Back when I first went Vegan whenever I’d see one of Burt’s products I’d shy away from them, assuming they had honey in them…because, uhhh bees?
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Well it turns out plenty of their products don’t contain honey or bee-products at all, and in fact some contain arguably “scarier” things such as milk/dairy.
While I still don’t use any Bert’s bees products personally, as I simply am already used to others, generally cheaper or not much more and made by vegan companies instead, there are quite a few of Burt’s Bees products that are Vegan. They range from various toothpastes to eyeliners, however most of what the offer is in fact non-vegan due to containing beeswax or other not entirely vegan or not always vegan ingredients.
Vegan Toothpaste by Burt’s Bees:
- Burt’s Bees Activated Charcoal toothpaste
- Baby-training toothpaste (flouride-free, safe to swallow)
- Kids Fruit Fusion Toothpaste (contains Fluoride)
- Kids Fruit Fusion Toothpaste (Fluoride-free)
- Purely White Zen Peppermint Toothpaste (Flouride-free)
- Charcoal + Whitening Zen Peppermint Toothpaste (Fluoride-free)
- Extra White Mountin Mint Toothpaste (contains Flouride)
- Charcoal + Whitening Mountain Mint Toothpaste (contains Fluoride)
All the above should be vegan-friendly as they don’t contain beeswax or other problematic ingredients — some do contain glycerin, however from our research Burt’s Bees uses vegan Glycerin in their products, as vegan glycerin is simply cheaper and more widely available.
Vegan Mascara by Burt’s Bees:
- None
Unfortunately all of Burt’s bees Mascara appears to contain non-vegan ingredients, specifically beeswax — often they contain other non-vegan ingredients as well such as Stearic Acid which isn’t always vegan friendly. If you’re looking for a vegan-friendly mascara this one on Amazon is a good alternative.
To Clarify: Burt’s bees Nourishing Mascara, All Aflutter Multi-benefit Mascara, and All Aflutter Volumizing Mascara, and others, are not vegan-friendly as they contain beeswax as their base — these are the most popular Mascara’s Burts bees makes, but the others are also non-vegan due to also containing beeswax.
Vegan Blush by Burt’s Bees:
- None
Unfortunately all of Burt’s Bees Blushes contain either Honey or Carmine, and thus aren’t vegan-friendly — this includes their most popular Strawberry Cream or Guava Meringe ‘Natural’ Blush, and various ‘blush makeup’ powders they sell.
Vegan Body Oil’s by Burt’s Bees:
- Body Oil with Lemon & Vitamin E
- Mama Bee Nourishing Body Oil
Both of the above (all currently available) Body Oil’s Burt’s bees produces/offers are vegan-friendly — one is meant for babies, one is meant for everyone else. If you have extra-gentle skin or prefer scentless oils be a baby and use the mama bee oil as it’s meant for sensitive skin and neutrality.
Vegan Lip Balm by Burt’s Bees:
- None
It appears all of Burt’s Bees Lip Balms (their most popular product) contain the dreaded beeswax, and thus aren’t vegan-friendly. Instead opt for pretty much any other lip-balm, as most are vegan-friendly and use vegan waxes instead of beeswax — the exception is sometimes they contain lanolin which isn’t always vegan — it’s a small ingredient that’s negligible and not really produced for-profit but rather is a by-product, but if there’s a balm without it I’d opt for it instead.
If you want a more ‘premium’ lip balm that’s vegan friendly than a generic one, then we liked this one when we tried it, it worked and was quite tasty (although I wouldn’t recommend licking/eating it as much as I did).
Vegan Eyeliner by Burt’s Bees:
- Nourishing Eyeliner Pencil
All the other Burt’s bees Eyeliners appear to contain beeswax and other potentially non-vegan ingredients such as lecithin and Polyhydroxystearic Acid, which may or may not be vegan as Burt’s Bees would not confirm their vegan-status. If you want a cheap (but good) black vegan eyeliner then this one is a good one — not sure about colored eyeliners though, sorry!
Vegan CBD-Products by Burt’s Bees:
- CBD Lip Treatment Balm/Oil
- CBD Facial Oil
The other CBD-products Burt’s Bees makes are not vegan-friendly due to them containing beeswax or honey — only the oil-based products are vegan-friendly (that we mentioned above), all the cream-based CBD products contain non-vegan ingredients.
What about other Burt’s Bees Products?
Most of them are not vegan-friendly; if you have a specific question about one feel free to contact us and we can help you out with figuring out if it’s vegan or not — however generally all you need to look out for is butter, honey, and beeswax — if it doesn’t have that then it’s likely vegan-friendly when it comes to Burt’s bees.
Keep in mind officially none of Burt’s bees products are vegan-friendly, as Burt’s Bees’ FAQ website states that some of their products “do contain animal-sourced ingredients, such as milk, lanolin, honey, royal jelly and carmine” and due to potential cross-contamination they don’t want to call anything vegan-friendly.
If you’re looking for an alternative to burts bees then the brand we personally use and recommend above others is DERMA on Amazon, as they have pretty much all the same products but are 100% Vegan-friendly and cruelty-free — plus they’re not really any more expensive unlike most alternatives.
