Why The Next Makeup You Buy Should be Vegan

It’s good for our animal friends and your conscience. And the textures and colour payoff are just as good as non-vegan makeup. These products are as chic as they are mindful of their environmental impact.

- Sinead Lee

Wander Beauty Wanderess Seascape Eyeshadow Palette

Pick between warm and cool shades in matte and shimmery finishes. Its hydrating finish leaves skin looking luminous.

Many mistake cruelty-free for being vegan, but that’s incorrect. Before any beauty product can be vegan, it has to fulfil two criteria: It cannot contain any animal-derived ingredients or by products, and can’t have been tested on animals.

You’d be surprised at how much of your makeup comes from animals, such as gelatin (from animal collagen), moisturising agents like beeswax and lanolin (from bees and sheep respectively, and used in lipstick and mascara), and a red pigment called carmine (from beetles).

Even if you have no interest in living the vegan life, using vegan makeup doesn’t mean you have to compromise on quality such as colour payoff fand pigment intensity.

Yes, it does cost more, but since the formula omits preservatives, chemicals and artificial fragrance, there’s a reduced likelihood of you getting a skin reaction, like a breakout or skin inflammation. Although, you should be aware that even vegan ingredients can trigger allergies or sensitivity.

Buying vegan makeup also makes you a more conscientious shopper, forcing you to think about how your makeup is produced, where ingredients come from, and their impact on the planet. And that can only be good for both your mental well-being and the earth.

Here’s what you can buy, from both fully vegan brands and others that have rolled out vegan-friendly makeup collections but are not fully vegan. Yet.