Natural & Organic Lipstick – Your Questions Answered

mineral-lipstick

If you’re looking to reduce your chemical load, your lipstick is a great place to start. Lipstick might be small, but daily wear can mean you ingest kilos of it over a lifetime! 

But where to start amongst all those enticing labels and claims of mineral, natural and organic? This article answers all your questions…


What is Organic Lipstick Made Of?

An organic lipstick is made of botanical butters, waxes and oils such as shea butter, candelilla wax and sunflower oil. The waxes are hard and give the lipstick structure. The butters and oils help the lipstick to moisturise and glide across your lips. The colour is also natural; minerals such as iron oxides can provide a stunning array of colour.


What is Natural Lipstick?

Like organic lipstick, natural lipstick is usually also made from plant-derived ingredients and mineral colours. Unlike a genuine organic lipstick though, the plants may not have been grown or processed organically, i.e. without artificial pesticides or solvents.


What is Mineral Lipstick?

Mineral lipstick gets its colour from natural minerals like iron oxides. That differs from traditional lipsticks which use artificial dyes like ‘Red 6 Lake’ or ‘Yellow 5 Lake’ and are usually coal-tar derived. Just because it’s a mineral lipstick doesn’t mean that it’s all natural though. ‘Mineral’ only refers to the colour, and the rest of the lipstick might contain paraffin, silicone, or artificial fragrance.


Which Lipstick is Good for Lips?

Look on the ingredients label for botanical ingredients high up on the list. Plant oils and butters provide some healthy vitamins, protection and moisture. Traditional lipstick ingredients like paraffin won’t provide any active nourishment. In mineral lipsticks also look out for zinc oxide (CI 77947) which brings a multitude of skin benefits (see below).


What is the Safest Lipstick?

To really be sure what you’re buying is as ‘clean’ as possible, choose a certified organic lipstick. This guarantees that the lipstick is free from any ingredients proven to be – or suspected of being – harmful to people or the environment. – Out with parabens, artificial fragrance, paraffin, silicone, acrylics, GMOs and more. Certified organic lipsticks also have to use mineral colours that are free from heavy metal contamination – which is something to be wary of with mineral makeup.


Which Organic Lipstick is the Best?

The best organic lipstick is one that is certified organic. The law doesn’t actually mandate that a brand must have proper certification to market a lipstick (or any cosmetic product) as ‘organic’. – The industry is consequently rife with greenwashing. – Always look for a genuine certification mark to avoid getting duped. Every Odylique product is certified organic and we’ve been pioneering certified organic (and Fairtrade) makeup since 2011. 


What are the Organic Lipstick Brands?

Currently Odylique is the only makeup brand certified organic by the UK’s largest independent certifier, the Soil Association. Certified organic brands from elsewhere in the world can be found on the Cosmos database here.


Why Organic Lipstick?

This question deserves a longer answer because there are so many more benefits to genuine organic lipsticks than the detox benefits we mentioned earlier! Let’s go into that in a bit more detail though:

1. Reduce Your Heavy Metal Exposure 

Heavy metals are often present in non-mineral lipsticks. Although only presumed an urban legend until 2007, the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics concluded that there is lead in 61 percent of the 33 most popular lipstick brands. However, these metals aren’t actually added to the lipstick, but are present as contaminants in the synthetic dyes (those ‘Red 6 Lake’ or ‘Yellow 5 Lake’ that we mentioned earlier). But also note that heavy metals can contaminate impure mineral colours. Hence why minerals in certified organic lipsticks have to comply with a strict level of purity.

2. Lower the Risk of Allergy

As lipstick is applied directly to our skin, and unintentionally consumed!, it is quite common for people to have allergic reactions to lipstick formulas. Artificial colours and fragrances in lipstick are common culprits as numerous studies have shown. If you find your lips constantly swelling up after you have applied your lipstick then it might be time to switch to a truly natural alternative. 

In general, truly natural and organic lipstick tends to have more natural, botanical ingredients..These naturally occurring molecules, rather than synthetic chemicals, are easier for the body to process and recognise and can lead to fewer allergic reactions.

3. Enjoy Nutritious Botanicals

Vitamin-rich sunflower oil and skin-loving shea butter versus slippery silicone and petroleum. It’s a no-brainer really, organic lipsticks will leave your lips feeling genuinely amazing!

4. Get Some Skin-Love from Zinc Oxide 

OK, so you get this benefit from a mineral lipstick too, but all organic lipsticks are likely to include this great mineral. is very often one of the key minerals used in mineral lipstick. And it is no wonder considering the benefits Zinc oxide (CI 77947)  brings to your skin. Zinc oxide helps skin repair, is antibacterial, and can contribute to the sun-shielding effect of a cosmetic product. So, a lipstick that uses zinc oxide can be used as a 2-in-1 product – both as a lipstick and active skin care repair cream for dry or cracked lips. 

5. Choose from Great Colours

Mineral colours are beautiful and offer a great array of colours, even if you might not be able to achieve the perfect red. These days the ‘payoff’ and colour duration is often as good as with the synthetic colours, so there’s no need to compromise.

6. Be Cruelty-Free

Certified organic cosmetics are guaranteed free from all animal cruelty. That means no testing on animals and no animal ingredients like silk, or carmine – the commonly-used red dye made from crushed beetles. 

7. It’s Kinder to the Environment 

Amongst the numerous benefits of going organic, the environment is one of the key beneficiaries. Using organic ingredients helps to reduce the amount of polluting chemicals in the farming industry. This allows for the soil to remain healthy and full of natural nutrients, reducing toxins in the earth and subsequently helps reduce the levels of soil erosion. 

The Soil Association concluded that over 16,600 tonnes of pesticides were used on British farms each year to kill weeds, insects and control crop disease. Further suggesting that if all UK farming was organic, pesticide use would drop by 98%. This decrease in pesticides would increase the available land for wildlife to flourish. Currently, the use of pesticides is damaging the natural habitats of bees, butterflies and other insects which has resulted in a serious decline in the population.  

It might seem far-fetched, but just small switches, like to organic lipstick will help support the organic farming industry and collectively move us in the right direct towards a more sustainable, eco-friendly future. So what are you waiting for?


Try Our Award-Winning Organic Lipstick

They’ve been compared to MAC for look and feel, and they’re guaranteed free from all artificial chemicals, lead and other toxins. Odylique’s lipsticks are bursting with soothing organic herbs and butters that naturally nourish your lips and enhance your natural beauty. And with a gorgeous selection of 10 mineral shades, you’re bound to find one that you love.

mineral-lipstick


Want To Try Our Products?

We only source the kindest ingredients from trusted suppliers who don’t practice unethical or cruel methods of farming, which is why we are able to label every single one of our products cruelty free!

Use code: Lipstick20 at the checkout for 20% off your order! – *Limited to one use per customer*

SHOP MINERAL LIPSTICK

We also offer a wide range of samples for those of you that would rather try a smaller quantity before purchasing the full item!

SHOP SAMPLES


 

An organic lipstick is made of botanical butters, waxes and oils such as shea butter, candelilla wax and sunflower oil.
Look on the ingredients label for botanical ingredients high up on the list. Plant oils and butters provide some healthy vitamins, protection and moisture.
To really be sure what you’re buying is as ‘clean’ as possible, choose a certified organic lipstick.
The best organic lipstick is one that is certified organic.
Currently Odylique is the only makeup brand certified organic by the UK’s largest independent certifier, the Soil Association.
1. Reduces heavy metal exposure
2. Lower risk of allergy
3. Nutritious botanicals
4. Added zinc-oxide
5. Great Colour
6. Cruelty-free
7. It is kinder to the environment

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