Our values

Before Lethal Cosmetics, our founder Anna-Maria held a regular corporate job. A life-long animal lover, she had worked in a wildlife sanctuary in Guatemala and was volunteering at a local shelter. Her day job however felt meaningless by comparison. So she quit and started working on an idea that would become Germany's first 100% vegan makeup brand (that's us, in case we didn't make that clear). Being an ethical brand wasn't something we decided on, it's why we started the company in the first place: to offer bold and high-quality makeup to people who care.

We started out focussing on the things we were instinctively passionate about: animal testing and animal-derived ingredients. We vocally condemn both, got PeTA certified for it, won the 2017 PeTA progress award and have been a staple in the cruelty-free and vegan makeup community ever since.

But we soon learned there was more to be vocal about. Like Mica, the shimmery mineral that makes eyeshadows sparkly and that is often mined by children. So we meticulously went through our supply chain to ensure that our Mica and in fact all of our raw materials were child-labor free. We've also given an interview about it to German TV (in English) and we've become a supporter of the Kailash Satyarthi Children's foundation that supports scholarships for children rescued from forced labor.

And then there's the matter of the environmental impact of makeup. We think about it when we design our packaging, when we ship your orders and of course when we formulate our products. Early on we've decided not to use microplastics in our makeup and we've stuck with it. We've also minimized our use of plastic packaging and have instead opted for FSC certified sustainable paper boxes wherever possible. In 2020, we took the step to become a carbon-neutral company and since then have been able to reduce our CO2 footprint significantly.

That said, we're not done yet. There's always something to scrutinize, question and improve. But we're proud of what we have achieved and excited to take the next steps. If makeup is supposed to make you feel beautiful, it should be made beautifully, too. That's our conviction and those are the words we live by.