5 Reasons To Use Vegan Cosmetics
Veganism isn’t only about avoiding eating animal-based products, it’s also about abstaining from using any animal-based products.
It is not commonly known that most of our beauty products contain animal ingredients. However, nail polishes, shower gels, make-up, body lotions, perfumes and most of our cosmetics are made with animal derivatives.
Vegan cosmetics are becoming more and more popular, but not only among the vegan community.
These products are often more respectful of the environment, the body and, of course, the animals.
Being healthy is not only about our diet, it is also about what we apply on our skin and the environment that surrounds us.
Vegan products are often tarnished by misconceptions. Will I find a product that is suitable for my type of skin? Is this product equally good in quality as a non-vegan brand? Will it be more expensive?
Here we explain why you should definitely go vegan next time you look for a mascara or a conditioner!
1. Vegan does not mean more expensive
You might think that because it is vegan, beauty products are going to be less affordable.
There are vegan cosmetic brands for every budget, just like any other type of beauty products.
Some of the ingredients used for the development of these products might actually be less costly than usual animal products. Some of the popular brands where you might already shop for cosmetics could be vegan, but you might not know about it.
The animal right organization PETA regularly updates the lists of vegan beauty and make up brands.
Many of them can be found in your nearest drugstore and are affordable. Make sure you check out their database!
2. Vegan does not mean less choice
Most of us like to have a shampoo that is perfectly suitable for our type of hair, a face cream for our type of skin, makeup that suits us and nail polish that offers the colours we like.
You might think that because the beauty products are vegan, you will have less choice and will not find something suitable for your skin/hair/taste.
However, there are many vegan brands and each of them offers a wide variety of products, just as any other cosmetic brand. For example, some of the vegan beauty brands you may know are: Kat Von D Beauty, Urban Decay, Tarte, Too Faced, Lush, the Body Shop, and many more.
Moreover, due to the absence of chemicals in most of these products, you will be more likely to love these products as they tend to be more respectful of your skin.
So, as well as being friendly towards the animal, vegan cosmetic products are gentler to your body.
3. Vegan means no animal ingredients
Many beauty products are made with animal-derived products. However, by definition, vegan cosmetics do not contain any animal products.
The animal ingredients are often hidden behind scientific terms that consumers don’t understand.
Most of us would be disgusted knowing that allantoin is extracted from the cow urine, ambergris from whale intestine or that carmine is made with crushed insects. These products are simply unnecessary and could easily be substituted with plant-based products ingredients. There are many vegetable alternatives such as comfrey root balsam tree extract, or beet juice, which are a lot more pleasant to apply on our skin.
4. Vegan means 100% cruelty-free
Some cosmetics might not contain any animal-based ingredients but might still be tested on animals. Vegan beauty product are never tested on animals.
Animal testing means that the products are usually dripped into the eyes of cute bunnies, hamsters, guinea pigs, mice or rats.
Legislations concerning animal testing are very different around the world. Very few countries have banned animal testing. The European Union took the lead as it is now prohibited to conduct animal testing of cosmetics, but it is also forbidden to import products that have been tested on animals.
India, Israel, Norway, Australia, New Zealand and Switzerland have also banned animal testing.
Other countries, like Canada, Russia, South Korea, Japan, Mexico and the USA are in the process of prohibiting beauty products tested on animals, but these laws are not in action just yet.
China is the only country that requires cosmetic products to be tested on animals by law. China represents very important market, many brands have decided to conduct animal testing on products they could then sell in the most populated country of the world.
Therefore, a cosmetic brand could sell products in the EU without testing on animals, but however test their products in China to expand their market.
Vegan beauty products can assure you that they are never tested on animals, wherever you buy them (they are simply not sold in China).
5. Vegan often means green
Many vegan brands, as well as respecting animals, respect the environment. Many have decided to use sustainable or recycled packaging, which is much more environmentally-friendly than other regular packaging.
Moreover, many of them will use organic or non-GMO ingredients. Some would also avoid using chemicals, which could be bad for the environment but also aggressive for the skin. For example, they are likely to replace plastic microbeads in body scrubs by a natural product such as sugar, salt or even ground coffee.
Basically, many vegan brands tend to be not only animal lovers, but also nature and people lovers.
Tip:
Regularly check the list of vegan cosmetic brands! More and more brands decide to go vegan every year, so if your favourite brand of shampoo or lipstick is not cruelty-free just yet, it doesn’t mean that it won’t be in a few months!
