Friday, September 7, 2007

I Need Some Help Here....

Growing up I always heard the rumor that mascara was made with bat droppings (eww! and NOT vegan). Still not sure if this is true or not, but by now I do know for certain that there are plenty of non-vegan ingredients in cosmetics. Which brings me to my dilemma. I do not normally wear makeup, not even to go out on weekends or anything like that. I am a strictly slather on some lip balm and go kinda girl. But for my wedding I'd like to look a little fancier :-) My bridesmaids and I will be having our makeup done for us at a place called I Natural in Peabody, Mass. I hadn't really thought much about it (soooo many other things to worry about), but I'm realizing now that most of their products likely won't be vegan. I'm going to give them a call today and ask what products they use and do some research online. But otherwise, I'm prepared to do some purchasing of my own and bring in those products for them to use. Seems a bit crazy, but I have no idea how to apply makeup, so it's best to let an expert handle it. So, my question for all you ladies (and guys too) is, do you have a favorite kind of vegan makeup? I don't even know what colors would look best on me, so I guess I will stick with neutrals. Any suggestions would be welcomed and much appreciated!
Sorry for the lack of photos, not much cooking these past few days. Tonight I have my bachelorette party (which includes cooking a vegan meal together!) so I'm sure I'll have some fun things to post next time!

17 comments:

Anonymous said...

You might try the Body Shop. They are super vocal about being anti-animal testing, so it stands to reason that they wouldn't be using too many animal products in their wares.

All the best wishes for your wedding - I am so excited for you!

Andrea Georgi

Kumudha said...

did a quick google search!

http://www.leapingbunny.org/shopping_guide.htm

http://www.idausa.org/facts/oldcrueltyfree2.html

http://www.vegfamily.com/lists/cruelty-free-companies.htm

Jenni (aka Vegyogini) said...

Check PETA's Companies that Don't Test on Animals list: http://www.caringconsumer.com/pdfs/companiesDontTest.doc

All the companies that are also strictly vegan are marked with an asterisk. Also, www.alternativeoutfitters.com carries a full vegan, cruelty-free selection of cosmetics. You'll find plenty of options by checking these 2 resources. Good luck!

r. said...

I get stuff from Origins. You can also try ELF (hppt://www.eyeslipsface.com), which is much cheaper. I don't have stuff from there personally because I need someone to pick out the makeup for me and show me how to apply it, and ELF is only online. I was just too dorky in junior high and missed out on all that =)

Anonymous said...

You know, I heard that same strange thing about mascara and bat guano when I was growing up. Where did that idea come from? WHY would that be true?

Anyway, I bought a nice mascara from veganessentials.com - they have a whole section for vegan makeup. That makes it much easier on you - they have done the research for you! I'm sure the other online vegan retailers have similar sections.

Does anyone know for sure - absolutely positive - that Origins stuff is vegan and cruelty free? I've wondered in the past - maybe I'll look into it if no one knows.

Good luck.

bazu said...

I love Origins stuff too, but like you don't wear a lot of make-up, so I'm at a loss.

There's one mascara that VegNews magazine just wrote about, called MarvaLash, that's vegan.
Here's their site:
http://www.marvalash.com/

There's another good (and cheap!) company called E.L.F. (eyes lips face that you can buy products from on-line: http://www.eyeslipsface.com/default.asp

My friend loves their stuff.

Two other companies I love: Aveda and Lush. Both are against animal testing, but have some products which do use animal ingredients (like honey or milk) so just check ingredients.

One thing about the Body Shop- they used to be a very animal-friendly company, until they were bought out by L'Oreal, which is one of the most animal UNfriendly companies out there. I don't like to shop at Body Shop that much any more because of that, but they swear that they're still maintaining their ethics standards, so it's up to you how you feel about that.

Let us know what you find and good luck!

Melisser; the Urban Housewife said...

OKAY, makeup artist chiming in here..
I'm on a quest to "veganize" my makeup kit & it's been a bit of a tough road because not all makeup will work for professional photography. That being said, you need high quality / high pigment products for your wedding day since you'll be photographed repeatedly & they need to look good on film, these photos will be around the rest of your life & then some!

Here's a thread with some cruelty free cosmetics talk on a makeup artist message board: http://p082.ezboard.com/fmakeupandrelatedindustriesfrm5.showMessage?topicID=10685.topic

I would go with products from Stila, Smashbox & Urban Decay, if possible. They're going to have the pigment load you need to create effective looks. There's a vegan product list in that link for Smashbox & Urban Decay, but Stila has just started forming their list at my request.

If you plan to wear foundation, avoid products with Titanium Dioxide in them, as it's a white pigment that will create a gray cast on your face when flash hits it. It's in most foundations, but if you go with one where it's one of the last ingredients listed or "may contain", you should be fine. That goes for face powder too! This is why mineral makeup doesn't work for photography, it uses TD & Zinc Oxide for coverage which reflects off camera flash & gives you ghost face!

I hope I've helped a bit! I know you'll look fabulous!

Melisser; the Urban Housewife said...

No problem! Oh & it's true, you do want to go with a neutral palette. Soft warm browns & not a lot of shimmer are ideal, you don't want to look dated when you look back at the pics! :)

Emilie said...

Everyone has give good advice about make-up products to buy, but if you don't really wear make-up maybe the core thing is going to a salon that will make use of vegan products for you and your party when you're getting the make-up done.

So if your wedding actually in Massachusetts? Well, if you want to switch salons from the one in Peabody I can highly recommend Pyara in Harvard Square, Cambridge (http://www.pyaraaveda.com/). I am not a make-up wearer at all, but I did want something for the day of our ceremony, so I went to Pyara and they did an amazing job. I felt comfortable and not over-made up, but still fancier than usual. None of the products they use are tested on animals and they'll use exclusively vegan products--lots of people who work there are vegan too.

I loved the woman who did my make-up and I always chat with her whenever I go in to get my hair cut, though I haven't had makeup done since. She's chill, she's real, she'll listen to what you want and provide helpful insight into what will work. Her name is Eva or Eve (I feel terrible, but I can't quite remember which).

So, a suggestion anyway. Good luck!

Olivia H. said...

I use ELF and Urban Decay stuff because my mom helped me look for the stuff what was animal free.

Don't use a lot of makeup on your wedding if you dont usually wear it cause you will look fake and not like what people are used to looking at and you will look at your pictures in ten years and say "why did I wear that eyeshadow its stupid." yeah, my mom said that, it's pretty funny cause she doesnt wear makeup so much either and did back when she got married just for the pictures and now she doesn't like them.

ChocolateCoveredVegan said...

Eww bat droppings! But then again, I guess it's no grosser than some of the stuff they really DO put in cosmetics and shampoos (and of course in food! Gelatin, anyone?). Have fun at your bachelorette party!!!

Anonymous said...

I don't wear makeup much either so I can't be of much help here but I'm interested in hearing what you decide to do.

I agree with Veg Barbie Girl - you definitely want to avoid looking unatural. For my wedding, the makeup gal convinced me to wear a darker lipstick because it would look better in photos. Every time I look at those photos I can't believe I agreed to it. Aaagghhhh! I think I posted a wedding picture on my blog if you do a search for wedding you could probably find it and see what I mean.

Peace, Love and Veganism said...

Love this post! I am really trying to cut out the animal products in my makeups and other skin/hair/body care uses. I have recently started using the tomato soap from Bert's Bees - yes, I know their company uses honey! - but it contains nothing bad for us vegans and it works really well on my oily-combination skin!
-Good luck on the wedding stuff - do a trial run with the makeup and hair is my best advice!

vko said...

You should definitely check out www.leapingbunny.org they have the definitive non-testing list.

I know Urban Decay & Hard Candy have listed their vegan makeup online- so definitely check that out- and of course go to Vegan Essentials- they carry vegan makeup.

Happy bachlorette partying!

Anonymous said...

i like lush, though 25% of their products are not vegan. it's easy to see which ones are, though. i think clinique is a good option, and ladies at a shoppe can help you pick up what you are looking for and show you how to apply things. aveda also carries cosmetics and they can do your make-ups on your special day at a salon. the natural tones are in right now, so i think you can look special without doing too much :) have fun!

Anonymous said...

Origins is owned by Estee Lauder. At least, I believe they are. Just a thought when considering.

Anonymous said...

I recommend Cosmo's Vegan Shoppe since they sell all-vegan stuff, so any makeup listed there is guaranteed to be vegan. They're also really good at mailing stuff right away.

Any place that sells vegan goods on-line is your best bet, because you can know that the products are well-researched and pretty much guaranteed to be vegan.

I dig E.L.F. a lot too since it's dirt cheap and yet DAMN good quality makeup, but just be careful b/c not EVERYthing's vegan on their site...

Good luck!