makeup – Green Vanity

Burt’s Bees

Burt’s Bees Greater Good purpose focuses on creating products and running a business that is better for people, themselves, and the environment. Their commitment to customers and the planet is shown through their natural and responsible business model. Additionally, I’ve been a longtime user of their lip balm before I was even aware of their clean and sustainability efforts.

Yes To

Known for their skincare products, Yes To prides themselves on delivering natural and effective products “free of the nasties and filled with the goodies.” From face masks to cleansers, the ingredients and packaging allude to the goodness of fruits and veggies that go into the formulations. Yes To is transparent with stating their ingredients are only at least 95% natural, but the company also runs their “Yes to Happiness” mission to empower like-minded women in their communities with opportunities. That’s worth a mention on this list.

Love Beauty and Planet

One of the newer brands I’ve seen at Target, Love Beauty and Planet first caught my eye with their down-to-earth approach in an advertisement on YouTube. Their brand has a wide array of hair and body products in several delightful scents. Aside from the clean and sustainably-sourced ingredients used, Love Beauty and Planet, as their name would suggest, gives love back to the planet by packaging their products with a conscious intent to reduce their carbon footprint. Once my current shampoo runs out (and I recycle it!), I will be snatching up one from them.

Pacifica

This 100% vegan and cruelty-free brand has bodycare, skincare, and cosmetics. After you finish using up the product, you can earn rewards for participating in their recycling program, partnered with Preserve. Just a personal plus, I’ve always been a big fan of their fun and tropical-esque packaging.

Method

This brand may be a bit surprising to include on this list, but Method sells body washes too, not just home cleaning products. Regardless, all their products are “planet-friendly” and their company and operation initiatives makes them standout. Method is animal-friendly, sustainability-focused, socially responsible, and climate-conscious, just to name a few.

Have you tried anything you love from these brands? Let me know in the comments.

I love beauty products and I love animals (I’m a proud cat mom of two) but I do not want beauty products and animals to have anything to do with the other!

When I mention “ethical” beauty on Green Vanity’s blog, I’m sure many of you have thought about ethical practices outside of sustainability and environmental concerns. There’s also the consideration for ethical practices concerning ingredients and product testing.

3229503641_73451ba405_o — *Photo courtesy of Nancy E. de Souza via Flickr Creative Commons*

The beauty world is increasingly becoming cruelty-free and pushing to end animal testing.

Just last week, it was big news in beauty. Australia’s Senate passed a bill banning cosmetic animal testing after The Body Shop Australia and Cruelty-Free International launched a partnered campaign that garnered 8.3 million signatures to end cosmetic animal testing.

When the whole movement for clean beauty first started as a trend, no one could imagine that it would become close to a new industry standard. The desire for safer, cruelty-free, and natural products will only increase in demand as particularly Millennial and Gen Z consumers expect brands and products to meet those standards. Beyond a marketing tactic, brands are either meeting or setting their own company standards to deliver the quality products consumers want. But what exactly is cruelty-free, or even vegan makeup?

Well, let’s look at the difference between cruelty-free and vegan cosmetics. Cruelty-free means that the testing of products or ingredients has not at any point been used on animals. It’s important to keep the whole process in mind when assessing if a brand is cruelty-free, for they may not test the final product on animals, but the separate ingredients used may have been tested on animals by a third-party supplier.

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The term vegan comes at no surprise to apply to more than just the food on our plates but to the products on our face. A vegan product does not contain any animal ingredient or animal-derived ingredient. There are plenty of common cosmetic ingredients that one would not immediately suspect to be non-vegan. For example, beeswax can be obviously not vegan. However, lanolin, used in many lip products as an emollient, is derived from sheep’s wool and would not be considered vegan as well.

Due to the difference in meaning, be aware that cruelty-free products are not always vegan, and vegan products are not always cruelty-free.

In fact, there’s such a thing as Halal beauty. Particularly popular in majority Muslim Asian countries like Malaysia and Indonesia, beauty brands are looking to achieve Halal certification to appeal to their Muslim consumers. Traditionally meaning meat prepared in accordance with Muslim religious law, Halal cosmetics must be free of several animal components and be cruelty-free. This would naturally appeal to certain vegan and ethically concerned beauty consumers, making Halal beauty an excellent choice beyond the consumer’s religious background.

Resources

While you can find hundreds of product recommendations online, for anything from cruelty-free or vegan foundations and red lipsticks to deodorant, knowing what to look for can help when you’re browsing the beauty shelves on your own.

You can discover whether any brand is cruelty-free by checking if they’re Leaping Bunny certified.

Additionally, familiarize yourself with animal-derived common cosmetic ingredients and potentially seek out products that use vegan alternatives.

Do it for yourself and for our furry friends! Let me know in the comments your favorite cruelty-free brand.

Tag: makeup

5 Natural Beauty Brands You Can Find at Target