Vegan makeup is neither eco nor free from having been tested on animals Vegan makeup is neither eco nor free from having been tested on animals

We have believed that the new eco-pleasure is putting on makeup and using vegan hygiene products without knowing that by definition this cosmetic does not have to be natural, nor does it certify that it has not been tested on animals.. Quite a disappointment. They are not lying when they call themselves vegan and they permeate our collective subconscious as a "green" product, committed, renewed... The new generations, in which environmental and animal awareness is not an option but an obligation, we empathize.

Many of you have probably bought products with a vegan label believing that you were being better and more sustainable people. I raise my hand too, until I discovered that vegan cosmetics, simply, only indicates that the product is not made with animal ingredients.

Vegan is oil and as you can imagine it is not an eco-pleasure. Brands that have been formulating from petroleum all their lives are now allowed to "renew their image" by making the vegan sign big as a claim without changing any ingredient in their composition, without having to lie in a comma.

And vegan cosmetics does not mean that they have not been tested on animals. Nor that the brand guarantees to know that its suppliers do not test on them either. So goodbye to the vegan-cosmetic chapter that was promised green. I don't look at any company in particular. I look at myself for having stung and also believing that it meant having an animal conscience.

The natural cosmetics sign doesn't mean anything either. Above all, if they are companies that have never been so before. Natural in cosmetics is a term without definition of percentages of the formulations that does not clarify whether the ingredients coexist with other synthetics.

As you will understand, after this disappointment I say out loud that there is a double standard and a lack of regulation.

To really give ourselves an eco-pleasure, we must choose the eco, organic, bio and Cruelty free labels, PETA, as well as certifying labels such as Ecocert or Cosmebio. There are many brands that are doing well and want to follow the sustainable path really. Others still cannot be, but they want to and do so with plans for the future without double standards and labels that lead to misunderstandings. As a consumer, I value and trust more a brand that, from humility, stays where it is without resorting to tricks, to which they want to position themselves without having made the journey. There is no shame in coming from oil. Thanks to oil we have had hygiene at home. And we have even painted our lips.

Neither, in my opinion, should there be any shame in using animal derivatives. They are an eco-pleasure. For example: a honey or beeswax lip balm is not vegan, since they are derived from animals, but I think that if it is ensured that the bees have not been mistreated or forced into industrial production, it is a very sustainable product, in addition to with the environment, with people's skin and with the rural economy. There is a double standard in that that beeswax balm seems worse for not being vegan and the petroleum jelly of a lifetime can be placed on the poster pretending to be superior.

What I am very proud of is that this claim has mobilized millions of people to buy it because it means that, more and more, we are environmentally conscious. This mobilization has made lifelong natural brands that are somewhat stagnant and with the smell of hippies prosper. And it has led to the birth of many others who want those of us with this environmental sensitivity to wear the same makeup as with traditional cosmetics or have the same sensory experience with creams and hygiene. Something previously unthinkable. In addition to giving voice to those who have evolved on the green path so that we are all on the same path. For example, the brand that invented the lipstick with a push button in 1870 (Guerlain), which is, to this day, today, one of the companies that promotes the preservation of these environmental sentinels in charge of pollination and the health of the planet. Through #GuerlainForBees and #WorldBeeDay, make the world aware of this need. Angelina Jolie herself has collaborated in the dissemination of the brand's program.

As consumers we have to know how to differentiate. Consume carefully so that our money rewards the right initiatives.