MUA Vegan Options

Just popping in to say YAY! Cruelty free drugstore brand MUA finally have a page showing their vegan options!

Just go to their website and click on the vegan tab HERE.

Now if only I wasn't on a no-buy cuz this palette looks pretty!!

Laterz

Sal xXx

I'm broke but I'm happy...

OK I'm not broke but I do spend WAY too much money on makeup.

I had a clear-out at Christmas and had literally a black sack full of stuff. Some was too old and crap to be donated but there was a giant carrier bag full of donatable stuff, which I gave to some very happy teenage girls (our friends' daughters). The pic above is one of about 4 from the clear-out I had 2 years ago!

Even after said clear-out, I have more makeup than one human ever needs. Now that I'm married ... nope, nope can't do it. Can't pretend that getting married made me a grown up!

OK so now I have other priorities, like saving for a new place to live, I can no longer spend all my disposable income on makeup. So I'm putting myself on a no-buy.

Also I binge-watched all of Kimberley Clark's anti-hauls and it really did hammer home how I'm guilty of buying stuff just for the sake of having it, even if it ends up just sitting in a drawer! I really recommend these videos, even if only for entertainment value. Kimberley is smart and hilarious!

Obviously as someone who likes making youtube videos* this is a bit of a problem, as I won't have a tonne of new stuff to review for you, so the content will have to change a bit to use up stuff I already have.

So I'm allowing myself to buy essentials such as deodorant and toothpaste of course. And things like concealer when they run out, I'll replace (and mascara as that should be replaced every few months). But I'm really not going to need a new foundation, eyeshadows or lip products for some time! I'm also not cancelling my Vegan Kind box for now.

So is anyone else on a no buy?

Sal xXx

*youtube have just demonitised my channel for not having enough subscribers. They're doing this to all small youtubers (less than 1000 subscribers) so I'm not alone and it's not like I'm going to miss the 20p I'll probably make from the ads haha. But it is a slap in the face! So anyway, if you feel like it, please subscribe to my channel because youtube being dicks aside, I love doing it and am planning to continue and also to get more regular with my posting schedule.

Dermalogica Vegan List

I asked for this a while ago from Dermalogica and forgot to post it, but it's kind of a pain posting the screenshot to facebook so here it is! haha

I asked Dermalogica for a list of their vegan items and they confirmed the following items are NOT vegan:

Vegetarians and vegans may choose to avoid products that contain the following ingredients:

PEG-8 beeswax

Beeswax

Honey

Pearl Powder

Sodium DNA (salmon byproduct)

Silk Amino Acids

Hydrolyzed Pearl

Products vegetarians and vegans may choose to avoid

Beeswax

• Essential Cleansing Solution (Retail and Professional)

Honey

• Gentle Soothing Booster (Retail)

Honey Extract (extrait de miel)

• Body Microfoliant (Professional)
• Power Recovery Pack (Professional)

Hydrolysed Pearl

• Sheer Tint Light SPF20 (Retail)
• Sheer Tint Dark SPF20 (Retail)
• Sheer Tint Medium SPF20 (Retail and Professional)
• Skin Perfect Primer SPF30 (Retail and Professional)

Pearl Powder

• Breakout Clearing Cooling Masque (Retail)
• Redness Relief Primer SPF20 (Retail)

PEG-8 beeswax

• Massage Cream (Professional)

Silk Amino Acids

• Active Moist (Retail and Professional)
• Soothing Eye Makeup Remover (Retail and Professional)
• Skin Smoothing Cream (Retail and Professional)

Sodium DNA (salmon by-product)

• Oil Free Matte SPF30 (Retail)
• Super Sensitive Shield SPF30 (Retail)
• Daily Defense SPF15 (Retail)
• UltraSensitive Tint SPF30 (Retail)
• Solar Defense Booster SPF50 (Retail and Professional)

Glucosamine HCL

Since 2009 Dermalogica® has used a vegetable derived version of Glucosamine HCL, as an alternative to Chitosan. There is no allergy risk with reference to shellfish or concern for use by vegans or vegetarians.


Sal
xXx

You Smell That? (a post about vegan and cruelty free perfume!)

One of the most difficult things to replace when I first went vegan was perfume. Ever since it was discovered that most high end brands are not actually cruelty free I of course stopped buying them, but I do still have a few dregs of high end perfume left (that shiz lasts forever!) But as it became time to replace them I had to look for new options.

Also, now it's gift buying season, I know a lot of people will be looking for perfumes. So here are some options for vegan perfumes for you.

Eden Perfumes
Eden are my number one pick if you are straight up looking to replace a high end scent. They're a vegan company, based in Brighton and also do mail order. They make awesome dupes of high end perfumes; I currently have four of them and have my eye on several more!

They also do a gift box, which is three 10ml perfumes of your choice, which is brilliant if you want to try a few out before committing to the full size!

You can buy from their Brighton store or from https://www.edenperfumes.co.uk/

Dolma
I was recently very kindly sent the perfume box set by Dolma, which has generous samples of all 12 of their perfumes. I was really impressed with them! I think this box is great value at £25 and a good way to find a scent you like; I do find it difficult buying perfume online without being able to try it out first.

They have Leaping Bunny and Vegan Society certification and their perfumes are free from parabens and palm oil for those that wish to avoid those ingredients.

They are pricier than Eden, but I do think their prices are reasonable for quality perfume and more affordable than some high-end perfumes.

You can buy from Dolma's website: https://www.dolma-perfumes.co.uk/ 

Fairypants
A small, vegan business that I discovered when I received one their lip scrubs in a Vegan Kind Beauty Box. Since then I've become a complete convert to their lip balms and when I realised they did perfumes, ordered a couple of those too. They are not traditional scents but fun ones, like the two I have - parma violet (my fave!!) and berry cheesecake. They're pretty strong but give them a few minutes after application to settle down and they're lovely and last ages! They also do larger bottles of perfume if you don't want a roll on, but I love these for slipping in my handbag.

You can buy from Fairypants' website: http://fairypants.co.uk/product-category/perfumes/

Pacifica
Pacifica is an all vegan, cruelty free brand that used to be pretty tricky to get hold of in the UK but I'm seeing it more and more in independent health food stores and some larger Holland and Barrett stores.

I have the spray and the roll on of the their Persian Rose and I love it. If you love rose scented things, you need this.

Lush
Let's not forget Lush; always an awesome option for loads of vegan body products and all their fragrances are vegan. My fave is vanillery - look how old this is!! They don't even make this style anymore. It is past time for me to pick up a spray!

M&S
All M&S's own brand toiletries and cosmetics are Leaping Bunny approved and I'm pretty sure that all their perfumes are vegan. They do mention in the product description on the website if a product is vegan and I could only find a couple that don't mention it, so I live chatted with them and they said yes they're vegan but they recommend checking with them if you're interested in any that don't stipulate vegan (!!). So yeah, just double check if it doesn't say but I think you're pretty much safe.

My faves are these: 

True red, more of an evening scent for me

and Inspire is a lovely fresh scent, that is perfect for daytime

Body Shop
It looks as though all their perfumes are vegan, but to be safe, I just search 'vegan' on their website then filter fragrance. Anyone else a 90s teen that misses Dewberry and finds White Musk super nostalgic?? No? Just me then.

If you do want a perfume from a high end brand, there are a couple of options:

Charlotte Tilbury - Scent of a Dream
Simon is actually getting me this for Christmas. It's tough to describe but it smells very grown up to me! In fact I've heard a few people describe it as 'granny-ish', which I'm totally ok with!

Pic from their website, obvs!

Illamasqua - Freak
One of my all time favourite perfumes!

Kat Von D - Saint & Sinner
I only have a small bag size of Saint and this was about £20 - the full size is about £60 I think. It's nice but I don't find it lasts all day. Plus this fucker leaked in my makeup bag on my way home from honeymoon and destroyed my ABH brow wiz, so I'm still salty at it! hehe

What's your favourite perfume, have I missed yours out?

Happy Fri-yay
Sal xXx

Lily England Makeup Brushes

Recently I was contacted by the owner of Lily England, who make really pretty vegan makeup brushes, asking if I'd like to try some of their brushes. I of course said yes please and they sent me this absolutely beautiful package of brushes!

The sent me two sets, one that comes in a lovely faux leather bag and contains 2 face brushes and 3 eye brushes. The bag is the perfect size for my makeup brushes and I took it with me on honeymoon as it holds quite a few!

They also sent me the 8 piece eye brush set

Hopefully you already know that I wouldn't recommend something just because I got it sent to me, so when I say I love these brushes you can trust that. I went on my hen do the day after I received them and they were thoroughly put through their paces!

In fact they were used on pretty much all 8 hens at one point or another over the weekend! At least one of my bridesmaids ordered the 8 piece set before we even got home and I ordered 2 more sets as birthday gifts for some friends of ours' daughters, who are just getting into makeup.

They are super soft and really pretty, which my terrible photography doesn't do justice to. I use the eye brushes basically every day, I love them and you will be seeing them next time I do a favourites / makeup video I'm sure.

Also, since I got these brushes, I ordered the face cleansing brush, which I also really like but I have only used it a few times so I don't have a full review of that yet. I have my eye on their rose gold detangling brush too, (yes I'm a sucker for rose gold!) so no doubt I'll be ordering that soon.

Laterz
Sal xXx

A Friday Quickie about Makeup Revolution

FRI-YAY!

If you saw my Beauty Chat Video recently then you'll have seen me talk about my frustration about companies like TAM Beauty who will not confirm which products are vegan.

Well I was super excited to read yesterday that they now do show this information on their website. I went and checked and yep, it's there!

I'm so excited that I can now recommend them again, as I do think they're a great, affordable and vegan friendly brand.

To check if a product is vegan, go to the product's page on the website and just scroll down (you might have to click 'ingredients':

click to enlarge

If you're looking for loads of affordable dupes for high end or non vegan products, check out TAM Beauty!

Have an awesome weekend!

Sal xXx

Poundland / Makeup Gallery Vegan List

So I've seen LOADS of people recommend the Poundland liquid eyeliner and when I googled it I found loads of people saying it's cruelty free but couldn't find anything concrete. UPDATE: THE LINER IS NOT VEGAN ANY MORE AS OF FEB 2019.

So I messaged Poundland and here is their response (TL:DR, I'm happy they're cruelty free and they also sent me a vegan list.) PLEASE SEE THIS POST FOR AN UPDATED VEGAN LIST - FEB 2019.

My questions plus their responses in purple:

The answers to your enquiry are below.

• Do Poundland/Makeup Gallery test on animals at any point in products (ingredients and final product), or do any 3rd parties do so on your behalf? I can confirm that none of the Make-Up Gallery products have been tested on animals, Our supplier has never commissioned animal testing to be conducted on the products that we sell.
• Do you ensure your suppliers are cruelty free? Yes
• Do you / would you test on animals if required by law? We currently sell Make Up Gallery inside the EU where it is illegal to be sell cosmetics tested on animals. There is no plan to expand the business outside the EU.
• Do you sell these products in any countries where mandatory testing is required (such as mainland China)? No

NB: just to make totally sure, I went back to them to double check that there is no animal testing by Poundland or suppliers on either ingredients or finished products and they confirmed there is not!

Please see list of products suitable for Vegans and or vegetarians

I'VE POSTED AN UPDATED LIST, 27 FEB 2019 - PLEASE CLICK HERE FOR UPDATED LIST.

So there you can. I can tell you I've tried the liquid eyeliner and that shiz doesn't budge so if you want a super cheap eyeliner that works, you can do worse than that one! 

Have an awesome week!

Sal xXx

W7 Very Vegan Makeup Range - Review

So recently I ordered some of the new W7 Very Vegan range. I talked about this in my Beauty Chat video but if you hadn't heard, affordable brand W7 released a totally vegan (and Vegan Society approved) range of makeup.

I ordered an eyeshadow palette, eyeliner, mascara, blusher, highlighter and a lipstick; here is the video of me trying them for the first time / first impressions.

I also wanted to use them all a good few times so that I could give you my proper opinion on all the products.

Starting with:

Eye Eco Eyeshadow Palette - £14.95
If you ever wanted a vegan (and more affordable) dupe for the Naked 2 palette from Urban Decay, this is a good option.

 (for full swatches, check out my video linked above!)

Overall I like this palette. The shimmers are pigmented and go on well, they last pretty well and the colours are nice. There's a bit of fall out, so be aware of that and maybe do your foundation first or put some translucent powder down to catch it. I should add that I have hooded eyes, so without a primer, even super expensive shadows will crease on me. I use the same primer I use with all shadows and these last as well as some of my more expensive ones. In the video I only primed one eye and the eye I didn't prime did crease.

If I had a criticism of the palette at all, it would be that there's only 3 matte shades, one flesh tone, one black and one that could be used as a crease colour; I'd have preferred a couple more matte crease shades, as I think only having one limits it a bit. But overall it's a good palette.

Eyeliner - £5.95
I don't like this eyeliner. Mainly because I am not a fan of stiff, nib style eyeliner applicators, which this has. I find it difficult to get a smooth line and really hard to draw a wing without blobbing it to hell. The actual formula is ok and lasts well so if you like this style of brush you may love it! But for me it's a no.

I also found that when going over it to make it fully opaque, it lifted some of the liner off!

Mascara - £7.95
I like the mascara. It is not my favourite mascara wand ever because I am messy and I like a nice thin plasticky type wand. But I do like this mascara. It holds a curl on me and doesn't flake. Also I cried a lot the other day and it didn't run down my face. So there's that. For the price, there's other mascaras I'd pick over this one.

Blush - £8.95
I LOVE this blush; it's my favourite thing out of all the items I bought. The colour I got is Sugar Sugar and it's the perfect peachy pink. I love it. It's a nice formula, it lasts well and doesn't look chalky. I also love the embossing - the heart detail. It's so cute. And it has a decent sized mirror. I would absolutely recommend this blush and will be buying the other colours!

Highlighter - £8.95
I like the highlighter. I got the paler of the two shades available and it's a touch darker than I'd like it to be. However, it's a lovely highlighter. You're not gonna be seen twinkling from space or anything but it is very nice and catches the light lovely. I have other highlighters I prefer and this is very yellow gold, but it is very pretty and I see myself reaching it for it often.

Lipstick - £6.95
I like the lipstick. Although I wasn't crazy about it at first, it actually lasted a really long time, I mean hours! Through drinking and eating which surprised me for it having such a slippy formula! I would buy more of these! 

So that's my thoughts on what I have tried so far. I didn't buy a concealer or foundation, as my skin is tricky to find good products for. However, at the price point W7 have set, I will probably try them at some point. I will probably also pick up some of the eyeshadow quads to try.

Oh and here's the look I came up with on the video! :)

Let me know your thoughts - do you think the range looks good? Have you tried anything? Would you?

Sal xXx

Aveda - Vegan List

So I was super excited to see that recently, Aveda were added to Logical Harmony's cruelty free brand list*.

UPDATE: Aveda are now 100% vegan!

Original Post:

Before the Estee Lauder buy-out, when they starting using the standard EL testing policy (I'm not sure if they ever actually went into the Chinese market or not!), I was a HUGE fan of Aveda. My number 1 all time hair product was their curl enhancing lotion. So to hear they are now CF again made my day.

I decided to contact them for a vegan list and it was very refreshing to receive a super helpful, polite email a couple of days later with the list of products that are not vegan (as it's shorter - weeee!). I say refreshing because I feel really frustrated this week with the cut/paste and unhelpful answers I've been getting from brands - but more on that in another post. For those of you here for the list, here it is (I've also pasted their response for information too) .....

Thank you for your interest in Aveda and I apologise for the delay in responding to you.

Sarah, although Aveda products are not certified Vegetarian or Vegan, many of our products contain no animal
derived ingredients. However, we have a small assortment of products that are made with beeswax or
honey since we have not found substitutes for these particular ingredients in those formulae at this time.
As of March 2013 you will find Beeswax or Honey in the products listed below. We are also happy to
provide the ingredient listings for any product you are interested in using for your review -- please contact
us with the specific product names.

Beeswax:
Lip Saver™
Lip Shine
Light Elements Shaping Wax™
Light Elements™ Texturizing Crème
Nourish-Mint™ Rehydrating Lip Glaze
Nourish-Mint™ Renewing Lip Treatment
Nourish-Mint™ Sheer Mineral Lip Color
Nourish-Mint™ Smoothing Lip Color
Uruku Lip Pigment
Uruku Color Gloss

Honey:
Phomollient™
Pure Abundance™ Volumizing Clay Conditioner
Pure Abundance™ Volumizing Hair Spray
Pure Abundance™ Volumizing Hair Potion
Pure Abundance™ Volumizing Shampoo

YAY, my beloved Curl Enhancer is safe! I should note that for those of you who avoid cruelty free companies with non cruelty free parent companies, Aveda are owned by Estee Lauder.

Have an awesome weekend everyone!
Sal xXx

Ps: * Logical Harmony's list is, in my opinion, the most thorough and my go to list for finding out if a brand is cruelty free. There are others I check if a brand is on the LH Pending or Grey Area lists and of course I spend a lot of time contacting brands myself too, but this one is the one I trust the most.

theBalm - Updated Vegan List

As this post is now pretty out of date, I contacted theBalm this week and asked for an updated list and here it is. If you're a fan of theBalm, bookmark this page, as I will update it here whenever I receive confirmation of new vegan items.

Vegan Options from theBalm
Read My Lips – all shades
Meet Matte Hughes – all shades
Pickup Liners – all shades
BalmShelter Tinted Moisturizer – all shades
Photobalm – all shades
timeBalm Primer
Put A Lid On It
Stainiac – Beauty Queen
Cheater Mascara
Whats Your Type? – Tall dark and Handsome + Body Builder
Schwing
Mad Lash
Mr. Write Now – excluding Scott + Raj
Overshadow – all shades
Sexy Mama
Bahama Mama
Instain – all shades
Balm Beach
Balm Springs
Mary Lou Manizer
Highlite N Con Tour
Meet Matte Ador
How Bout Them Apples

Just a quick one today but keep an eye out for a new beauty video going live on youtube tonight, which is uploading as I type!!

Sal xXx

The Big Fat Vegan Mascara List

A while ago I wrote this post about vegan mascaras you can buy on the high street. I thought it was time for an update (even though I do update that post regularly) to also include high end / online brands. I want to show there are tonnes of options out there for cruelty free AND vegan mascaras, so here we go.

Any brands that you cannot buy on the high street, I will link to a place online you can buy it. All these brands are cruelty free:

Key:
I have noted where a brand has a non cruelty free parent company with PC
If the mascara is waterproof I have noted it with W
If I have tried it and liked it, I have noted it with A


Arbonne
- It's a long story mascara

Aveda
- Mosscara

B. (Superdrug) PC
- Volumising Mascara
- HD Lengthening Mascara
- HD Dual Wand Mascara
(All B. Makeup items are vegan!)

Barry M
- Lash Vegas 2
They have a vegan mascara again - YAY!

Beauty Without Cruelty
- Waterproof W
- Full Volume A
- Ultimate Conditioning

(All BWC products are vegan)

Body Shop 
- Lash Hero

Charlotte Tilbury
- Full Fat Lashes
-

Ciate
- Wonderwand Mascara

ELF
- All ELF makeup is vegan W (option)

(Above link is ELF's website, but you can also buy ELF from Superdrug online and in selected stores.)

Eyeko
- Yoga Waterproof Mascara W
This is currently their only vegan offering.

GOSH
- Blown Away
- Rebel Eyes Mascara A
- Rebel Eyes Lengthening
- Volume Serum Mascara
- My Favourite Mascara W

Lavera
- Deep Darkness Mascara
- Volume Mascara
- Front Row Curl Organic Mascara

(Lavera's other mascaras have beeswax in)

Lottie London
- #Lashgoals

(#curlboss has beeswax in)

Lily Lolo
- Natural Mascara A

Lush
- Eyes Right Mascara

M&S Autograph
- Fibre Lash Enhancing Mascara (marked vegan on website)
- High Definition Mascara
- Amplified Lashes Volumising Mascara
- Neverending Lashes Lengthening Mascara
- Aqua Proof Water Resistant Mascara W
- Semi-Permanent Mascara

Medusa's Makeup
- Witch Lash Mascara

Milk Makeup
- KUSH High Volume Mascara
- KUSH Waterproof Mascara W
- Ubame Mascara


Neve
- DeerLash Defining Mascara

(Also available in the UK from Cute Cosmetics.)

NYX
On The Rise Volume Liftscara
(Also available in the UK at Boots and I think some Superdrugs)

Pacifica
- Stellar Gaze
- Aquarian Gaze W

PHB Ethical Beauty
- All in One Natural Mascara A

Pixi (online and in some M&S stores) 
- Lash Booster Mascara
- Large Lash Mascara

Smashbox PC
Full Exposure Mascara
Full Exposure Waterproof Mascara W
X Rated Mascara

Tarte PC
- Big Ego
- Lights, Camera, Lashes
- Gifted Amazonian Clay Smart Mascara
- Tarteist Lash Paint Mascara

theBalm
- What's Your Type: Tall Dark and Handsome & Body Builder
- Cheater Mascara
- Mad Lash A

Too Faced PC
- Better Than Sex
(The original, pink tube only, the waterproof has beeswax)

Tropic
- Fixing Gel Mascara

VE Cosmetics
- Mermaid Lash Mascara

W7 
- Very Vegan Mascara A


I have no doubt there are some missing; so I will update this list regularly as and when things change or I become notified of new options or discontinuations / changes in formulas.

What's your favourite? Have I missed it out?

If you liked this post or found it useful, please consider sharing it and also, come chat to me on Twitter or Instagram, if you like or if you're bored!

Sal
xXx

Last updated 02/08/2019

Flawless Makeup Brushes - Review

Upfront I will tell you I was sent these brushes for review, but hopefully you guys know that I will not recommend something I don't like....

That being said... I was contacted by the owner of Flawless Brushes recently about being added to my cruelty free brands list and she kindly offered to send me some of her brushes to try.

I've been using them for a couple of weeks now and I really do like them. In fact I have used them every. day. that I've worn makeup since I got them!

My favourites are this one:

A flat topped kabuki style brush. I use this for foundation; I'm a beauty blender girl usually but I absolutely love how soft this brush is and how flawlessly (geddit?) it blends out the foundation. Also, it doesn't absorb a tonne of product, so the brush doesn't get mingin dirty after one use. Great for lazy Bs who do not like to wash their brushes. Not that I'm advocating that... ok moving on.

I also love this diddy one. 

I won't lie, when I got this I looked at it and though, what the hell am I gonna use that for? I tried it to apply and blend out my liquid bronzer* and it does the job brilliantly. (*Nars' Liquid Laguna is vegan if you are looking for a very lovely liquid bronzer.)

The angle brush is good for brows or eye liner. Also, I discovered on Saturday when I had limited time and limited tools, that the brush in the middle is great both for putting shadow on the lid and for a super quick smokey lower lash line! So that's a bonus.

There was also another eyeshadow brush in the set, but it's dirty from use so not in these pics. It's a fluffy blending brush and I love it for exactly what it's meant to do!

I like the fluffy brush on the left in the pic below for setting my eyelid or under my eye with powder, as it's great for applying powder to small areas (I think it's actually meant for highlighting but I prefer a fan brush for that). I've also found that it blends out my cream/liquid blush really nicely too.

The big brush with the short handle on the right, I use for setting my whole face with powder.

A couple of other brushes are also missed out of my pictures due to needing a clean! A blusher brush (very similar in shape, but softer and less dense than the Real Techniques expert face brush, so I think that'd work well for foundation too) and a pencil brush. The pencil brush is a good size for putting colour under the lower lash line and in the inner corner of the eye and it's very soft so blends out the shadow lovely. Also, I think it'd be good for spot concealing.

As I said above, these brushes are super soft and fluffy. I have had a couple of hairs shed from them, but none on my face, just one or two when washing them. Nothing that causes me concern. Also, I'm an idiot and left one of the brushes in a bag for a couple of days with the dirty brushes and a damp sponge after a makeup job. Yes I'm gross. But the brush is still in tact (which is more than I can say for one of my crown brushes, which has lost most of the handle's coating! haha).

If you follow me on YouTube, then expect to see these brushes in a video at some point and if you're not then why not - go do it!! HERE ;o)

So if you're looking for some new brushes and want to support an independent and vegan/cruelty free brand, then check them out at https://www.myflawless.co.uk/.

Sal xXx

What to look out for when reading ingredients labels - makeup and beauty edition

I got a comment on another post recently asking if I could write a post about this topic and it's something I've wanted to write about for a while, so here it is.

To start with, here are a couple of resources for checking if a product is vegan. 

Firstly, my page of company vegan lists. Also on this page I have linked to lists that other bloggers have put together.

Logical Harmony is also a great resource for all things cruelty free and vegan, including vegan lists.

And one of the most useful tools I've ever found for shopping online especially, as you can cut and paste a whole ingredient list: Double Check Vegan. I'd highly recommend bookmarking this site.

So why am I writing this post? I see a lot of people say they don't understand the ingredients list or know what to look for and that's not really surprising. Ingredients labels can be super confusing, due to the EU laws regarding having to use chemical/INCI names in the lists. Quite often you'll see a list that looks like this:

Great if you know what all that stuff is, right? But if you don't, all those CI numbers are a bit scary. CI numbers are usually colourants; so in this list above we have Blue Lake colouring, Carmine, Mica, Chromium Oxide Green, Ferric Oxide or Red Iron Oxide, Black Iron Oxide, Manganese Violet, Tin Oxide and Titanium Dioxide, respectively.

The one to look out for there is Carmine, which you may or may not know, is a red pigment that is derived from crushed beetles.

Some brands will use the code as well as the common name for the ingredient (for example you might see Cera Alba listed, some brands will also put beeswax in brackets to help you out), like this list, where they have given the common name as well as the INCI code for the colourants:

So what should I look out for?

The most common animal based cosmetic ingredients I see on makeup, include:

- Carmine / CI 75470
- Beeswax / Cera Alba
- Lanolin
- Silk
- Honey / Mel
- Guanine
- Collagen
- Keratin
- Shellac

(Right at the bottom of the page, there is a little graphic I made of the above ingredients, so you can save to your phone and favourite it for easy finding later.)

These are the main ingredients that I personally look for when I'm reading ingredients. If I don't know the company well, I will probably email them and ask for a list or at least to see if they tend to use animal or vegetable based ingredients aside from the obvious ones; a lot of companies have started to swap out animal based ingredients for vegetable derived. Some brands I will buy if they do not contain any of the above ingredients.

But this list is not exhaustive. There are also some ingredients that can be plant or animal based and the only way to know for sure would be to email the manufacturer. Just a few examples include:

- Squalene (most commonly nowadays derived from olives but can also be extracted from shark livers!)
- Retinol (often animal based but can be sourced from plants)
- Panthenol (usually derived from honey or meat but can be veg-sourced)
- Glycerine
- Lecithin (can come from soy or from eggs)
- Stearic Acid

This is kind of the tip of the iceberg for ingredients that could be animal or could be vegetable based, which is why sites like doublecheckvegan are soooo useful!

The best way to know for sure is to email the company and ask. Also, google the company and vegan list as chances are another blog has done this for you.

There are some brands that will not confirm if products are vegan and you will have to go by the ingredient list. The ones that springs to mind here are NYX and the TAM Beauty brands (Makeup Revolution, Freedom and I heart Makeup). TAM Beauty for example, won't confirm if products are vegan, but when they first started they told me that the animal ingredients are obvious ones. So I go by that with them and read their ingredients labels. Generally if there's no carmine or beeswax you're good to go. (UPDATE: Please see this post about why I don't do this anymore with Revolution and NYX.) Kiko are another example; they have confirmed they only use carmine, beeswax and lanolin and everything else is vegetable derived, so those are the things to look out for on their labels.

Obviously this method is not fool proof and I've made mistakes before. So it really comes down to how comfortable you are about reading the labels and making a decision. Hopefully this will give you a good start.

Have I missed anything obvious? Please let me know in the comments or tweet me @sal_on_toast

Also, if anyone wants a more in depth post about labelling (for example what some ingredients are used for, +/- lists and their purpose....) just let me know.

Love & stuff
Sal
xXx

right click to save the pic below

Phil Smith Hair Products - Vegan Items

I've been using Phil Smith stuff for a while; it's awesome, cruelty free and affordable. I knew a lot of it was vegan so have just been checking labels while I waited for them to send me a list of the vegan items.

Anyway, the list arrived and here it is, so you don't have to spend ages in Sainsburys reading the labels! (They colour coded it too, which is awesome - colour of the box corresponds with the product's packaging colour!)

As far as I know, Sainsbury's is the only stockist at the moment. 

Sal xXx

PRODUCT

BE GORGEOUS BIG IT UP! VOLUME BOOSTING SHAMPOO, 350ML

BE GORGEOUS BIG IT UP! VOLUME BOOSTING CONDITIONER 250ml

BE GORGEOUS BIG IT UP! VOLUME BOOSTING MOUSSE 75ml

BE GORGEOUS BIG IT UP! VOLUME BOOSTING MOUSSE 200ml

BE GORGEOUS BIG IT UP! VOLUME BOOSTING SPRAY 200ml

BE GORGEOUS BIG IT UP! VOLUME THICKENING CREAM 100ml

BE GORGEOUS HELLO MOISTURE NOURISHING REPAIR SHAMPOO, 350ML

BE GORGEOUS HELLO MOISTURE NOURISHING REPAIR CONDITIONER 250ml

BE GORGEOUS GLAM SHINE GLOSSING SERUM 50ml

BE GORGEOUS GLAM SHINE GLOSS FINISHING SPRAY 75ml

BE GORGEOUS WOW! BRUNETTE SHAMPOO, 350ML

BE GORGEOUS WOW! BRUNETTE COLOUR ILLUMINATING CONDITIONER 250ml

BE GORGEOUS BOMBSHELL BLONDE SHAMPOO, 350ML

BE GORGEOUS BOMBSHELL BLONDE RADIANCE CONDITIONER 250ml

BE GORGEOUS SOS RESCUE DAMAGE PROTECTION IRON STRAIGHT MIST 75ml

BE GORGEOUS CURLY LOCKS CURL PERFECTING SHAMPOO, 350ML

BE GORGEOUS CURLY LOCKS REVIVE CONDITIONER 250ml

BE GORGEOUS CURLY LOCKS PERFECTING SPRAY 200ml

BE GORGEOUS CURLY LOCKS CURL CONTROL CREAM 100ml

BE GORGEOUS HOLD ON FIRM HOLD HAIRSPRAY 250ml

BE GORGEOUS HELLO MOISTURE INTENSIVE CONDITIONER 150ml

BE GORGEOUS BOMBSHELL BLONDE INTENSIVE TREATMENT 150ml

BE GORGEOUS TOTAL TREAT ARGAN OIL CREAM (ARGAN OIL), 100ml

BE GORGEOUS TOTAL TREAT ARGAN OIL (ARGAN OIL), 50ml

BE GORGEOUS COCO LICIOUS COCONUT OIL SHAMPOO, 350ML

BE GORGEOUS COCO LICIOUS COCONUT OIL CONDITIONER

BE GORGEOUS DRY CLEANERS REVITALISING DRY SHAMPOO

BE GORGEOUS DRY CLEANERS VOLUMISING DRY SHAMPOO

BE GORGEOUS GENTLY DOES IT! SHAMPOO

BE GORGEOUS GENTLY DOES IT! CONDITIONER