Obsessive Compulsive Cosmetics: Vegan, Cruelty-free Makeup

When I revealed what’s inside my bathroom cabinets a few weeks ago, I was forced to take a good hard look at my makeup. Admittedly, I wear less makeup now on a daily basis than I used to, and I’ve overhauled my makeup bag every couple of years as I’ve grown more conscious of natural products and  earth-friendly companies, but was my makeup as health-conscious as I’d like it to be? Probably not.

I had heard about Obsessive Compulsive Cosmetics and its vegan, cruelty-free makeup so I strolled by their Lower East Side digs a few days ago to get the scoop – and a makeup lesson too.

The makeup artist, Emily, was super sweet and showed me the entire collection before we started talking about my specific needs.

We ended up trying on some of the neutral colors for everyday and playing with a few of the bold, fun colors too.

I love the texture of this makeup, that it has staying power and that it’s as appropriate on the runway as it is in the office. The lip tar doesn’t budge, the foundation was transparent and the eyeshadow went on smoothly.

Rumor has it that they’re completing the line with powder, gel liner and concealer adding to their primer, tinted and airbrush foundations, blushes, shadows, lips tars and nail polish.

Here’s the caveat: Just as with cupcakes, the word vegan doesn’t necessarily put you in the clear when it comes to your health.

When I checked out some of the ingredients, sure there were natural ones like peppermint and hemp oil, but there were also some synthetic ingredients like FD&C  Yellow #5 (and reds and blues too).

Not a whole lot is known about synthetic colors, but they are known to be possible cancer-causing agents. Others, like the Environmental Working Group,  say they’re safe.

Definitely don’t ingest any food with these colors because that would mean it’s highly processed and if you do use them on your skin, do so in extreme moderation, if at all (especially on your lips since we end up eating a lot of it).

I love the product so I’m hoping OCC will look into how it colors its cosmetics to deliver a truly pure product in the future.

The $75 make-up application comes with $50 worth of product. Here’s what I took home:

Address:

174 Ludlow St.

NY, NY 10002.

Tel. 800 OCC 0504.
Update:

In response to concerns expressed about the dyes, I received the following statement from Emily at OCC:

“FD&C Lake Dyes can sound frightening, when in fact they’re some of the very same components used in so-called mineral makeup products, just processed in a way that creates stronger more vibrant color. These ingredients have decades worth of history of safe use not only in cosmetics, but food and drugs as well, hence the abbreviation FD&C for “Food, Drugs and Cosmetics”. In the meanwhile, many so called “Natural” cosmetic companies use ingredients like Carmine, which is not only insect-derived, but is known to cause severe allergic reactions and even Anaphylaxis. When it comes to safety in cosmetics, so-called naturals do not always offer an advantage over so-called synthetics.

In reference to the safety data sheets – they are talking about Factory workers exposed mass quantities, and just like using a little bit of powder every day won’t do anything to you, but purposefully inhaling it would be bad, FD&C dyes used in cosmetics are perfectly safe as long as you’re not purposefully inhaling or otherwise ingesting mass quantities. “