Lets take some of the ingredients. The main
ingredient in all cosmetics is oil/grease. Unless it specifically says
plant oils ,where does it come from ?
A
rendering plant is a collection centre for all kinds of dead animals.
Carcasses of every decaying body come from everywhere,including factory
farms where disease has decimated herds of swine,cattle and poultry. At
the plant, the bodies are all dumped together into a huge cooking pot.
After a period of cooking, the bodies are subjected to extreme pressure
in order to extract the fat from bones,skins, etc. Old cooking grease
thrown out by restaurants is added in the pot. Fat is the final product
of the plant.
A majority of this fat is
sold for cosmetics, especially to manufacturers of lipstick and eye
makeup. Some of the most prestigious cosmetic companies in the country
are the chief customers of rendering plants. Anyone looking at the
elegant ads portraying glamorous models wearing beautiful makeup would
never suspect that it is truly a makeup of the refined, colored and
perfumed oil derived from dead dogs, cows or pigs. How much of this
abominable blend is ingested into the body from the lips and the pores
of the skin?
Keratin is a protein taken
from the horns , hooves,feathers, quills and hair of animals, the
scales and claws of reptiles, the shells of tortoise,turtle,terrapin,
and the feathers, beaks and claws of
birds,the armour of crabs,the
plates of baleen whales.It is used in shampoo, conditioner,bodywash,
body lotion, toner, facial moisturizer,makeup foundation, mascara,
lipstick, color cosmetics in hair rinse,and permanent wave solutions
(perms).Then there is Gelatin or Gel used in shampoos, face masks, and
other cosmetics. This is made by boiling skin, tendons, ligaments, and
bones with water. Alternatives: carrageen , seaweeds , agar-agar,
pectin from fruits, dextrins, locust bean gum, cotton gum, silica gel.
The
perfumers use Ambergris from whale intestines. Castoreum from muskrat
and beaver genitals and civet paste which is an oily secretion
painfully scraped from a gland very near the genital organs of civet
cats.
Then come the fatty acids..
Stearic
Acid: Fat from cows, sheep, dogs and cats,the stomachs of pigs. Used
in cosmetics, soaps, lubricants, hairsprays, conditioners,
deodorants,creams, Also known as: Stearic Hydrazide, Stearamide,
Stearamine,Stearates, Stearyl Betaine, Stearyl Imidazoline, Stearoyl
Lactylic Acid, Stearone, Stearoxytrimethylsilane. Alternative vegetable
fats, coconut Hyaluronic Acid.:A protein found in umbilical cords and
the fluids around the joints. Used as a cosmetic oil.
Alternative: Plant oils
Arachidonic
Acid:A liquid unsaturated fatty acid taken from the liver of animals .
Used in skin creams and lotions to soothe rashes.
Alternatives: synthetics, aloe vera, tea tree oil, calendula ointment.
Linoleic Acid, Nucleic Acid : Used in cosmetics, shampoos,conditioners, etc. .
Oleic
Acid :Usually obtained commercially from inedible tallow. In soft
soap, bar soap, permanent wave solutions, creams, nail polish,
lipsticks, many other skin preparations.Also known as: Oleyl
Oleate,Oleyl Stearate. Alternatives: coconut oil.
Palmitic
Acid :From fats, oils . Mixed with stearic acid. Found in shampoos,
shaving soaps, creams. Also known as: Palmitate,Palmitamine,
Palmitamide. Alternatives: palm oil, vegetable sources.
Myristic
Acid: In most animal fats. Used in shampoos, creams,cosmetics. Also
known as : Isopropyl Myristate, Myristyls, Oleyl Myristate, Myristal
Ether Sulfate. Alternatives: nut butters, oil of
lavage, coconut oil, extract from seed kernels of nutmeg, etc.
Glycerin,
Glycerol: A byproduct of soap manufacture (normally uses animal fat).
Alternatives: Vegetable glycerin – a byproduct of vegetable oil
soap.seaweed,. Unless it specifically states vegetable glycerin it is
usually the one derived from animal fat.
Mink oil :is made by killing minks and taking the fat layer they have just under their skins. Some cosmetics companies take amounts of mink oil from live minks. by inserting a needle into the abdomen and extracting the fat. Used in moisturizers , anti aging creams andsoftening leather. Alternatives nut or seabuckthorn oil
Tortoise
oil and turtle oil: extracted from internal organ fat of sea turtles.
In soap, skin creams, nail creams, sun protection creams
Alternatives: vegetable emollients
Cochineal
: Red pigment from crushed female cochineal insect. 70,000 beetles re
crushed to make one pound of red dye. Used in ALL red/pink colouring
in cosmetics
Spermaceti: Waxy oil derived
from the sperm whale's head or from dolphins. Used in skin creams and
shampoos . When wax is used it is called Cetyl Alcohol. Alternatives:
vegetable cetyl alcohol (e.g.,coconut), synthetic spermaceti.
Allantoin.:
Uric acid from mammals. In cosmetics (especially creams and lotions)
Also known as: Alcloxa, Aldioxa. Alternatives: extract of comfrey root,
synthetics.
Carbamide.: Excreted from urine.
In deodorants, hair colorings, hand creams, lotions, shampoos, etc.
Also known as: Imidazolidinyl Urea,Uric Acid. Alternatives: synthetics.
Cholesterol:
A steroid alcohol in all animal fats and oils, nervous tissue, egg
yolk, and blood. Can be derived from lanolin. In cosmetics, eye creams,
shampoos, etc. Steroids or sterols from animal glands . Steroids
include sterols which are alcohol from animals or plants. Used in
creams, lotions, hair conditioners, fragrances.
Alternatives: plant tissues, synthetics. sterols from plant sources.
Collagen.:Fibrous protein derived from animal tissue. Used in anti ageing creams.
Alternatives: soy protein, almond oil, amla oil .
Elastin.:Protein found in the neck ligaments and aortas of cows.
Similar to collagen. Alternatives: synthetics, protein from plant tissues.
Guanine.
Pearl Essence: Fish scales. Used in shimmery makeup like lipstick
,nailpolish and eye shadow. Alternatives: mica, rayon,synthetic pearl.
Placenta.
Afterbirth: Contains waste matter eliminated by the fetus.Derived from
the uterus of slaughtered animals. Animal placenta is widely used in
skin creams, shampoos, masks, etc.
Alternatives: kelp
Shark Liver Oil.or Squalene :Used in lubricating creams and lotions.
Alternatives: vegetable oils.
Tallow.
Tallow Fatty Alcohol :Rendered beef fat. Tallow Acid, Tallow Amide,
Tallow Amine, Tallow Glycerides, Tallow Imidazoline,Talloweth-6, Sodium
Tallowate. In soaps, lipsticks, shaving creams, other cosmetics.
Alternatives: vegetable tallow, paraffin and/or ceresin.
Quaternium 27: From tallow. Found in deodorants, skin care preparations.
Vitamin A: Can come from fish liver oil. Used in creams, perfumes,hair dyes, etc. Alternatives: vegetables, synthetics.
Biotin:
Vitamin H. Vitamin B Factor. In every living cell and in larger amounts
in milk and yeast. Used in cosmetics, shampoos, and creams.
Alternatives: plant sources.
Panthenol:
Dexpanthenol. Vitamin B-Complex Factor. Provitamin B-5. Can come from
animal or plant sources or synthetics. In shampoos,supplements,
emollients, etc. Derivative: Panthenyl.
Vitamin D-Ergocalciferol, Vitamin D-2- Ergosterol, Provitamin D-2-Calciferol.
Vitamin
D-3: Vitamin D can come from fish liver oil,milk, egg yolk, etc.
Vitamin D-2 can come from animal fats or plant sterols. Vitamins D-2
and D-3 may be from fish oil. All the D vitamins can be in creams,
lotions, other cosmetics, vitamin tablets, etc.
Alternatives: plant and mineral sources, synthetics.
Wax.:From animals and plants. In lipsticks, depilatories, hair straighteners.
Alternatives: vegetable waxes.
Lard: Fat from hog abdomens. In shaving creams, soaps, cosmetics.
Alternatives: pure vegetable fats or oils.
Polypeptides: Obtained from slaughterhouse wastes:
Alternatives: plant proteins and enzymes.
This
is a very small list but enough to let you make an informed choice.
"Natural Sources." can mean animal or vegetable sources. Most often in
the health food industry, especially in the cosmetics area, it means
animal sources. Such is the hypocrisy of the companies that use these
products that they boast "NO ANIMAL TESTING" on their products !