two very related articles
If you ever needed a reason to not wear makeup (or at LEAST cut back on it significantly) this is it.
Most of your shimmery makeups are made using Mica. Mica is often mined by young children the same way the original coal miners put kids in the tiny tunnels for coal.
These kids make pennies a day, if that, and are subject to dangerous conditions.
All for the glitter in our eyeshadows and highlighters.
most companies, even ones part of the ethical mica initiative, don’t know where their mica comes from and have no way of proving it for sure, because the bosses at these mines are known for using child labor on the side and then they tell their international clients like “yeah totally, only adults we paid fairly mined all this ;)” and then these big international companies can play dumb and be like “the mine bosses pinky promised us it’s all ethical!” when there is no way to prove it, no way of regulating it, and it’s been this specific recurring problem for years
so, here are the companies that use ONLY synthetic mica made in labs instead — this includes makeup brands as well as any company that has shimmery/glittery products:
black moon cosmetics – also 100% vegan across all products
hurraw! balm – also 100% vegan across all products
jane iredale
LUSH and all of their bath bombs!
river organics – also 100% vegan across all products
woosh beauty
additionally: mica that is mined can sometimes be contaminated with asbestos, while synthetic mica is made from plant cellulose. synthetic lab-made mica also has a more consistent texture and makes colors more vibrant than mined mica can.
so basically: synthetic mica is safer, purer, plant-based, a superior product, AND not mined by child slaves — the literal only downside is that it’s slightly more expensive for cheap ass companies who care more about profits than humans
