Painted Lips Cosmetics Interview

Painted Lips cosmetics makes some amazing mineral eye shadows. The colors are pretty, blend smoothly and rock really cool names. What else can you ask for? Well, they are a 100% vegan not to mention really safe - you can even ingest them - but do not try this at home!



How Long have you been in business?
I opened my Etsy shop Painted Lips, Dirty Knees in January 2010 but I have been making makeup since I was 13 years old.

How did you get your start?
My friends and family encouraged me to start selling my handmade makeup! Everything I make is something I wear and use, now I just make it in bigger amounts so that I can share it with others in my online shop!

You have interesting names and colors - what influences your choices?
Naming my products is almost as fun as making new colors! I am inspired by everyone and everything around me! I also live in the beautiful state of Washington, so nature is a huge inspiration for me.

You are vegan correct?
I am vegan!! Yay!

How long have you been vegan?
I have been vegetarian for six years and vegan for three years! I love animals and the environment so much that I really felt compelled to make this lifestyle change.

Did being vegan influence your step into making vegan cosmetics?
Even before becoming vegan, I've loved working with organic and natural materials in the creation of cosmetics. Although, by becoming vegan I am much more aware of what I use in my cosmetics. I believe that beauty should never come at a cost of another living being and feel it is important to reflect that in my cosmetics.



Do you have new products in the works?
I am always working on new eye shadow colors of course, but I would like to increase the diversity of products I offer. I am experimenting with organic bath and foot soaks, as well as blush and lip balms! I have lots of new items coming this Fall!

What is your favorite vegan meal?
I absolutely love Baba Ganoush! It is an Egyptian eggplant dish that is just divine! My mouth is watering thinking about it!

Painted Lips can be found on Etsy: http://www.etsy.com/shop/paintedlips

Peanut Butter Plan

Last year I was out on my Sunday grocery shopping trip when I went into the store only to realize my reusable shopping bags were left in the car. On my way back out to the car I noticed a homeless guy I caught a glimpse of on my way inside huddled over petting a dog. I decided to go ask if his dog needed food. His dog and cat (who I encountered sleeping in a baby stroller), named This and That needed food. I told the guy to wait and I would buy food for them. I took $15 and bought wet and dry food and got the deli to give me a few empty containers to use as bowls. The guy and his companions were very happy when I brought out the food, I even got a hug.

Since then I try to search out homeless people with companion animals to donate food to, I have asked around seeing if shelters take companion animal food but have not heard back, I need to try and go down there myself and ask, I am just always nervous and forgetful. When I volunteer at the library I search out people who have animals but I have not seen any.

This weekend at Pride I encountered a group that talked about change yet were not doing anything positive for the community. I was pretty pissed and during dinner I discussed how I felt with my boyfriend. After trying to get people involved with the Peanut Butter Plan the last few months and no one offering to help out, my boyfriend and I decided just to go out by ourselves this weekend and do what we can.

We plan on going downtown where I see people camped out armed with a dozen sandwiches and see if it goes over well. We plan on bringing some cat and dog food in case as well. If this goes over well I want to do it weekly if our budget/time allows it. Hopefully we can get more people involved and see some positive changes going on.

New Lush Products Review

I used to not like Lush - I blame it on some of the products I tried not being truly suited for my skin or hair type. Over the years I have come to know my skin and hair therefore knowing what works. Now when Lush comes out with new products and a new catalog I get super excited!

The last few months Lush launched some new vegan products that I bought and sampled for the purpose of fabulous skin and to review!


Ultrabalm: This is a nice soothing balm that takes care of a lot of problems. I use it to remove stubborn mascara and as a lip balm at night. Lately my boyfriend has used it on a rough dry patch on his hand and once applied it instantly looks a lot better! I was afraid it would come to me in a melted mess - even on a extremely hot day it arrived safely!


Summer Pudding: I am a sucker for anything fruity and pink and Summer Pudding is both. It is a soft scrub soap - I like that it is really gentle but it does not lather well and the scent is not fruity enough for me to want to nibble at it.



9 to 5: This has a classic clean smell to it that I enjoy. You have to wash a little more than normal to remove all traces of makeup but this is gentle and makes my oily skin feel refreshed and clean, not tight or dry. Some creamy cleansers have the tendency to break my skin out but this has not done any damage so far. I like this a lot on the days I am not using a scrub and will buy it again.

Quick shout out to kathleen - she won the cupcake contest and should get the book shortly!

Moving On With A Cupcake Contest

For the last year I have been writing articles and showcasing some cool products for Creepy Queen Magazine, both online and in print. Yesterday I received a mass email stating that the blog portion of the site would close down - the part of the site I wrote for weekly. I was in the middle of two interviews with really nice people and was really bummed. This came after seeing the Gothic Beauty ad for Creepy Queen magazine that was supposed to showcase my product as well as a few others - well the others were in it, not me though. Also after two months I still do not have my copy of the print issue of #2 that I spent $18 on just to see my print article, yes I filed a PayPal claim.
I was going to quit this month. I talked it over with Matt and he said it was time after feeling so unappreciated. I was going to finish my two articles, have them posted and let the owner know I was disappointed for not being recognized as someone who busted their butt because they wanted to see the magazine grow.

Moving on, I will be blogging more, writing/testing out DIY beauty recipes for a vegan DIY skin care zine I want to put together, ready myself for the upcoming craft shows and much more stuff in the works. I need to get to things I put off for way to long!

To see MissMuffcake grow I am holding yet another fun contest! MissMuffcake came about as a name when my sister and I were discussing muffins that tasted as good as cupcakes and we came up with the term Muffcake! I love cupcakes and I love being vegan so to share my love one random lucky person will win a new copy of Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World by Isa Chandra Moskowitz and Terry Hope Romero! All you have to do is comment with the answer to this question: if you were a cupcake - what kind would you be? Please have your email/contact info on your blogger profile or leave your email* in the comment as well so I can contact you! This contest is open to everyone and will close on September 12, 2010! Good Luck!

*If you do not want to leave your email in the comments please email me at the email provided on my profile page with the name you commented with so I can keep track!