I've had a few people ask me about vegan hair care recently and realized that I hadn't done a post on Giovanni Cosmetics - a great company that I first heard about though our favourite online store: Vegan Beauty. Giovanni are based in California where they manufacture a nice selection of cosmetic products composed of natural ingredients in Eco-friendly packaging. None of their products have ever been tested on animals and with the exception of their lip balms and the Magnetic Hair Care range  (which contains lactoferrin) all of their products are vegan. This includes VEGAN HAIRSPRAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! There is no limit to the excitement I have for this product - especially as I managed to get my hands on a bottle recently and it's really great stuff - I'd highly recommend it to all of you. As well as being cruelty free and vegan this product gains extra bonus points as it comes in a spritzer bottle rather than a pressurized can which means no nasty CFCs either!!! Excellent.... Giovanni, you've found yourselves a life long customer :)

Today is an amazing day that will go down in history as a serious landmark in the fight for animal rights. The European Union has at last banned animals testing for cosmetics in Europe :) Finally an end to the horrific inhumanity that has been conducted in the name of 'beauty' - the ban means that any new product wishing to find a place in the European market is not allowed to have had any of its ingredients tested on animals anywhere in the world.  Now we just have to keep pushing and get the rest of the world to follow! I just hope all those poor bunnies are going to good homes - something worth looking into I think.
 
Thank you to everyone who has made this possible - the wonderful folk over at BUAV and leaping bunny who have been pushing for this for decades, everyone who spread the word, signed petitions, spoken out for those who have no voice and supported cruelty free products - you are all damn amazing and have helped to make this planet a better, kinder place.

Origins have all the tell tale signs of being a wonderful company - they have a wide selection of cosmetic products ranging from makeup to suncream, and pride themselves on using 100% natural oils and organic ingredients. All of their products are free from parabens, propylene glycol, paraffin, DEA, phthalates and animal products with the exception of a few which contain organic beeswax and honey AND nothing is tested on animals so the majority of their products are happily vegan and cruelty free :) Including some rather lovely looking synthetic brushes - hoorah!

Sound good? Well it gets even better!!  The wonderful folk at Origins are also doing their bit to look after the planet and manufacture "using a combination of renewable resources, wind energy and earth-friendly practices". In addition they run a recycling program for their containers, use recycled paper and cardboard in their packaging and are also huge contributors to the Earth ReLeaf programme which focuses on planting trees - and has so far planted over 25 MILLION in the USA and internationally.

It always makes me very happy to see a huge company taking their responsibilities seriously and conducting business ethically - something we'll hopefully see a lot more of in the future.

I'd like to share with you this little beauty of a product: Studio High Definition Powder from E.L.F (Eyes Lips Face) Cosmetics. I discovered it a couple of years ago when working on a film in Sydney. The camera we were shooting on was very new and of the super intense HD variety - news which immediately put me on the case of ensuring that I had a good range of HD friendly makeup at my disposal. When looking for a good translucent powder the first product I came across was Makeup Forever's HD powder which had great reviews and comes at $48 a pot. Luckily I continued my research and stumbled across this little beauty which is pretty much exactly the same with one major difference - its only costs $12!! Plus there's the fact that all of E.L.F's cosmetic ingredients happen to be certified vegan friendly and cruelty free by both Leaping Bunny and P.E.T.A - something which unfortunately Makeup Forever currently fall short on on both accounts...
This product is really wonderful - its very fine and smooth, completely translucent and is perfect for setting makeup for the all seeing eye of the HD camera. Simply buff a small amount into the skin with a kabuki brush and your makeup is set, shine free and ready to film!

E.L.F cosmetics have a large line of very reasonably priced cosmetics (the rest of which I have yet to try) and are available via national websites in Australia, the USA and some of Europe including the UK, France & Germany. Visit their websites to check out their full range and get this amazingly valued addition to your kit.

*Do note that E.L.F's some of E.L.F.s brushes contain horse hair - however I've been assured that the professional line is 100% synthetic.

The term "Maximum Tolerated Dose" refers to an animal/human experiment which is still used to determine the highest levels of a chemical that a group of test subjects can withstand without dying due to toxicity. As I'm sure you can imagine to determine such a dosage often has fatal consequenses for a horrific number of subjects and let's face it - they're not really going to be doing these tests on human are they?

Canadian director Karol Orzechowski has borrowed the term to title his new documentary - the first feature length investigation into the hidden world of animal testing and vivisection. Containing footage and testimonials from former lab workers who had a change of heart about their work as well as charting the lives of the animals who have suffered in 'the name of science', Orzechowski's documentary is said to approach an old debate with new insight and is set to become a very important work for the animal rights movement.  Since it's release in Canada, the States and the UK last year M.T.D has won Best Feature for Animal Advocacy at the Artivist Film Festival in California and was the proud recipient of the first LUSH Public Awareness Prize.

For those of us hanging around in the Great Down Under - Maximum Tolerated Dose will soon be premiering in Melbourne (5th Feb) and Sydney (12th Feb). Visit Humane Research to book tickets to the screening and a Q&A session with the director.

To find out more visit the Official Website and join their Facebook Page

I'd like to share with you a new and exciting company I found recently: Vegan Faces is based in the UK and they make a great range of products including (drumroll please...) vegan facepaint, hoorah!!! All of their products are made by a professional cruelty-free make-up manufacturer, and include such deliciousness as organic avocado oil based lipsticks, pro-vitamin B-5 enriched mascara and organic mint lip shimmer so they're not only animal friendly but skin friendly too! As is this wasn't all awesome enough already they're also currently offering a 10% discount on all products AND free delivery on orders over £50 in the UK and over £75 worldwide. Head over to their website & online store to check them out and then bumble over to their Facebook page to get updates on delicious new products :)

The wonderful people over at Furless Cosmetics recently interviewed me about being a cruelty free artist for their blog! To check it out head over to their website and then why not have a peruse of their vegan and cruelty free brushes and cosmetics? These wonderfully lovely people ship world wide at a flat rate so their products are available to everyone!

I'd like to say a huge thank you to Furless Cosmetics who recently wrote to tell me that I'm the newest addition to their list of cruelty free makeup artists, hoorah! Furless are a PETA accredited vegan & cruelty free company who have a great range of synthetic brushes available for worldwide order. These include bamboo handled brushes like those made by ECOTOOLS, which are a personal favorite due to the fact that bamboo can be easily be grown and harvested sustainably & is of course biodegradable. Furless also make a range of mineral cosmetics and supply a multitude of accessorize such as bags and travel cases for your kit. Visit their website to have a cheeky peruse...

The E.U. was meant to be bringing in new legislation in 2013 that would totally ban the sale of cosmetics which had used animal testing. This was decided years ago and cosmetics companies were given ample warning to prepare themselves for the change over....however now that the date is drawing near officials are considering extending the deadline for anything up to ten years!!! Please visit No Cruel Cosmetics to sign the petition and let them know that the continued cruelty to animals in the name of beauty is totally unacceptable and unnecessary. Thank you!!!!

Over the last year I found myself doing a lot of research into food production and subsequently into animals rights. I decided to become vegan in November, a decision which has influenced not only what I eat but also the products I use. I thoroughly believe that all living things have the right to live a free, happy pain free life and I absolutely refuse to support any company partakes in harfmul practices. As a make up artist I have quite a sizable kit and to my horror I've discovered that a  few products which I use and love either contain animal derived ingredients or have been tested on animals. Needless to say I am less than happy about this and have set myself a goal of assembling a completely cruelty free kit - from brushes to bases I want to find products from ethical companies which have caused no pain in their production. I also want to find products that use organic ingredients and stay well clear from harmful chemicals or GM ingredients. So from now on, whenever I run out of something it will be replaced with vegan friendly products and I will share what I find right here in a new section which I'm putting together.

To get started check out the list of accredited cruelty free companies by clicking here - if you have one of those snazzy iphone jobbies you can download a FREE handy app as well to keep you updated! How good is that?

We can start with one awesome company that I found a few months ago: ECOTOOLS. These guys really are awesome, they make really great cruelty free brushes with synthetic fibers, bamboo handles and recycled aluminum ferrules. Unlike some synthetic brushes these are incredibly soft and very well made - you'll have a hard time believing they're not made from hair! Their selection is still quite small but the ones available are all sorts of awesome and I thoroughly recommend them. They also make bath products and make up bags - and even use responsible packaging.

If anyone out there has any recommendations please feel free to contact me and let me know!