L'Oreal

L'Oreal is another name brand make up that has been around for a while now. After doing some research on their ingredients for their light/fair foundation I found that they use the following: Active Ingredients: Titanium Dioxide (10%). Cosmetic Ingredients: Boron Nitride, Kaolin, Isononyl Isononanoate, Copernica Cerifera (Carnauba) Wax, Calcium Gluconate, Manganese Gluconate, Magnesium Gluconate, Copper PCA, Aloe Barbadensis Leaf Juice, Tocopherol, Panthenol. May Contain: Titanium Dioxide, Bismuth Oxychloride, Mica, Iron Oxides.The only thing to really stick out would be the leaf juice or calcium.

http://www.lorealparisusa.com/_us/_en/default.aspx#/#/?page=top{userdata//d+d//|diagnostic|main:home|media:_blank|nav|overlay:_blank}&cid=lorus_rm_Google_Brand+Brand_Loreal

MAC

MAC is a high end brand of make up that has become more popular throughout the years. MAC carries absolutely everything that you could want in your make up bag. They also have hair products, nail polish, skin care, etc.

So far none of the make up companies we have researched have had a major impact on our environment. Could MAC be the one who changes that? Nope, they don't have anything on their ingredient list that is taking too much from the environment and hopefully they intend to keep it that way.

List of ingredients: Water/Aqua/Eau, Trimethylolpropane Triethylhexanoate, Cyclopentasiloxane, Isohexadecane, Caprylic/Capric Triglyceride, Polyglyceryl-6 Distearate, Microcrystalline Wax /Cera Microcristallina/Cire Microcristalline, Glycerin, Silica, Butylene Glycol, Isononyl Isononanoate, Trihydroxystearin, Euphorbia Cerifera (Candelilla) Wax/Candelilla Cera/Cire de Candelilla, Beeswax/Cera Alba/Cire d'Abeille, Tocopherol, Squalane, Lecithin, Ascorbyl Palmitate, Potassium Sorbate, Propylene Carbonate, Polyethylene, Dimethicone/Vinyl Dimethicone Crosspolymer, Triisostearin, Stearalkonium Bentonite, PEG-5 Soy Sterol, Sodium Dehydroacetate, Polymethyl Methacrylate, Sodium Chloride, Hydrogenated Castor Oil, Citric Acid, Hydrogenated Vegetable Oil, Methylparaben, Propylparaben

Studio Tech Foundation may contain:
Mica, Titanium Dioxide, Iron Oxides, Chromium Hydroxide Green, Chromium Oxide Greens, Ultramarines, Zinc Oxide

Here is MACs website: http://www.maccosmetics.com/index.tmpl
Here is the website I got their ingredients from: http://www.specktra.net/forum/thread/47655/foundations

Mary Kay

"Enriching Women's Lives" is the slogan Mary Kay uses to draw it's users in. Mary Kay is a consistent make up brand and tends to be directed toward older women and some younger adults. I, personally, do not know many teenagers who use Mary Kay as their main brand for make up.

Like many other companies Mary Kay does not do animal testing and even had many animal rights groups that she pushed in 1989. Mary Kay's ingredients were difficult to find and narrow down. The bulk of them though, Talc , Zea Mays (Corn) Starch, Zinc Stearate, Dimethicone, Boron Nitride, Zeolite, Methylparaben, Sorbic Acid, Ethylene/Methacrylate Copolymer, Propylparaben, Tetrasodium EDTA, Isopropyl Titanium Triisostearate, BHT, Iron Oxides, Mica, did not seem like they would hurt the environment. Mary Kay has a few foundations and seems to be doing her part with the environement!
She is open to Q&A on her website if you're interested in knowing more. 
http://www.marykay.com/default.aspx - is the link for Mary Kay's official website.

Clinique

Clinique uses the slogan, "Allergy Tested. 100% Fragrance Free" and seems to be one of the most popular brands of make up that has been around for a long time.

Researchers say that Clinique is referred to as an "open formula" company, which means they are open to constantly changing their ingredients in their products and improving it. Clinique does not use animal testing for their products, but U.S animal food industry by-products are used in the event that there are no other products that can produce the same affect that Clinique is looking for in their make up. Clinique has a very popular product, moisturizing lotion. Some of the ingredients in this lotion are purified water, mineral oil, sesame oil, propylene glycol, tea stearate, glyceryl stearate, lanolin alcohol, petrolatum, methylparaben and propylparaben. The last two ingredients are only added to give the lotion a longer shelf life.

To read more about these ingredients and the effects they have on humans visit: http://www.ehow.com/about_4710393_ingredients-clinique-makeup.html

After looking through many websites and environmentally friendly sites nothing stated that Clinique over used environment resources more than any other make up brand.

Cover Girl

Countless celebrities have been spokeswomen for the brand Cover Girl. The list goes from Queen Latifa to Taylor Swift with many more in between. What exactly is in this famous line of make up that makes all the celebrities want to endorse it?

Here is the link of the Cover Girl website: http://www.covergirl.com/?gclid=CISgmYiq96YCFY64KgodYUUzCA 

Cover Girl is one of the largest United States make up brands to conduct animal testing. The owner of the company, Procter & Gamble just recently started a program called "Clean Make up for Clean Water". This program sends money and water to developing areas when money is spent on their make up line. It sounds like Cover Girl is going what the can for the environment and economy by helping out.

Finding out what exactly was in the foundation for Cover Girl was difficult but Butane, commonly found in nuts from Shea trees in Africa is used. Hydroxyethyl-cellulose is also another ingredient and can be found in wood pulp. Those are the two ingredients found with information about where they come from. This doesn't tell us exactly whether or not Cover Girl is good for the environment or not, but with extra work and effort it foundations they sound like a well rounded company.

Bare Escentuals

Bare Minerals makes the claim that their make up is 100% natural. If that's the case, then their ingredients used must be from the environment, right? In order to find out what the scientists making bareMinerals are using I went straight to their website, and looked how their "Behind the Science" tab. The list was into three columns by skin care; Cleanse and Protect, Hydrate and Protect.


bareMinerals uses Glycolic acid in their foundation which is can be found in sugar crops. Glycolic acid is used to improve skins texture and appearance and reduce wrinkles or acne scarring. bareMinerals also uses Retinol which is an animal form of Vitamin A. Another ingredient Bare Escentuals uses is Mulberry (Morus plant), they are native to warm temperate and subtropic regions. For antioxidants bareMinerals uses Green Tea, green tea is made completely of leaves that undergo oxidation treatment. Research shows that regular green tea drinkers typically have a lower chance at having heart disease, but what does that have to do with make up? (Not entire list)

After reading several articles on the company and looking at what users had to say, bareMinerals has had almost only positive feedback from their customers. Their website lists all the ingredients to their make up and after doing research on most of them none of them were listed as harmful to the environment even if production does continue the way it is now. Although Bare Escentuals is all natural the products they are using do not significantly take away from the environment. It is a mineral based make up line and is also good for your skin. I personally use this product and have not had any problems with it, although it isn't cheap. I am happy to know that the money I spend on my make up is not adding to the destruction of an environment.

Here is the link for Bare Escentuals: http://www.bareescentuals.com/on/demandware.store/Sites-BareEscentuals-Site/default/Home-Show?brandId=BE

Introduction

The weekend rolls around and it's time to finally put some effort into what we look like. Most of the time we put on make up, and it becomes routine. Each person has a certain brand of make up they use, a technique in how they put it on and a designated amount that they wear. But what if those plants, animals and other natural resources used to help produce the make up we wear run out? I know, personally, that I don't think about that when I put on my foundation on. It seems that there are numerous places in the mall that you can purchase make up and the supply seems endless. What if that's not the case? This blog will focus on different brands of make up and the natural resources that are key ingredients used to make our favorite foundation, eye shadow, etc. It will not be focused on animal testing, that is a whole other subject.

Are the brands of make up you're wearing really worth the damage they could be doing to the environment?