Halal makeup usually gets defined as makeup products that do not contain ingredients like alcohol, pork or carmine,
But is that all there is to it? Let's talk (read, actually) about it,
But let’s get one thing clear, makeup that is free of pork, alcohol and carmine is indeed Halal makeup, and that is because the word Halal translated from arabic means: permissible
,
,
and for muslims there are a lot of things that are permissible,but there are a few that are not, and those we call haraam (or impermissible),
so what are the things that fall int this category and we are not allowed to consume/apply?
Haram/ Impermissible ingredients
- Alcohol – intoxicants and narcotic drugs
- Blood and blood by-products - blood is the circulatory cleansing fluid of the body and is not to be consumed
- Carnivorous animals, birds of prey, scavengers, and animals improperly slaughtered, sick or dying before slaughter
- Idolatry - any animals or poultry sacrificed for voodoo, witchcraft or practice that denies the existence of the Creator are not to be consumed.
- Swine and all pork by-products and/or their derivatives
- Foods contaminated with any of the above products or with "impurities” (in Arabic, "najis") from processing, such as manure, urine, rodent droppings, infectious fluids, or pus are considered Haram.
But now you might be wondering, these are foods, and we are talking about makeup!
Yes, but there are two reasons why these two are very closely related,
A great amount of food products, and by-products are used in the cosmetic industry, with pork being a big source of them, so if we are starting with an ingredient that is not permissible to consume, why would you take this same ingredient, or a modified version of it, and apply it on your skin?
This would mean that when we are praying, we would be praying with impure substances on us, and I don’t know any muslim sister that would like to do that!
The other reason is that our skin, which is the largest organ in our body, is porous and many studies have shown that it can absorb whatever we are putting on it, furthermore if you think about a product like lipstick, which is in direct contact with our lips, and not only that but it has been proven that we consume a part of it, little by little throughout our days, you want to make sure that there is nothing haraam on them.
So as you see what we are prohibited from eating has a direct impact in what we should, (or shouldn’t) be using on our skin.
But is Halal only about the things that are or aren’t in your makeup products?
I like to take this one step further, and take the word Halal, which means permissible, and apply it to every aspect of my makeup products, and i recommend that you do the same by asking yourself these questions:
If a company practices animal testing, should we as muslims support them with our purchases?
Can we say that makeup is halal if a brand is not environmentally- conscious?
Should we support brands that support oppression a
against our Muslim brothers and sisters, in any part of the world?
I believe that as Muslims, there are other factors that we should take into consideration when choosing the items we purchase. And they should not be limited only to the ingredients on the label, even though we should be aware of what makes up a product, so I am sharing a partial list of ingredients that can be derived from many sources both Halal and Haram and should be avoided in products that are considered non-Halal ( all of products in Claudia Nour Cosmetics are vegetable derived, and there are no animal products, with the exception of beeswax)
These ingredients that can have Halal or Haraam sources
- Animal Fat - permissible if derived from Halal slaughtered animals
- Enzymes - microbial enzymes are permissible if derived from Halal slaughtered animals
- Gelatin - halal if derived from fish or if derived from Halal slaughtered animals
- L-cysteine - halal if derived from synthetic materials
- Lard - haraam as it comes from pork
- Lipids - halal if derived from Halal slaughter animals or plants
- Animal Shortening - halal if derived from Halal slaughtered animals
- Rennet - halal if derived from plant/microbial/synthetic products or from Halal slaughtered animals
- Tallow - halal if derived from Halal slaughtered animals
Do you have any questions about Halal makeup? Leave it in the comments below!
References:
http://www.isaiowa.org/Content/Halal-Information/What-is-Haram.aspx
