Clinique is a prestige brand of makeup sold in many department stores and online. Clinique does not make gluten free makeup, per se, but they do pay enough attention to their products to be able to say which of their products has glutinous ingredients and which don’t. They do acknowledge that even products that don’t contain glutinous ingredients can come in contact with gluten, so gluten free is not guaranteed because of shared equipment.
Clinique offer an enormous line of cosmetics, including but not limited to foundation, face washes, eye makeup, lipsticks, moisturizers, makeup removers, and fragrance. Their guarantee is that they do not test on animals and their products are allergy tested and 100% fragrance free (except for their perfume, of course!).
I contacted Clinique to ask generally about whether their makeup is gluten free, but also more specifically about their lip products. Their representative sent me the following information:
– Chubby Stick Moisturizing Lip Colour Balm contains corn and soy
– Chubby Stick Intense Moisturizing Lip Colour Balm may contain ingredients derived from soy and corn
– Long Last Soft Matte Lipstick contains ingredients derived from soy and corn
– Long Last Soft Shine Lipstick contains triticum vulgare (wheat bran) extract and soy
– Different Lipstick contains ingredients derived from corn and soy
– High Impact Lip Colour contains ingredients derived from soy and corn
– Butter Shine Lipstick contains ingredients derived from soy and corn
– Almost Lipstick may contain ingredients derived from soy
Since I don’t have Celiac, I was glad to hear that my favorite lip products – chubby sticks and different lipstick – don’t have gluten. However, I do use them less often than before I found out they are manufactured on shared equipment, and when they run out, I won’t repurchase so that I can eliminate cross-contamination from my makeup.
It’s up to you whether you’re willing to use a product that is made on shared equipment, but before you purchase their makeup, make sure to contact them and ask whether what you’d like to use has glutinous ingredients.
Products with Gluten Ingredients
Pop Lip Colour + Primer has
Mar 09, 2009 Say goodbye to.MAC cosmetics. I usually talk about things that ARE gluten-free, but it can be equally useful in knowing what ISN'T gluten-free. Before I realized that eyeshadows and mascara could contain gluten, I used MAC. After contacting the company and receiving a response MUCH later, I learned that the following products contained gluten. Here are our dupes for MAC Snow Globetrotter, which is a slightly cool-toned, light white with a frost finish. It is a limited edition eyeshadow that retails for $17.00 and contains 0.05 oz. Gluten Free Makeup Gal. Dig my latest post! New fire hair means time to bust out the @concreteminerals. Wearing Napalm #cmnapalm and Alter of Roses #cmalterofroses #concreteminerals. Along with some kick-ass @beauteminerals foundation, blush, highlighter and finishing powder. I had inquired about there makeup and those in product developement also informed me that their entire line is GF. Per-Fekt is another fabulous line that states they ' ARE gluten, paraben, alcohol, aluminum, cruelty-free'. And there undereye corrector can be doubled as an eye treatment so that kills 2 gluten free birds with one stone!
- triticum vulgare (wheat) germ extract
- triticum vulgare (wheat) bran extract
- hordeum vulgare (barley) extract
Deep Comfort Hand and Cuticle Cream has
- triticum vulgare (wheat) germ extract
- hordeum vulgare (barley) extract
Dramatically Different Moisturizing Lotion has
- hordeum vulgare (barley) extract
High Impact Mascara has
- hydrolyzed wheat protein
These are only the ones I’ve looked at. I’m sure there are more, so be wary as you look through the ingredients list.
*sigh* I am grateful for their honesty, but that doesn’t mean I’m not disappointed.
When I first talked to NARS, they told me how careful they were in watching their gluten content. They told me they tested periodically to double check that their products were safe. While it took some time to finally get this information from them, at least I got answers!
Well, after the Arbonne thing and the realization that I need to reevaluate my old “questionnaires”, NARS was the next obvious company on the list to double check. Big, many products and not natural in the slightest. Some of my fab, smart, observant readers also emailed me wondering the exact same thing. So I set to work finding out.
I finally got my answer back from them and I wasn’t very happy about it.
Here’s what the gal told me:
Our statement [has] changed recently to say that we can’t guarantee that there will be any traces of gluten.
Many of our products do not contain ingredients derived from barley, oats, rye, spelt or wheat, which are commonly known sources of gluten. however, due to the wide range of raw materials and equipment used during the manufacturing of our products, we cannot confirm that our products are free from any traces of gluten.
As far as ingredients derived from barley, oats, rye, spelt or wheat we provide our clients with ingredient lists for any product in which they are interested as a lot of our products do not contain such ingredients.
This is completely different than what I’d heard before. Pretty much a 180 turn around from what they told me to start with.
Which Makeup Brands Are Gluten Free
As sad as this makes me, better to know now than to not know, right? I am grateful we at least know now!
However, I’m a bit troubled.
I do not now know if this has always been the case and they misinformed me to begin with, or if they really did try to be 100% gluten free for a while and just gave up.
I do know that I’ve had a few mysterious “watery/burning eye” days when wearing makeup and I wasn’t 100% sure what the problem was. Allergies? Someone’s perfume? Too much wind? (all plausible for me) But it makes sense that the NARS mascara I was wearing could be cross contaminated, because in hindsight, that’s exactly how my eyes react to gluten. The reactions from the NARS mascara were just so mild I wasn’t sure where it was coming from.
Certified Gluten Free Makeup
Since NARS is such a huge company, I’m pushing out an emergency update to remove it from the gluten free makeup list.
Ugh, I just feel kinda sick about this. Guess I shouldn’t be too surprised that NARS is gluten free no longer, but still. All those options just… Gone.
Thank you NARS for the clarification. but I’m still really sad about this. NARS – gluten free no longer.
Looking for more gluten-free brands?
Is Mac Foundation Gluten Free
Here on Gluten Free Makeup Gal, I’ve built a list of all the safest gluten free bands of makeup, skin care, hair care and body care on the market. You can also check the following guides on: