Hey peeps, I bet you all didn’t know that there are some nasty and cruel animal ingredients in makeup. More specifically your makeup.
You could be smearing bugs on your face or other not so lovely but you thought lovely contents!
If you really want to get an idea of a few of the most common animal ingredients and how they are extracted then please carry on and prepare to be shocked!
Cochineal
Cochineal also known as carmine is a colouring or should I say dye made from female beetles named cochineal hence the ingredients name. Do you want to know how it’s extracted?
Insects are literally crushed to death, which is how the red colouring is only obtained and did you know to make just a pound of dye a whopping 70,000 insects are used. Poor beetles!
Cochineal or carmine are used in many products including makeup related products like lipstick, blush, eye shadow and nail polishes. They are used outside makeup as well, in foods like yogurts, sweets, ice cream, syrups and many more products to create the red colour.
Alternatives are being tried like sweet potato or lycopene.
Guanine
Do you want to know where the pearly, sparkling shine is from in your makeup? No it’s not from anywhere nice as it looks!
Guanine is produced from the fishes scales, by heating it for a while.
Guanine is used in produce such as eye shadows, lipsticks, highlighters, bronzers, blush, primarily in items which have a shimmer to it but can also be hidden in products without the glitter to help create a transparent look. Facial creams have also been known to contain this.
Alternatives to guanine aren’t known at the moment but hopefully will be found asap. I mean ASAP!
Tallow
Right then are you lovely lot ready for the next one!
Tallow is an ingredient made from animal fat which can include sheeps, pig and cow to name a few. To produce this tallow, first the fatty tissue of the animal is chopped into pieces. Then they are boiled, where the fat is separated, making it much easier to collect.
Tallow or animal fat is found in makeup products such as lipsticks, foundations, moisturisers and various other skin care products like face creams. EEEK!
For those of you wondering what a good alternative could be, well it’s the one and only vegetable fat of course.
Lanolin
Lanolin may not be as worse sounding as some ingredients on this list but still we don’t know how the animal was treated. So now to tell you what it is, lanolin is naturally produced by sheeps from their skin to keep their precious skin all hydrated and healthy. A bit similar to the grease we get in our hair if we don’t wash it for a while.
The oily or greasy substance is usually obtained from their wool without the need to slaughter the animal. PHEW!
Lanolin can be used in products which require a little grease or wax to them. Items include lip balms, lipsticks, creams and even some makeup removers. But these aren’t the only products, there are many more.
Alternatives such as coconut and mineral oil have been said to be good.
Squalene
Have a guess where Squalene is extracted from? The name might give you a slight clue and bear in mind it’s not pleasant or pain free at all!
Squalene is produced by sharks. It’s an oil made in the liver. This makes the sharks a target to be caught and killed each year. And that is just for our use like many of the poor animals mentioned and not mentioned here.
Not to be confused with squalane, which is a substance derived from a plant called sugar cane.
Squalene is used as it’s considered highly moisturising therefore can be found in many moisturisers, lip balms, lipsticks and eye makeup.
Luckily a substitute of Squalene does exist, that is from plants such as olives.
Collagen
Collagen is derived from animal body parts which includes hooves, bones and ligaments. Animals used include cows mainly but can range from pigs to horses and fishes. By boiling the body parts, Collagen is created.
If your wondering what makeup products Collagen is used in then fret not. Items can include under eye creams and lip plumping gloss.
As Collagen is used to improve skin elasticity and moisturise, it means that your moisturiser, lotions, anti-aging creams as well as bath products can contain this.
Animals don’t have to be harmed as there are alternates such as carrageenan.
Beeswax
Beeswax as you can tell from the name, it is a wax secreted by the one and only bees, honey bees in particular (are there any other bee species, idk).
The whole reason why this wax is secreted is so that bees can create honeycombs. For their own consumption!
Wax is commonly used to stop emulsions from dividing into oil and liquid elements.
Beeswax can be found in mascaras, lipsticks, mositurisers and many other kind of sticky produce or creamy.
Wax provides a thick appearance but gives the product a smooth and flexible application.
Just because no cruelty has been mentioned doesn’t mean bees aren’t harmed. Alternatives are plenty available including plant wax.
Is that it?
Other animal derived ingredients include spermaceti. I know your probably disgusted by where you think it’s from but you could be wrong and it’s more sad.
Spermaceti comes from an organ which is located in the sperm whales or any whales head. So many whales are captured and killed just to obtain the oil from their head, when there are alternatives like jojoba oil which is from a plant and is totally pain free.
Spermaceti is often used in creams, ointments, candles and shampoos.
Thankyou for reading and hope you gained some useful information. If you have any suggestions or questions, as usual drop them in the comment section and I’d be happy to answer them.
Have a great day!?
