The exclusion list
What we never use
Glow Halal will not formulate with the ingredients below. Each one is listed under the exact name a manufacturer is allowed to print on the pack, with the reason it is excluded rather than just the fact of it. We hold no third-party halal accreditation and do not claim one — this list, and the full ingredient list on every product, are the whole of our argument.
1 excluded outright, 2 permitted only against a documented plant source. Read the full ingredient index for everything else we have looked at.
Excluded from every formula
These are not used at any concentration, in any product, for any shade.
| Ingredient | On the label | What we use instead |
|---|---|---|
| Carmine |
|
|
Used only against a documented plant source
These are chemically identical whether the feedstock was a plant or an animal, and the INCI name is the same either way. A label cannot settle them; supplier documentation has to. We list them separately rather than printing a blanket “free from” claim we could not defend.
| Ingredient | On the label |
|---|---|
| Glycerin |
|
| Squalane |
|
The claims this list lets us make
Each of these is a filter on the shop, and each one means something specific. The wording matters: “alcohol-free” is a claim about ethanol, not about the fatty alcohols that share the word.
- Alcohol-Free
- Contains no ethanol or denatured alcohol. Fatty alcohols such as cetyl and cetearyl are emollients, not intoxicants, and do not affect this claim.
- Carmine-Free
- No CI 75470 — the crimson pigment rendered from cochineal insects, ubiquitous in reds and pinks.
- Gelatin-Free
- No porcine or bovine gelatin in capsules, gels or setting agents.
- Pork Derivative-Free
- Umbrella claim covering tallow, porcine collagen and pork-derived stearates.
- No Animal-Derived Ingredients
- Stricter than most vegan-adjacent claims; derived from a full INCI review.
- Wudu-Friendly
- Water-permeable formulation that permits ablution without removal.
- Paraben-Free
- No methyl-, ethyl-, propyl- or butylparaben.
- Sulfate-Free
- No SLS or SLES.
- Cruelty-Free
- No animal testing at any stage.
- Vegan
- No animal-derived inputs at all.
- Fragrance-Free
- Fragrance compounds can carry undeclared alcohol carriers.
- Shellac-Free
- No lac-insect resin, common in mascara and nail products.
Questions we get about this list
- Does Glow Halal hold a halal certificate?
- No. Glow Halal holds no third-party halal accreditation and does not claim one. What we publish instead is the complete INCI list for every product we sell, and the list on this page of the ingredients we will not formulate with. You are being asked to check our work, not to take our word for it.
- Is Cetearyl Alcohol the same thing as Alcohol Denat.?
- No. Cetearyl, cetyl and stearyl alcohol are fatty alcohols — waxy, non-volatile emollients with no intoxicating property. Alcohol Denat. is ethanol. They share a word and nothing else, and excluding the fatty alcohols costs you a great many acceptable products for no reason.
- How do I check a product I already own against this list?
- Turn the pack over and read the INCI list — the block of Latin and chemical names, ordered by descending concentration until 1%. Compare it against the "on the label" column here, which gives the exact strings a manufacturer is permitted to print, including the CI colour numbers that hide the animal-derived pigments.