How Ethical is my Make Up Collection?

Take a peak inside my make up collection and dive in deep to the ingredients list.

So I did this at the end of last month for my skincare products and thought I might as well go through all my makeup as well. As always everything I own is already cruelty free so I knew that wasn’t going to be an issue; I wanted to look more into the ethics and sustainability of the brands and the ingredients lists.

Starting with base, I have two foundations that I flit between, first up is Illamasqua Skin Base; the only fault is the plastic packaging, nothing bad in the ingredients list; Illamasqua as a company have great values so when this does run out I may look for a foundation with a glass bottle but if I can’t find one that matches my skin tone I would repurchase as a little goes a long way. The other foundation I use is the Nip+Fab Foundation, it’s a great high street product and again the only downside is the plastic packaging.

When it comes to concealer I have been using the LA Girl Pro Conceal for the longest time and I love it! However after going through the ingredients list it does contain Ascorbyl Palmitate (which derives from Palm Oil) so once I’ve used my back up ones I will go on the hunt for a new concealer. I am a liquid highlighter lover and the No7 Skin Illuminator gives just the right amount of radiance, it does come in plastic packaging so would be good to find a replacement that comes in a glass bottle, any suggestions would be much appreciated.

I have powder eye shadows from three brands; Anastasia Beverly Hills (The Modern Renaissance Palette), Illamasqua (Stealth)  and Make Up Geek (various).  ABH packaging wise, there is some plastic involved but the shadows basically last forever, what would be great would be if they sold refills so you didn’t have to buy a whole new palette each time. I only have one eye shadow from Illamasqua, my beloved Stealth which I use every time I put make up on. I will look into replacing this with a shadow that doesn’t come in so much packaging but am yet to find the same creamy white. Make Up Geek, is the best one for packaging as they come in individual pans in a cardboard case for you to build your own palette. All of them were fine ingredients wise.

In terms of cream shadows, I have Illamasqua Hollow, literally my holy grail make up item which has broken my heart due to it having Candillia Wax in it. Anyone who has been reading my blog for a long time will know that any photo of me wearing makeup I have Hollow as a base, so not sure what I’m going to do about replacing this when it runs out, suggestions in the comments please. The New CID I Colour in Crystal Quartz get’s most of it’s use at Christmas because it’s so sparkly, it of course comes in plastic packaging but is fine ingredients wise. I probably won’t repurchase this when it runs out but a little goes a long way so I don’t see that happening for a while.

I don’t wear eyeliner or mascara but as we all know I love an individual lash. There is not too much information on whether they are recyclable or not, obviously they come packaged in plastic and are made of a plastic of some sort so I need to do some more digging in regards to this. I have always used Duo Lash Glue again it comes in plastic but I don’t think I’ve ever seen a lash glue that doesn’t (if i’m wrong please tell me!)

Brows wise, I have jumped on that Soap Brows hype! Ingredients wise it’s all ticks, the spoolie handle is made of bamboo and the tin is recyclable, plus it fluffs up those brows perfectly. I dom’t always fill them in as they don’t need to much help however I do sometimes use the Eylure Brow Pomade (I also use this as a liner before putting my lashes on so they blend in better). It does come in plastic but I don’t know of a brow pomade that doesn’t – if I’m wrong please point me in the right direction!

Lipstick and me don’t always mix, day to day I just pop on some lip balm and that’s me done however for special occasions I will go the whole hog! I only use two brands; MDM Flow Liquid Lipsticks and Lavera Lip Pencils (gifted). Surprisingly Lavera contains Candeillia Wax, although they do state that it is from certified organic agriculture it doesn’t tell us if the workers are being paid well or given safety equipment. The MDM Flow is in plastic packaging but as a little goes a long way and I’m not churning through them, I will repurchase once I run out.

If you made it this far, congratulations because that was a mammoth post. If you haven’t read my How ethical is my skincare routine? yet then jump on over there now and if you have any suggestions of products I could use to replace then please do let me know in the comments.