Make-up.

That fabulous vintage lingerie brand, What Katie Did recently posted an article from this week's Reveal Magazine concerning 30 Things Every Stylish Woman Should Have. As a stylish woman of sorts, I too consider a red lipstick as a necessity. I'm drawn in by various 'big-brand' make-up advertising campaigns that promise longevity of colour and that will not dry your lips out, unfortunately most of these veneered campaigns hide cruel animal testing practices, contain all kinds of dodgy chemicals and may or may not be vegan friendly.

Understandably, some readers may question why someone such as myself would want to go to such perceived extreme lengths to wear vegan cosmetic products. Many of the ingredients in make-up include the following:

* carmine or cochineal- colouring made from ground insect (yum!)

* beeswax (or other bee-related products like propolis)

* lard

* waxes

* tallow (rendered form of beef/mutton fat)

* milk/whey products

* silk derivative

* elastin (from cows)

* animal derived glycerin

* hyalauronic acid

I don't know about you guys, but i wouldn't want to eat any of those products and nor would I want to wear them in cosmetics, which sink into the skin or are ingested (if in lipsticks/glosses).

Indeed, some chemicals in products sold have been linked to cancer, reproductive problems and allergies. So much of what we put onto our skin is absorbed into our bodies and the Skin Deep, the Cosmetics Data Base by the Environmental Working Group recognise the harmful effects that some cosmetics and skin/hair care products can yield. It usefully lists the ingredients and ranks the products, revealing the most harmful ingredients, making us slightly more aware.

The funky and daring Urban Decay are a cruelty free (but not a vegan company), but do offer some fabulous vegan products which are illustrated as such with a 'Marley's paw' (doggy paw-print symbol) on their website. There's a huge variety to chose from and their products are available throughout the UK in bigger stores like Boots and Superdrug. I'm not sure if the products are labelled as such in stores, so it may be worth writing the names of the products you want down off the website and checking them out in store.

What's even better is the vegan 'I love Betsey' XXX shine red lip-gloss with a slight flavouring of peppermint. I shall definitely be looking out for that next time I go shopping.