Blusher and Beetles – The Strangest Ingredients Found In Your Make-Up Bag

Beetles, fish scales and wax from a sheep’s coat sound more like items that would make up a nasty challenge in ‘I’m A Celebrity Get Me Out Of Here’ that a list of beauty ingredients, but chances are they’re all in your make-up bag.

If you’ve ever wondered what makes up some of your favourite beauty buys… you probably shouldn’t have. But here you go!

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Sheep’s Wax

Lanolin is a very common ingredient on many beauty products – but did you know that it’s an oily waxy substance extracted from sheep’s wool? Lanolin is commonly used as an emollient in many skincare products.

Uric Acids Yes, you read that right. Uric Acid or Urea is a softener that also helps your skin collect and hold in moisture. Thankfully it’s now typically synthetic and not retrieved from horse’s urine. Any more that is… Bone Marrow Albumen (egg white) is one beauty product ingredient we can thank the humble chicken for, and here’s another. Chicken bone marrow contains glucosamine and beauty brands take full advantage of its anti-inflammatory properties. Do you feel like chicken tonight?

Beetles

The dye that gives you the perfect red lipstick just might be naturally-derived carmine, which comes from Cochineal beetles. The bugs are soaked, dried and crushed, the results, (Beetlejuice?), collected and added to the formula that gives you that nice red pout. Feeling a bit pale now? Us too. The naturally-derived is the key here, there synthetic versions too.

Fish Scales

Guanine is also known as Pearl Essence, and it’s a substance that comes from fish scales. This one will crop up in many beauty products that brand themselves as shimmering, including shampoos and nail polishes.