Aveeno

Last week while replenishing my beauty and cleansing products after my crazy summer of backpacking and washing my face with mini bars of no-name soap and daily use of pore clogging sun screen, I reached for my long used and trusted AVEENO® Clear Complexion Cream Cleanser. I tossed it in my basket and carried on.

Only after I got home and was unpacking my purchases did it dawn on me that I had no idea what was in this bottle other than stuff that made my acne, sensitive and red skin less of a stress for me. Was this vegan? Oh man ... it never crossed my mind. I had stupidly assumed that because it was a "creamy cleanser with moisture-rich Soy extracts gently exfoliates to help improve skin's tone and texture while salicylic acid, a proven blemish-fighting ingredient, works to clear up break-outs without over-drying, leaving skin soft, smooth and even-looking. This mild, oil-free, hypoallergenic formula won't clog pores and is gentle enough for everyday use", that I was in the clear.

I jumped on good old Google and started searching away. Shockingly I could not find one site or post that could advise me if these products were in fact vegan.

What the deuce?! All I got was reviews and comments. I was tweeked by the one post that I did see that had any vegan tone to it, and that was that the parent company of Aveeno was in fact Johnson & Johnson, a well know UNvegan company.

My heart sank right there and I decided to contact the company directly.

Through their website I submitted a simple questions asking if the following products contained any animal products and if they were vegan:

• AVEENO® Clear Complexion Cream Cleanser
• AVEENO® Clear Complexion Moisturizer

That was Tuesday. Today I got a response back:

Thank you for contacting the Johnson & Johnson Consumer Companies, Inc. Information Center. It is always important to hear from our consumers, and we appreciate the time you have taken to contact us.

With regards to your recent inquiry, the AVEENO® Clear Complexion Cream Cleanser does contain animal by products. The ingredient Cetyl Alcohol is derived from animal. AVEENO® Clear Complexion Moisturizer does not contain any animal by products.

We hope this information has been helpful to you.

Again, thank you for your interest in our company. Should you have any comments or questions in the future, please contact us via our website www.aveeno.ca or by calling our toll-free number, 1-877-298-2525. Our specialists are available Monday through Friday, 8:00 a.m - 8:00 p.m. EST and will be happy to assist you.

Should you require further information, I invite you to e-mail us again or call the Information Centre at 1-800-361-8068.

The Information Centre

Well would ya look at that? A proper answer. 

So now I have to return my cleanser, which is fine because while I waited for my answer from J&J took a trip to my local LUSH shop (my most favorite store ever!) where I picked up a bar of the AMAZING FRESH FARMACY. It is "the soothing, cleansing bar to reach for whenever you see a spot starting rear its ugly head. It makes a tiny bit of froth to clean your face gently. And because it's made with masses of calamine and chamomile, it's one of the most extraordinarily calming cleansers known to humankind."

One word: UNREAL. In just 2 days my redness is going down and stress acne is drying up and heading out!

I also grabbed a few pots of their uber yummy vegan NONE OF YOUR BEESWAX LIP BALM 

And a jar of the winter must have, BON BON LIP SCRUB. Its tastes like lemon pie and scrubs all that dry skin off your pout and makes them lip balm or gloss ready.

Have I professed my love for LUSH yet ….