Cruelty-free brands, once content to avoid animal testing, are now rethinking something inside the formula itself. Not the scent. Not the shimmer. The red.
The revelation hit me at a bustling Saturday counter in Shoreditch, where a makeup artist traced stripes of crimson across a customer’s wrist. A soft, brickish red that whispered “office”, then a punchy scarlet that shouted “Friday night”. The shopper hesitated, turned the box over, and frowned at a line of tiny type. The artist clocked it too, lowered her voice, and nudged another shade across the glass. “We’ve reformulated that one,” she said. “No carmine.” The woman smiled. Two other customers leaned in, curious and suddenly part of the moment. The room felt a fraction lighter, as if a quiet decision had been made and nobody wanted to make a fuss about it. A small secret, shared in plain sight.
Brands are quietly retiring carmine — and the red still sells
You might not see splashy campaigns about it, yet the reformulations are real. Carmine, the deep crimson pigment made by crushing cochineal insects, is being taken out of cruelty-free lines. New shades arrive, the colour names barely change, and the little words on the back panels tell a different story. Brands are phasing out carmine.
Ask around and you’ll hear the same rhythm. A British indie lip brand switched its hero red last spring and barely lost a beat. A Scandi retailer told me their “vegan red” category grew week after week after they added a filter for CI codes. Search interest for “vegan lipstick” keeps climbing, and returns are low because the shades hold up. When the colour looks good and the conscience feels settled, the basket gets heavier.
Part of this shift is clarity. “Cruelty-free” once meant “not tested on animals”, full stop. Consumers now read it as a broader no-harm promise, and carmine doesn’t fit that promise. The pigment can involve tens of thousands of insects for a small batch, with supply chains centered in Peru and the Canary Islands. Even if carmine is traditional, its story jars. Shoppers want the red without the bug.
What to use instead — and how to spot the swaps
For a bold, true red in lipstick, many cruelty-free labs are turning to FDA/EU-approved synthetic lakes like D&C Red 7 (CI 15850) and Red 6 (CI 15850:1), often balanced with iron oxides for depth. These are vegan and give that classic, punchy payoff. In balms and blush, red iron oxides (CI 77491) add warmth, while synthetic mica (fluorphlogopite) brings sheen without the baggage of mined mica. Blend is the game: a touch of blue base to cool a cherry, a whisper of yellow to swing tomato. The finish feels familiar because the architecture of the colour is familiar.
Plant pigments do show up, and they’re getting smarter. Beet, radish, annatto and hibiscus can glow beautifully, yet they fade under sun, shift in different pH, or taste a bit earthy on lips. Encapsulation tech helps a lot. Encased anthocyanins last longer and bleed less, especially in a castor-oil-heavy base. We’ve all had that moment when a perfect shade goes patchy after lunch; the best new formulas dodge that. Let’s be honest: nobody does that every day.
Read labels like a beauty editor on deadline. Carmine hides as “carmine”, “carminic acid” or CI 75470. Vegan reds often list “Red 7 Lake”, “Red 6 Lake”, “Red 27 Lake (CI 45410)” or iron oxides. Some brands write “synthetic mica” or “fluorphlogopite” proudly on the box because it’s a shorthand for an ethical shimmer. Shoppers are voting with clicks and receipts.
“Carmine is a near-perfect pigment for performance,” a London formulator told me. “So to beat it, you need three things: smart blends, smarter coating tech, and a shade designer who cares about undertone more than buzzwords.”
- Look for: CI 15850, CI 77491, Red 7 Lake, Red 6 Lake, Red 27 Lake.
- Avoid if you want carmine-free: CI 75470, “cochineal”, “E120”.
- Shimmer cue: “synthetic mica”, “fluorphlogopite”.
- Vegan badges: The Vegan Society, “vegan” next to shade name.
- Reality check: “May contain +/-” lists are batch-wide; check shade-specific pages online.
Why this red matters more than a swatch
Carmine asks the beauty world a blunt question about where lines are drawn. Insects sit in a fuzzy space for many people, yet the scale of extraction makes the ethical maths feel different. Switch the lens and you see a wider industry picture too: synthetic mica to avoid child labour, supply-chain audits that trace pigment back to mines and vats, biotech experiments brewing vivid reds in steel tanks instead of fields. There are credible alternatives now. A vegan-leaning red is no longer a compromise; it’s a signal that the formula, the sourcing and the brand promise are pulling in the same direction.
The move away from carmine is less about purity than pragmatism. It’s about meeting colour expectations without asking shoppers to flinch at the fine print. *Beauty is always a little moral puzzle.* And the answer keeps changing with the tech, the science and the stories we share.
| Point clé | Détail | Intérêt pour le lecteur |
|---|---|---|
| Carmine is being dropped | Quiet reformulations replace CI 75470 across lip and cheek | Helps align cruelty-free purchases with vegan values |
| Vegan reds that work | Red 7/6 Lakes, iron oxides, synthetic mica, encapsulated botanicals | Delivers payoff, longevity and undertone control |
| Label literacy | Spot carmine names vs. vegan pigments; decode “may contain” | Faster, smarter shopping with fewer returns |
FAQ :
- What exactly is carmine?It’s a crimson pigment derived from cochineal insects. On labels it appears as “carmine”, “carminic acid” or CI 75470.
- Is carmine cruelty-free?“Cruelty-free” refers to no animal testing, not ingredient origin. Carmine is animal-derived, so many vegan shoppers avoid it.
- Will vegan reds look the same?Yes in most lipsticks and blushes. Red 7/6 Lakes with iron oxides can match payoff; plant pigments shine in sheers and stains.
- How do I spot carmine-free products?Check for “vegan” next to the shade, scan INCI for CI 75470, and look for Red 7/6 Lake or iron oxides instead.
- Are synthetic dyes safe?Approved lakes and dyes are regulated for specific uses and limits. If you’re sensitive, patch test and choose fragrance-light formulas.
What’s happening with carmine is a culture shift disguised as a shade edit. The red itself was never the enemy; it’s the way we got there. When a lipstick story fits the lips and the life, you feel it instantly. That’s why reformulations are whisper-quiet and wildly effective: they remove friction without removing joy.
Formulators talk about undertones and load percentages; shoppers talk about first-swipe love and photos that don’t lie. Somewhere between those two languages sits the new, carmine-free red. It’s built from iron oxides, lakes and synthetic mica, sometimes with a pinch of plant magic. It glides, it stains, it lasts through coffee and two bus rides. You forget you’re wearing an ethical choice until someone asks which shade it is.
Maybe that’s the best version of progress in beauty — the kind that becomes invisible once it works. You can still have the juicy cherry, the retro coral, the moody brick. The label reads cleaner, the story feels kinder, and the mirror gives the same quiet yes. Share that tip with a friend who’s still side-eyeing the INCI. The red is ready when they are.
