Why We Only Use Synthetic Mica

A Note on Ethics & Transparency

Some choices are made quietly.
Others are made deliberately even when they cost more, take longer, or require standing apart. At VE Cosmetics, our decision to use only synthetic mica is one of those choices.

What Is Mica?

Mica is a mineral used in cosmetics to create shimmer, glow, and light-reflecting finishes. It’s what gives eyeshadow its gleam, highlighter its celestial sheen, and pigments their depth and dimension. But behind the sparkle, there is a truth the beauty industry has too often ignored.

The Reality of Natural Mica

A significant proportion of natural mica is sourced from regions where child labour, unsafe working conditions, and exploitation are widely documented. In some areas, families are forced to rely on children to mine mica in dangerous conditions, often without protection, regulation, or access to education.

Supply chains can be complex, opaque, and difficult to verify. Even when “ethical mica” is claimed, full transparency is not always guaranteed. For us, that uncertainty alone is reason enough to step away because no amount of shimmer is worth a child’s safety.

Why Synthetic Mica Matters

Synthetic mica is created in controlled environments, replicating the same properties as natural mica, without the human cost. It delivers the same glow, the same performance, and the same beauty, without exploitation hidden beneath the surface.

By choosing synthetic mica, we ensure:

• No child labour

• No unsafe mining conditions

• No ambiguous supply chains

• Full traceability and transparency

It’s not a compromise.It’s an upgrade.

Ethics Without Illusion

We believe ethics should be visible, not implied.
That’s why we don’t rely on vague promises or marketing language, we rely on intentional decisions backed by transparency.

Using synthetic mica allows us to stand firmly behind every product we create, knowing that beauty was never achieved at the expense of someone else’s wellbeing.

A Conscious Choice

Synthetic mica can be more expensive.It can require more careful sourcing. It can mean saying no to suppliers who won’t meet our standards. But ethics were never meant to be convenient.

At VE Cosmetics, compassion isn’t an optional extra, it’s built into the foundation of everything we do.

Why This Choice Wasn’t Easy

When VE Cosmetics first launched, we relied on supplier declarations that claimed mica was ethically sourced. Like many small brands at the time, we trusted the paperwork we were given until we learned just how unreliable and opaque those declarations could be.

By 2020, it became painfully clear that “ethical mica” certificates were often not worth the paper they were written on. Supply chains were too complex, too fragmented, and too easy to disguise. The more we learned, the harder it became to ignore the reality behind the shimmer.

So we made the decision to switch entirely to synthetic mica.

It wasn’t easy. The transition was expensive, disruptive, and slowed us down significantly. Reformulations had to be revisited, costs increased overnight, and new product launches became harder to budget for.

But it meant something far more important: I could sleep at night and that peace of mind is priceless.

Since then, synthetic mica has become more accessible, costs have reduced, and VE has grown into a position where we can release products more readily, without ever compromising on the ethics that mattered enough to change everything.

For Our Coven

When you choose VE, you’re not just choosing colour, pigment, or shimmer.
You’re choosing accountability.
You’re choosing care over convenience.
You’re choosing beauty that doesn’t look away.

We’ll always tell you why we do what we do, because transparency is part of trust, and trust is sacred.

A Final Word

Shimmer should feel magical, not heavy with unseen harm.

Our commitment to synthetic mica is one small part of a larger promise:

Beauty without cruelty.
Ethics without exception.
Transparency without compromise.

Makeup so good, it must be witchcraft. 🖤