Ask Dolce Vanity | Animal Ingredients in Products

I asked my readers to leave me some comments on my feedback page to let me know anything you would like to see as a post or to ask me Q. I got a question that I thought was very important for me to address.

Dear Dolce Vanity,
Hope you're well! :) Just a quick question about your stance on animal products in make-up, since you're vegeterian but I believe some of the products you've used (e.g. MAC lipsticks) have animal ingredients (e.g. carmine) in them. As such, are you selesctive in the make-up products and brands that you use, both on yourself and other people?
xxx

Thanks Tasnim for your question.

I do try and be a good vegetarian and I'm still getting to grips with dietary, clothing, skincare & makeup that contain things from animals.

You may have noticed that I have used products in the last year that contain things from animals/insects :

De Tuinen Snail Gel [1]  Manuka Doctor [2]  

I don't mind ingredients that have been derived from animals / insects unless they haven't been harmed but of course it's hard to be 100% sure and seeing as they don't market these with a suitable for vegetarians / vegans label it does make me think from a company point of view as these are insects it's not as bad! Yet I view it as because I'm not a vegan I am a pescatarian I include dairy, honey and fish within my diet & at home skincare routine.

In regards to cosmetics now it's quite the same. You have companies that say they don't test on animals but use ingredients derived from insects such as Carmine is a red made from a crushed female Cochineal insect now unfortunately in this case they are killed for this. As I mentioned before it does seem as though because insects are not looked upon as a higher rank as animals it doesn't matter.

In regards to using on others it's a no go if it's coming from my own kit as I don't believe in using from companies who test products on animals. I am looking to invest more in vegetarian  - vegan brands. AVON is a company I use to buy specific products from and was even better as they had a no animal testing policy up until recently.

It's quite hard and some may feel it's slightly contradictory but you may view the fact that I eat fish and not meat as that too.

So in short, insects maybe in my eyes I haven't held them in a high enough rank as other animals. As I said I am still trying, researching and my views may seem a little odd but it is quite hard to do a lifestyle overhaul.

*phew* I must say I quite enjoyed that question and it really gave me something to think about.

if you have any other questions please do drop me a line on my feedback page!

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