Morphe x Jaclyn Hill: No longer vegan


Recently, Jaclyn Hill announced a new collaboration palette with Morphe Brushes. This palette went for sale up on February 13, 2020, and was touted by Jaclyn as being the SAME formula as her 2017 palette (now known as Vol. 1). Unfortunately, this is not the case in terms of her original formula being the same as it was in 2017.

On February 24, 2020, YouTuber Ruby Maria discussed if Morphe was even cruelty free and pointed out that the Jaclyn palette (vol 1) contained carmine. You can view her video here.


Then on February 27, 2020, Jen Luvs Reviews released a video discussing some of the changes. You can video her video below:


While Jen did discuss that there was a formulation change she briefly touched on the fact that Vol 1 now contains carmine. This change may have happened as early as mid-2018 or as late as the end of December 2019. No one knows for sure when the changes did occur but some people have informed Jen, via Twitter, that their palettes (purchased between 2018 and 2019) does list carmine on the packaging. So what's the big deal? The big deal is that up until mid to late December 2019 the original palette was listed as Vegan. If carmine can be verified as having been added prior to them removing it from the vegan list then it's false advertising.

Today, March 1, 2020, Morphe addressed the issue on Instagram (via their stories) and on Twitter. I took screenshots from Twitter and highlighted a few key sections.


First, let's address the fact that Jaclyn DID know there was a formulation change. We don't know when or what was told to her other than Morphe did tell her there was a change. They didn't address the carmine/vegan issue at all and merely touched on the fact that oils were added.

The ingredients as listed on the Morphe site on March 1, 2020 are as follows:

Enlight, Beam, Faint, Sissy, Little Lady, Queen, Meeks, S.B.N, Twerk, Hustle, 24/7, Pool Party
Mica, Synthetic Fluorphlogopite, Phenyl Trimethicone, Ethylhexyl Palmitate, Isononyl Isononanoate, Tridecyl Trimellitate, Magnesium Myristate, Silica, Isostearyl Isostearate, Nylon-12, Magnesium Stearate, Boron Nitride, Polyethylene, Simmondsia Chinensis (Jojoba) Seed Oil, Cocos Nucifera (Coconut) Oil, Butyrospermum Parkii (Shea) Butter, Phenoxyethanol, Caprylyl Glycol, Ethylhexylglycerin, Tocopheryl Acetate, Tin Oxide +/- May Contain/Peut Contenir: Iron Oxides (CI 77491, CI 77492, CI 77499), Red 40 Lake (CI 16035), Carmine (CI 75470), Ultramarines (CI 77007), Blue 1 Lake (CI 42090), Titanium Dioxide (CI 77891).

Firework, Cranapple, Hillster
Mica, Synthetic Fluorphlogopite, Phenyl Trimethicone, Ethylhexyl Palmitate, Isononyl Isononanoate, Tridecyl Trimellitate, Magnesium Myristate, Silica, Isostearyl Isostearate, Nylon-12, Magnesium Stearate, Boron Nitride, Polyethylene, Simmondsia Chinensis (Jojoba) Seed Oil, Cocos Nucifera (Coconut) Oil, Butyrospermum Parkii (Shea) Butter, Phenoxyethanol, Caprylyl Glycol, Ethylhexylglycerin, Tocopheryl Acetate +/- May Contain/Peut Contenir: Iron Oxides (CI 77491, CI 77499), Red 40 Lake (CI 16035), Titanium Dioxide (CI 77891).

Obsessed, Royalty, Diva
Mica, Synthetic Fluorphlogopite, Calcium Aluminum Borosilicate, Phenyl Trimethicone, Ethylhexyl Palmitate, Isononyl Isononanoate, Tridecyl Trimellitate, Magnesium Myristate, Silica, Isostearyl Isostearate, Nylon-12, Magnesium Stearate, Boron Nitride, Polyethylene, Simmondsia Chinensis (Jojoba) Seed Oil, Cocos Nucifera (Coconut) Oil, Butyrospermum Parkii (Shea) Butter, Phenoxyethanol, Caprylyl Glycol, Ethylhexylglycerin, Tocopheryl Acetate, Tin Oxide +/- May Contain/Peut Contenir: Iron Oxides (CI 77491, CI 77499), Titanium Dioxide (CI 77891).

Matte Shades (Silk Creme, M.F.E.O., Creamsicle, Butter, Pooter, Pukey, Hunts, Roxanne, Jacz, Buns, Chip, Mocha, Jada, Enchanted, Central Park, Soda Pop, Abyss)
Mica, Talc, Methyl Methacrylate Crosspolymer, Magnesium Stearate, Silica, Phenyl Trimethicone, Ethylhexyl Palmitate, Isononyl Isononanoate, Tridecyl Trimellitate, Synthetic Fluorphlogopite, Nylon-12, Boron Nitride, Magnesium Myristate, Polyethylene, Simmondsia Chinensis (Jojoba) Seed Oil, Cocos Nucifera (Coconut) Oil, Butyrospermum Parkii (Shea) Butter, Phenoxyethanol, Caprylyl Glycol, Ethylhexylglycerin, Isostearyl Isostearate, Tocopheryl Acetate +/- May Contain/Peut Contenir: Titanium Dioxide (CI 77891), Iron Oxides (CI 77491, CI 77492, CI 77499), Blue 1 Lake (CI 42090), Carmine (CI 75470), Ultramarines (CI 77007), Yellow 5 Lake (CI 19140), Black 2 (CI 77266), Chromium Oxide Greens (CI 77288), Red 40 Lake (CI 16035).

Volume 1, the Vault palettes, and the new Volume 2 palette all contain coconut oil, shea butter, and jojoba oils. Coconut is a tree nut and is listed as an allergen for those not just with tree nut allergies but it can be a cross-reactive allergen for those with a latex allergy. This was not addressed by Morphe and was completely downplayed.

Why not inform your customers that there was a formulation change? Them stating it's not common to announce a formula change isn't exactly true. I've seen companies announce a formula change. I had a Too Faced palette that had a formula change and they had it on the packaging (this was years ago though). With the change in the formulation there came even a bigger issue - the addition of carmine.

Carmine comes from crushed bugs. I've discussed it before in a previous blog post but for vegetarians and vegans the addition of carmine is a serious issue since many people who reviewed the original one stated it was . Personally, I use products with carmine and am not vegan nor full vegetarian so I don't have that issue but no one else is me and Morphe should have addressed the fact that the products now contain vegan.



Warning to Vegans: This video does contain video of the bugs being harvested to make carmine.

The other issue is when did the change actually occured. According to Morphe's tweet, the ingredients are up on the website but as of mid-December the list did not include carmine but some people have stated that the palettes they bought as far back as mid-2018 did contain carmine.

According to one of JenLuvsReviews viewers, she purchased a Morphe x Jaclyn Hill (vol 1) palette in mid-2018 and it listed carmine. We know that Morphe listed the palette as vegan all the way into mid-late December 2019 which means this would be false advertising.


Screenshot of JenLuvsReviews viewer with her statement.


Archived page from Wayback Marchine. Dated January 12, 2019


Archived page from Wayback Machine. Dated December 15, 2019

Another issue to point out is the fact that the three new oils shorten the shelf life of this palette. So buyer beware. The Morphe x Jaclyn Hill palettes (Vol 1, Vault, & Vol 2) are NOT vegan, contain tree nuts (allergen risk for those with a coconut allergy, tree nut allergy, or latex cross-reactive allergy).

Comments

Popular Posts