While Monave is primarily a gluten -free, animal cruelty-free mineral makeup company that focuses on a palette to match all shades of women, we field questions from folks who are sensitive to other ingredients. One of the questions we have been fielding more and more often is if we carry soy-free makeup.

 Before we share links for our soy-free products, lets first go over some of the controversy surrounding soy. Many of our customers are either vegetarian, or low-meat eaters. But just like, as women, we were told that eating a lot of salmon and tuna was beneficial, when in fact, it can mercury poisoning, every suggestion we received needs to be taken with a grain of salt. In general, we can assume that these industries would rather we not know why we should avoid their products.

Soy falls into this unfortunate category of having been pushed as a “healthy superfood”, when in fact it is quite the opposite. I was very surprised, and felt a little behind the eight-ball while doing research for this article, so you are not alone if this information comes with a little shock.

 There are much longer articles than this one on this issue, so I have provided links as well as books that you can review at the bottom of the article if you would like to read the information more in detail.

 P>In a nutshell, the only form in which soy is healthy is if it is fermented. Some fermented products are miso, tempeh, and soy sauce. Fermentation rids the finished product of some of the toxins listed below.

• Thanks to Monsanto, soy is GMO modified, and also sprayed heavily with pesticides. It depletes soil health, is responsible for much of the deforestation of the rain forest, and in general, is not helping our farmlands prosper.

• High levels of phytic acid in soy reduce assimilation of calcium, magnesium, copper, iron and zinc , all extremely important to women as we age.

• Soy can actually decrease the body’s absorption of B12. This is especially an issue for vegans, who generally do not receive enough B12 in their diet.

• Regular consumption of soy can decrease Vitamin D content in your body.

• Soy phytoestrogens are powerful antithyroid agents that can cause thyroid problems, an especially agregious health issue for many women.

• Soy estrogens, (isoflavones) which are basically hormones, can contribute to infertillity, and can increase the possibility of developiong breast cancer. In men it can lead to decreased testosterone.

• Soy foods contain high levels of aluminum which we know is not healthy, espcially for brain functioning.

These are just some of the highlights. If this news comes as somewhat of a surprise to you, please take the time to do some research, as your family’s health depends upon it. If you assume your soy consumption is little to none because you don’t often eat tofu, and do not drink soy milk, you may not know how many foods contain hidden soy, such as hamburgers, your pet’s food, breads etc.

Now, to the makeup!

We do not exclusively feature soy free products, but we have very few products that contain soy in any great quantity. An example is our vitamin E. We source it from two different places, soy, and rice, to avoid gluten. For a pound of product, there may only be ten drops of Vitamin E, so unless you are allergic to soy, this would not be of concern.

What follows is a list the of the products that contain soy and you can estimate the percentage by where the ingredient falls in the formula on our Ingredients Profile.

http://www.monave.com/cosmetic-ingredients-info

Skincare

 Intensive Emollient

 Vegan Rose Daily (low)

 Shea Butter Lotion (low)

 Cocoa Butter Lotion (low)

 Makeup

 Potted Gloss (low)

 Liquid Gloss (low)

 Cream Foundations

 Vegan Moisture Mousse Foundation (low)

All of Monave blushes, loose mineral foundations, concealer foundations, bronzers, setting powders, illuminizers, eyeliners, versatile powders, ultra mattes, cream to powders, are and will remain soy-free. If you have other allergies, such as nut allergies, do not hesitate to contact us and we will help cross check our ingredients for you.

 References

  http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dr-mercola/soy-health_b_1822466.html

 http://www.optimumchoices.com/Soy.htm

 http://paleodietlifestyle.com/dangers-soy/