

I've been talking about making my make-up kit vegan for a while, & I'd bought some handmade, organic, vegan make-up (you can find lots on Etsy and can purchase small samples to try it out). But my research lead to me searching out vegan make-up in general, vegan brands, individual products from other companies and what I need to get rid of. Which was most of it. The reason being that it can be hard to get information on the ingredients in the majority of make-up, which is kinda sad.

Popular misconceptions. 

Firstly; that MAC products are all suitable for vegetarians. 

They most certainly are NOT. They contain a fair amount of carmine, waxes and stearate. I think this is some kind of urban myth lead to the impression that they were veggie friendly, probably born from the ethos they started out with and their reputation as a cruelty free company. Of course none of this matters now as they were taken over by Estee Lauder some years ago, and will be going into the China, where animal testing is required by law, and the whole lot are loosing their previous cruelty status.....sad days indeed.

The status of my pre-existing MAC make-up is in suspense while I wait on them getting back to me with a vegan list.

Dear MAC. You know spill blood for beauty and you SUCK!

Secondly; that STARGAZER products are all vegan or veggie.

Nope, wrong again. This 'alternative' brand, once renowned for it's affordable vegan safe cosmetics stopped bothering to make it's products vegan or veggie a couple of years back. Who knows why; maybe alternative just isn't alternative anymore, it's too main stream, maybe they just got lazy. Either way, they ain't sayin'

Thirdly; All the major cosmetic companies will be safe (in cruelty free terms) once the new EU laws on animal testing come into effect later this year.

Afraid not. As already mentioned, LOTS of companies are going into the Chinese market for the money and will be conducting animal experiments as a result. Even those who held the BUVA leaping bunny status and used their cruelty free ways to market their products have decided to pack it in. It's incredible.

Former stalwarts of the cruelty free world such as the Body Shop and Urban Decay are now owned by L'Oreal. Both offer vegan products (all of the Body Shops are veggie) and have been a saving grace for those who buy animal free, cruelty free products, especially on the high st. But L'Oreal are notorious animal testers, so that's both these companies out the game. Same with companies owned by the aforementioned Estee Lauder. They own MAC, Bobby Brown, Smash Box, L'Occtaine and a whole lot of others.....EU be dammed, eh! 

There's always a bright side!!

Indeed there is. There's still a TON of companies who are both cruelty free and have a wide range of not only cruelty free but vegan products too....yippee!

 

High st goodness

On the high st - 

On the high street

Now, like I said, most of these companies can also be found online and usually that is where they're full range of products is to be found.

'B' by Superdrug - Most of Superdrug's own brand products are suitable for veggies and vegans (see individual products for details). B is a skincare and make-up range and I think almost of, if not all, of the make-up is vegan. 

They're Full Coverage Foundation and B All mascara are fabulous!Needless to say, B can be found in Superdrug.

Barry M-  All products are veggie friendly and their vegan products are marked as such in the individual product ingredients on their website.

Barry M can be found in both Superdrug and Boots.

Sleek - Sleek now mark which of their products are vegan and vegetarian in the ingredients section. The I-Devines are veggie (sorry vegans) and pack a whole to of pigment in them. And at 8 quid a pallet they're well worth a try.

Sleek can be found in Superdrug and some branches of Paul's Hair.

Lush - All their make-up vegan. Their Emotional Brilliance loose powder is great. 

The rest of their products are veggie and vegan.

Lush stores can be found on most city centres as well as online

Illamasqua - Illamasqua have a good range of vegan products, they were kind enough to send me a list of their non-vegan make-up which was only 13 items long. They asked I don't print the list for legal reasons. However beauty blogger got a response from them detailing some products (link here). 

I have seen on Peta2 that they are in the process of compiling a list of their vegan products (ref - here)

Illamasqua can be found in Debenhams stores.

Too Faced - Too Faced products are all cruelty free and they have a vegan list in the FAQ section of their webite, read it here. 

GOSH - GOSH make-up is cruelty free and much of it is vegan. Beauty blogger Love Lipstick is nice enough to have made a rather fantastic list here (Credit; Love-lipstic blog)

GOSH can be found in most Superdrug stores

Whole Foods Market - Whole Foods supermarkets are dotted all over the country, the Glasgow store is to be found in Giffnock. They have a small make-up but I don't know if they vary from store to store. They definitely have vegan approved make-up but it is pretty pricey Each brand marks it's products accordingly. 

Miss Vegaloucious - If you're lucky enough to live in Glasgow you should def check this place out. If not, don't worry as they're now online!! (link here). They only sell veggie friendly make-up and most of it is vegan. Lots of different brands, some of which I'm unfamiliar with, but the ones I do know are impossible to get anywhere else in store. They have Yaby, OCC Liptars and Sugar Pill!! Not to mention a range of beautiful Bedellum brushes.
They are also working on their own brand products, I recently got a black eyeshadow and it's pretty fantastic.....

Online goodness

Websites of awesomeness - 

My Beauty Bunny - this is a fantastic blog. Def worth a follow....even has a phone app!

Manic Panic -The original iconic cosmetics of the alt scene, all of Manic Panics  products are vegan

Beauty Without Cruelty (uk) - A pioneer of cruelty free beauty since the early 80's all their products are vegan .

Pretty Zombie Cosmetics - All vegan company that specialise in liquid lipsticks....and not in your average colours. The can be bought straight from their site or in the UK through Cute Cosmetics.

Arbonne Cosmetics -  Arbonne are a company specialising in botanically based cosmetics and toiletries with a bit of nutrition thrown in for good measure. Their cosmetic products contain no animal by products. If you want to buy online you need to go through their international site (http://www.arbonne.com/pws/homeoffice/tabs/home.aspx), other than that they seem to mainly be sold through 'reps', a bit like 'Avon calling' of days of yore, although I am aware that they sell through some beauty salons as well. 

White Rabbit Cosmetics - Eyeshadows handmade by an American lass in Glasgow, the full range  is cruelty free and many are vegan. See product descriptions for details.

E.L.F - E.LF have gained iconic status over the last 10 years for their wide range of budget cosmetics. Their lash primer is a favourite of mine. All E.L.F cosmetics are now vegan, although they do have a couple of animal hair 

Sarah Hill Cosmetics - Sarah Hill is a Glasgow based makeup artist who has turned her hand to creating her own line of cosmetics. Everything is vegan with the exception of the eye liners (which are veggie). Have heard so many good things about her line, really looking forward to trying some.

Gabriel Cosmetics Inc - US All cruelly free and vegan cosmetics company.

Wet'n'wild cosmetics - Budget, all cruelty free make-up brand with vegan options. There is a list of their vegan products on their FAQ They can often be found in UK stores such as B&M & the even the pound shop!

Paula's Choice skin care - The aforementioned Paula is a cosmetics critic who started her won range of beauty products, make-up included, most of it is vegan. She has a UK site, but (confusingly) the list of NON-vegan products is on her .com. Many of the non-vehan products are veggie friendly. Read this list here

Sugarpill Cosmetics - All cruelty free make-up with a vegan section on their website. UK stockists are Cocktail Cosmetics and Cute Cosmetics. Each site usual offer different product options.

Tarte Cosmetics - All cruelty free make-up with a vegan collection.

The All Natural Face - Handmade make-up to be found on Etsy. There are many handmade vegan makeup options to be found on Etsy, but this seems to be one of the bugger ones....& i'm dying to try their eye shadow primer...

Concrete Minerals - All Vegan make-up specialising in vibrant eye shades. Uk stockists Cute Cosmetics

Inika - All vegan make-up and skin care. One of the companies included in Birch Boxes.

OCC Obsessive Compulsive - All vegan make-up. These guys have become icons in the beauty world thanks to their lip tars and airbrush foundations. UK stockists are Cocktail Cosmetics and Cute Cosmetics

Honeybee Gardens - Worth checking out for the name alone! They're all about being natural and recycling and use all organic ingredients and they're very reasonably priced. Most (i'm not sure if all) products are vegetarian and most of them are vegan. Check the ingredients panel for details.
UK stockists include Amazon and Henna Herbals.

Melt Cosmetics - Another one slightly on the pricier side, but my friend has some of the eyeshadows and raved about them. All cruelty free and vegan items are marked on their websites listings.
UK supplier here.

Jeffree Star Cosmetics - Drag extraordinaire Jeffree Star has started his own product range. So far we have a range of velour liquid lipsticks, but I'm sure there will be more to come.
All cruelty free and vegan. UK wise it can be found on Love Make-up

Insomnia Cosmetics - Another Etsy brand. Not tried these guys, but they have a great range of lip colours and fairly reasonably priced.

Sarah Hill Cosmetics - Sarah Hill is a Glasgow based makeup artist who has turned her hand to creating her own line of cosmetics. Everything is vegan with the exception of the eye liners (which are veggie). Have heard so many good things about her line, really looking forward to trying some.

Cocktail Cosmetics  (uk) - This is a website which only stocks cruelty free products. Even better than that it has a whole section dedicated to vegan products.  It's fantastic. 
Brands included -  100% Pure Cosmetics,  Bdellium tools,  Cozzette Brushes,  Everyday minerals,  Illuminare Cosmetics,  Lily Lolo,  Lime Crime,  Neve Cosmetics ,  OCC Obsessive Compulsive,  Real Techniques,  Rosebud Company,  Sugarpill Cosmetics,  Yaby Cosmetics,  Eco Tools,  EOS,  Konjac Sponges

Its worth noting that often, when looking online, when a company has a UK site that the lists of vegan/veggie suitability can actually be found on their .com or US sites. It's always worth having a look.

Well, in addition to being epic, I hope that was blog was helpful. If you feel like slinging me a wee sneaky 5er to help me re-build my now sparse make-up collection, feel free.
As brutal as it was to throw so much away, it was also pretty liberating. I now feel that I am going to utilise my entire kit rather than just having a shit ton of stuff that won't see the end of my make-up brush before it goes out of date.....so it seems I am a make-up hording queen no more.

But, for now, I'm off to bed....this shiz was tiring ;)

Thank you for reading. And always remember....Lady Bon loves you...
http://www.tattybon.com