This prized breed is specifically bred to have wrinkly skin in order to produce more wool. Where wool and lanolin are concerned, Merino sheep suffer particular horrors. Kirby, Australian sheep (which produces 80% of the world’s wool) suffer over 50 million operations a year that would constitute cruelty if performed on dogs or cats. According to Australian Law Reform Chairman, M.D. Just weeks after birth, lambs' ears are punched, their tails are chopped off, and males are castrated without anesthetic. Before slaughter, industrial-farmed sheep often live a cruel life. It’s not just the act of the slaughter that is inhumane. Sheep are also commonly stunned with an electric current before slaughter, which - when performed incorrectly - can allow the sheep to regain consciousness while having their throat cut or bleeding to death.
Sheep are routinely transported long distances (sometimes for more than ten hours without rest) for slaughter, and can suffer heatstroke, heart attacks, dehydration, overcrowding, and stress-related conditions along the way. The majority of sheep slaughtered each year are lambs. Though shee p can live up to 17 years, most mass-farmed sheep are slaughtered before they reach six years old. Why Is Mass-Produced Lanolin So Bad?Īs with anything where exploitation for profit is concerned, sheep are treated horribly in the mass-produced wool (and lanolin) industry. However, despite these efforts, the line between “ethical”/“humane” and mass-produced wool (and, thus, lanolin) is blurry due to a continued lack of cohesive international standards and difficulty relating to traceability.Ĭurrently, the only way for consumers to identify ethically-produced lanolin is to seek out trusted brands with a commitment to mulesed-free wool, or which use lanolin created as a byproduct of RWS production. These efforts have come predominantly from the apparel industry, with the H&M group banding with the Textile Exchange in 2014 to initiate the development of the Responsible Wool Standard (RWS) (2).
Because the lanolin industry relies directly on mass-produced wool, lanolin also supports cruelty.īefore getting deeper into why you should say no to lanolin, it’s important to point out that “cruelty-free” wool has emerged in opposition to the mass-produced wool industry. The only way to sustain the accelerating levels of lanolin production is by being inextricably linked to mass-produced wool, which is a slaughter industry with inhumane practices. So, though the production of lanolin seems innocent enough because the process happens after the sheep are shorn, and seems like it should be a natural byproduct of the wool industry, lanolin is a major industry of its own. Accounting for these modified versions of lanolin, lanolin and its derivatives may account for approximately 15-25% of the weight of a given lipstick (8). Lanfrax, for instance, is the trade name of a lanolin oil compound that has polyethylene glycol attached to it to make it more water-soluble. Lanolin may also appear in cosmetics as modified versions of lanolin oil. Formulations like these are about 5-10% lanolin by weight. In beauty products, specifically, lanolin gives lipsticks heavy gloss and high-shine. While pharmaceutical-grade lanolin is the lion’s share of the market today, the growing demand for natural and organic ingredients in personal care products is driving lanolin market growth, which is expected to be worth more than $450 million USD by 2024 (6, 7). Lanolin is used in an array of products like pharmaceuticals, leather, textiles, baby and men’s care products, bio-lubricants, and nearly all types of cosmetics marketed to women. How bad could it be, right? Unfortunately it’s not that simple. That means we get lanolin from wool, which we can get by giving the sheep a haircut. It’s extracted by putting the wool through a centrifuge machine that separates the oil from other chemicals and debris. The sheep’s sebaceous glands produce this “wool wax” to help shed water and keep the sheep dry (9). Lanolin is a waxy substance derived mainly from the wool of sheep. Sadly, like many other natural ingredients that sound too good to be true, lanolin also has a dark side. It’s even been lauded as a “winter skin wonder” (1). Lanolin is a popular emollient in personal care products of all varieties, from lipsticks to baby bum balms, because it softens and soothes skin while locking in moisture - a particularly helpful property when facing harsh winter air. One of them is lanolin.Īs with squalane, formulators use lanolin in beauty products to supplement the skin’s natural functions - in the case of lanolin, those functions are moisturization and protection. When browsing labels on cosmetics products, you’re bound to see the same ingredients over and over again.