NARS Cosmetics - Response

When contacting companies, although not vegan myself, I usually enquire as to which of their products are suitable for vegans. This is primarily due to the fact that a list of vegan products is usually more readily available than a list of products that do/do not contain carmine. There's also the fact that some companies class themselves as fully vegetarian, yet use carmine for pigmentation/colour, which leaves a lot of confusion on the end of the consumer.

However, on this occasion, I asked NARS Cosmetics which of their products do not contain carmine as I'm fully aware that the company uses beeswax in many of their products (which personally doesn't bother me). Here is the response I received - 

Thank you for your inquiry and your interest in NARS.

Firstly, we would like to apologize for the delay in responding to your inquiry.

We woudl like to inform you that the majority of NARS products do contain the ingredient Carmine.

The skincare and complexion products do not contain Carmine (the ingredient is used to create color/pigment); however all color/makeup products such as eyeshadow, blush, multiple stick, lip gloss, etc contain the ingredient Carmine.

We remain at your disposal will you need any further information.

Kind regards,

Customer Service

NARS Cosmetics 

Great news for Nars face powder users! However, it would be infinitely better if Nars could omit Carmine from the ingredients in their well-known blushes and bronzers!
What do you guys think?

Michael Kors Watch Dupes

Recently, I've been lusting over the Michael Kors watches and my bank balance has been quivering nervously, wondering whether it will be suddenly depleted in an overnight impulse purchase. With MK being an American brand, it comes as no surprise that the prices here in the UK are pound-for-dollar (Abercrombie and Fitch, anyone?) I thought it would be an idea to put together a collection of watches similar in style to Michael Kors, but at slightly more affordable prices!



 Left: Michael Kors MK5145, £219. Right: River Island, £25.

Left: Michael Kors MK5076, £179. Right: River Island Silver Tone Watch Bracelet, £25

Left: Rocha. John Rocha, Debenhams, £70

Left: Michael Kors MK5166, £199. Right: Fossil Gold Steel Watch, reduced to £108 at ASOS


These last two below are more 'MK inspired' rather than dupes, but I didn't even consider the possibility of leaving them out - they're too pretty and quite a steal!
Left: River Island, £22.     Right: River Island, £25

As much as I love the gold/rose gold MK watches, my favourite has to be the white River Island watch. How similar do they look?!

Would you splash out on a Michael Kors watch? Come across any bargain dupes?
Let me know in the comments below!

NYX Cosmetics Vegan List

Click here to see which NYX Cosmetics products are suitable for vegans.
Please note that according to the email I received from the company -

'No or X means vegan

Yes or an ingredient means non-vegan

? or blank means checking with vendors'

I know I'll be placing an order when they next have free shipping! 

NYX Cosmetics in the UK can be bought from http://www.nyxcosmeticsstore.co.uk/
US link - http://www.nyxcosmetics.com/

Nina Dobrev inspired daytime outfit

See links to the pieces above after the jump.

Bright and cheerful springtime florals

With spring now upon us I thought it would be a good idea to mess around on Polyvore before going shopping this week to give me an idea of what I'm looking to buy. I think bright, bold jewellery and a cheerful top are definite must haves for spring. If you're interested in any of the pieces above, I've provided links to the relevant sites after the jump.

MAC Cosmetics UK - Carmine free products

***UPDATE, 19th January 2012***
Estée Lauder, the owner of the brand MAC Cosmetics has recently been found to be paying to conduct animal testing in China. I highly recommend reading the links below for further information - 

http://www.peta.org/b/thepetafiles/archive/2012/02/16/3-companies-booted-off-cruelty-free-list.aspx
https://secure.peta.org/site/Advocacy?cmd=display&page=UserAction&id=3859


I won't delete the list of products below that do not contain carmine, but the list will not be updated either.


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After emailing Mac Cosmetics U.K. back in January and enquiring if they had a list of products without the ingredient Carmine readily available, the answer was that unfortunately, they didn't. However, the lovely lady I wrote to asked if I could provide a list of items I would be interested in, and she would consult the laboratories. A little over a fortnight later I was kindly advised which of my list do and do not contain Carmine. The results are as follows -

The following DO NOT contain Carmine -
Paint Pots - Bare Study, Painterly
Tinted Lip Conditioner - Fuchsia Fix, Petting Pink
Lipstick - Chatterbox
Powder Blush - Well Dressed, Desert Rose, Tenderling

The following DO contain Carmine -
Lipstick - Pretty Please, Speed Dial
Cream Colour Base - Improper Copper, Shell

Accurate as of 12th January, 2012.

Hopefully this will be of help to some people out there. I know I was getting frustrated with the lack of online ingredient lists! I would be interested to know if anybody has any other products from MAC that do not contain Carmine. If you're interested in knowing about any other MAC products, their customer service team was great and I would highly recommend contacting them. Be sure to stick the results in a comment below!

Benefit Cosmetics - vegan list?

Recently I emailed Benefit, enquiring if they have a list of products suitable for vegans. Here is the response they sent -

Thanks for contacting Benefit with your enquiry about our products.

We're sorry, but we're not able to provide you with information on ingredients at this time. All of our ingredients are printed on our packaging, and the product packaging itself is the only accurate source for ingredient information. Based on the availability of ingredients, occasionally an ingredient in a product may change from one batch to another, and we can't always predict the batch from which an item will be shipped when a customer orders. But for each batch, the correct ingredients are always printed on the packaging.

We do offer a hassle-free 30-day return policy. If you'd like, you can order the product and review the packaging on the product label yourself. If you have any concerns, you can return the product to Benefit for a full refund. We hope this information has been helpful!

Thank you for choosing Benefit Cosmetics and have a beautiful day!

Personally I feel disappointed that they can't provide a list of their products (if any) which are vegan friendly. I would expect a company to know what ingredients go into each products, especially since determining from products ingredients lists is often a difficult task to say the least! 

I'll be posting responses from companies regarding ingredients as and when I receive a reply, so stay tuned!

Email response received 5th March, 2012.