Let’s talk about something near and dear to my heart. Make up. Specifically, foundation. It’s interesting how I love make up. However, I don’t particularly wear a lot. BUT, coming from a girl with far from flawless skin. I HAVE to wear full coverage foundation. Also, I am a black female. So, it can be frustrating at times when trying to find the exact color match. When I metamorphosed into a vegan. It went to nearly impossible to finding the correct shade. You may be wondering what can make a foundation (or any makeup for that matter), non-vegan?!
Well, let’s talk about that! Most of the makeup that we purchase for our eyes, lips and skin contains non vegan ingredients. Of course, we recognize Beeswax/Honey, Lanolin (wool grease), Collagen (placenta derived) and Elastin (animal connective tissue) as non-vegan ingredients. But how about: Squalene (shark liver oil), Carmine (crushed beetles), Tallow (animal fat) and Allantoin (cow pee)? Honestly, I wasn’t’ familiar with some of these ingredients until I started doing research. I’m sure this isn’t ALL the non-vegan ingredients that are used. However, these are the ones that are more commonly used in the industry. Also, did you know that just because a product says that it’s cruelty free doesn’t necessarily mean that it is a Vegan product? That is why it is imperative to look at ALL the ingredients before purchasing a particular product.
Now that we have been schooled. Let’s get back to the story! We as females, ALL know how difficult the task of finding the correct shade of powder/foundation. I explained that at the beginning of our discussion. Recently, I went to Sephora to explore. I did some research and had found some make up (foundation), brands that were totally vegan or some of their lines were (i.e., Kat VonD, Tarte, Cover FX and Hourglass). At this point I had tried most of the foundations in the store. They were either were not my shade or not enough coverage. Feeling defeated I asked the makeup artist if they knew of any other lines that carried vegan products. To my surprise she told me that Too Faced has a vegan line. It’s named Born this way! This foundation went on flawlessly. It was as if, I didn’t have on any makeup on. It was so perfect. I started to doubt the validity of the makeup artist. She assured me it was vegan. I found out not all Too Faced products are Vegan. However, this line of foundation is! I heard the birds a singin! I’m in foundation heaven!!! This product is so awesome! Not only does it go on flawless. It also gives me FULL COVERAGE with minimum product. It took me a couple of months to run out. Which is great because it costs around $40. I feel that this foundation is revolutionary (for me at least)! Also, Too Faced has a list of their vegan friendly products on their website. Here’s the link! https://www.toofaced.com/shop/collections/vegan-friendly/
So, the take away is: there are vegan make up options out there! We just have to do a little research ourselves in order to find these products! Personally, I think (slowly but surely), the makeup industry (and the world in general), are moving towards being more plant-based . Just my opinion. Anyhoo, happy vegan makeup shopping!
The Austin Vegan 