Sustainable and Ethical Makeup
- Caroline
- Mar 14, 2020
- 5 min read
Why am I writing this post?
I wanted to write this post to help you look at the importance of where your dollars as a consumer go: What you give your money to has so much power (see more below)! This post is tailored toward ethical makeup brands that you can support.
You may feel like “what difference will my one (purchase/refusal/fill in the blank) make?” But I always keep the quote by Mother Theresa in mind: “We ourselves feel that what we are doing is just a drop in the ocean. But the ocean would be less because of that missing drop.” Change can be slow but what you do matters, and it only has to start with one person.
This blog post features cruelty free brands, zero waste brands, brands that use no harmful ingredients, brands that give back, and a note on brand ethics. However, I do encourage you to do research on your own favorite brands! Just because they don’t appear on my lists does not mean that they aren’t cruelty free/zero waste/etc.
Disclaimer: By no means is this a post to guilt trip you or make you feel bad for the products you like, have, or buy. This is purely for education and awareness, and if you choose, a way to change your current makeup routines. Also, this post is especially important for those of you who use makeup daily because your impact as a consumer is profound.
About Cruelty Free:
Cruelty free refers to not using any type of animal testing for products. Always use the official cruelty certified website (linked below) when checking to see if a brand is cruelty free because there is no regulation on beauty labels using phrases like “no animal testing” or “cruelty free,” so brands could potentially lie. Cruelty free is a great way to support animal causes and rights, whether you are vegan or not!
Cruelty Free
Bareminerals
Fenty Beauty (possibly)
Urban decay (however, slavery from mica mines may be a concern, see more below)
Body Shop (also partnered with a woman’s organization promoting fair trade and safe water initiatives in Ghana)
Anastasia
Lush Cosmetics (also Zero Waste! And they sell a Charity Pot product that gives back)
Tarte
Nyx
ColourPop
Elf (also a Buy 1 give 1 program, see here)
For more cruelty free makeup brands check out:
Cruelty Free Kitty for Blog Style Posts
PETA for the official reports on Cruelty Free
About Zero Waste:
Zero Waste is the concept of reducing/refusing consumption and reusing/recycling items after the have been used in order to lessen the impact in landfills. In a heavy consumerist society, it is important we limit our consumption and contribute the least amount of harm to landfills as possible. The beauty industry has a large footprint, so it is our job to support brands and products that lessen it. And remember, we are here for the Earth, the Earth isn’t here for us! We should make efforts to take care of the animals and plants now for the future generations. In addition to that, zero waste can actually help you save money and simplify your life, among other benefits.
About Harmful Ingredients:
If you live in the US, you need to know that they do not provide much regulation on ingredients in beauty products. Very few cosmetic ingredients or chemicals are banned, despite the strong evidence of their harm. So, it is our responsibility (even if you live outside the US) to know what we are using and what to avoid. Beauty Counter has an awesome section on their website regarding this issue (see here) and details how we can get involved in holding our government accountable for keeping us safe (advocacy here and join here). Side note: Various phone apps allow you to scan products, and they will provide you with a safety rating based off of its ingredients. This is a great way to keep the products you buy clean.
Cruelty Free, Zero Waste, AND No Harmful Ingredients:
Beauty Counter (Headed towards a Green Initiative, see here)
Eco Tools
Fat and the Moon
Dirty Hippee
Clean-Faced Cosmetics
Axiology
EcoMinerals
Elate Cosmetics
Burt’s Bees (You may be questioning this one, but after I visited their “About Us” tab on their website, I was pleasantly surprised. Only some products are completely clean though. Also, if you purchase online, some money will be donated!)
For more information on 0 waste products:
Blog by Kathryn Kellogg (Going Zero Waste)
Blogs from Zero Waste Nest
For more information about the importance of using clean makeup products:
American Cancer Society on Cosmetics
About Brands that Give Back:
All of us live a very blessed life, so it is important we give back to help those who do not have the same blessings as we do. If you do not have time to donate in service, money is another amazing way to provide support to those in need or to donate to causes you are passionate about! I encourage you to check each of these brands below to learn more about the specific way they give back to the community. There is a variety of neat and incredible causes they support! And how awesome is it to buy something for you that also gives money back? It is a 2 in 1 deal!
Makeup Brands that give back:
Thrive Causemetics
Lancome
JuleP
Au Naturale Cosmetics
Sephora has various different year round projects
Many brands do seasonal projects for example Laura Mercier donates 100% of the profits on her Limited Edition Face Palette in September for women’s health
More info on Brands Giving Back:
It’s important to note that brands that give back include those that are zero waste friendly and cruelty free. They may not give money back, but they are giving back to the environment!
Ethical Consumer Blog Post
ETHICAL BUYING:
One more important issue to be aware of is slavery, particularly concerning Mica Mines. This is often an overlooked issue due to the complex nature of tracking slavery through the product chain. It is difficult to determine which brands buy ingredients directly from exploited labor or that are laced with those ingredients because such reports are not required by law. As consumers, we must demand our government to require our businesses to be more transparent about their ingredients. We must also demand that responsible sourcing become an integral part of our law system. See more here: Ethical Unicorn and Beauty Counter on Mica.
Makeup Brands you should try to avoid or advocate for change:
After much research, many drugstore makeup brands fall onto lists of toxic (as in bad ingredients, ethics, and not cruelty free) makeup brands to avoid. The worst culprits included Maybelliene, L’Oreal, Covergirl, and Revlon. Even some upper scale brands like Bobbi Brown, Estee Lauder, and Lancome were also consistently found on lists of brands to avoid. The list is vast, so I encourage you to check into your own favorite brands to see where they fall. I was disappointed to discover all of this because I own and like products from many of them; however, I will be looking for more sustainable and ethical replacements once they are out. It is important to make a choice as a consumer to not continue to buy harmful and unethical products for our own health, the safety of others (in reference to slavery), and the well-being of the Earth. You will thank yourself later.
Conclusion:
Thank you all so much for taking the time to read and invest in this post. I am extremely passionate about ethics and sustainability as a consumer, and I hope that you will find yourself interested in it now as well. Your money matters and so do your choices.
Caroline
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