Choosing what brand of make up to wear often doesn’t cross our minds. We look for trendy, fashionable make up that stays on and does what it promises to do, but we very rarely actually look at the make up itself and find out what it is made up of, and how it came to be. Here are a few shocking facts about why you should care about what is in the makeup that you put on your body every day:

When it comes to make up, the FDA only requires that irritancy tests be performed to prove that it will not bother our skin. No long term effects or studies have been done on any make up products.

To test irritancy, many companies exploit innocent animals and use them.

Many chemicals that are in modern day cosmetics contain carcinogens, chemicals that are well known to cause cancer.

Our bodies absorb any where from 60-70% of what we put on our skin. As a matter of fact, some scientists predict that every woman absorbs about 2 pounds of harmful, toxic materials through heir make up in one year.

Petrochemicals. Parabens. Phthalates. FD&C colors and dyes. These are all harmful and toxic chemicals that are contained in mot make up that you will find in stores today. Unless you choose vegan cosmetics.

Vegan cosmetics are cruelty free. They do not test any of their products on animals or support the mistreatment and inhumane treatment of animals. Many people wonder just how a vegan cosmetic product can be proven to be “safe” for humans; there are alternative testing methods that are actually more effective and do not involve harming animals. It’s important for us to also recognize that the biological make up of a mouse or dog is far different than a human being, therefore any reactions to a beauty product may differ from species to species and is not accurate.

Vegan products also do not contain any animal products. Some animal products that you will find in standard department store makeup include:

• Beeswax and propolis (often debated as not being an animal product, so you may find some vegan products with beeswax or propolis)
• Carmine (ground-up cochineal beetles)
• Lanolin
• Milk products
• Hyaluronic acid
• Elastin
• Lard
• Silk

Not only that, but vegan makeup is also free of those harmful carcinogenic chemicals mentioned above.

Due to an increasing awareness of animal cruelty and how awful these chemicals are for us, the demand for vegan makeup is growing exponentially annually. This means that new and fresh vegan cosmetics are being produced and marketed to us. The quality of these products is also just as good as those department store cosmetics, and they’re better for your skin.

Oftentimes you will find that vegan makeup is also “organic”, though do not mistake them as meaning the same thing. “Organic” refers to there being no pesticides or other harmful chemicals being used on the plant-based ingredients that is in a vegan makeup product. To truly benefit from vegan makeup, always strive to also have it be organic.