Most of us are familiar with the terms “natural” and “organic” as applied to cosmetics, skin care, and mineral makeup; however, “vegan” may be something new to us.

So, what exactly does vegan mean? Veganism is a lifestyle that seeks to exclude consumption of any animal products, including but not limited to those animal products found in food, clothing, and cosmetics.

What Mineral Makeup Ingredients Should Vegans Avoid?

There are several commonly found mineral makeup ingredients that vegans should take care to avoid. These ingredients include carmine or carminic acid, which is derived from the carcasses of red beetles and is often used as a colorant in cosmetics.

Other animal derived products commonly found in makeup are beeswax and stearic acid, though stearic acid can be derived from vegetable sources, as well.

Vegan Mineral Makeup Companies

Several vegan mineral makeup lines have come to market recently, which makes it a lot easier for vegans to purchase mineral makeup, skin care, and cosmetics products without having to worry about going over ingredient labels with a fine-toothed comb. If companies promoting vegan cosmetics do have product exceptions (example: lip glosses which contain beeswax), they will almost always list those exceptions on their site or make an effort to inform you on product pages or ingredient listings.

Sevi Vegan Cosmetics

Vegan stands for cruelty free all the way at Sevi Cosmetics – this is Sevi’s tagline, and they take it seriously. In order to enforce their “no animal by products” rule, Sevi makes sure not to use any ingredient that may have been tested on animals at some point in the present or past. They also sell cruelty free vegan makeup brushes made from Taklon.

Monave

95% of Monave Mineral Make Up products are vegan. The only animal product used in their cosmetic line is beeswax, which is an ingredient in their potted liquid lip gloss. Monave also recycles all glass, plastic, and paper products in their warehouse and takes other steps to create a healthy, environmentally friendly working environment for their employees.

Von Natur

Von Natur vegan mineral makeup is cruelty-free, talc-free, fragrance-free, and non-comedogenic. They use candellia and meadowfoam waxes in place of beeswax, thus making their lip color line vegan, as well. Von Natur does have a list of exceptions – products containing carmine as a colorant – listed on their website to inform you before you buy.

Copyright 2007, Mineral Makeup Central. Reprinting of this article is prohibited without permission.

Tags: Vegan Cosmetics, Vegan Mineral Makeup