For years, cosmetics companies have been devising ways to exit the vicious cycle of animal testing in the industry, and we’re finally starting to see the number of vegan products in the market line up with the number of non-vegan products.
You might ask yourself: Why are vegan skincare products important for some people? Enter the idea of morality. Faced with difficult or unfamiliar decisions, we all use our inner morality — or moral compass — to steer us in the right direction, from big things (like life-changing decisions around relationships and housing) to smaller things (like purchases at the grocery store). Dive deeper into the current thinking around morality here.
So let’s explore why a person might seek out vegan skincare products for their everyday life.
What Makes A Product Vegan?
An easy way to quickly identify a vegan skincare product is to look for a vegan seal on the packaging. The vegan seals are most commonly from either the Vegan Society to Vegan Action and serve to give you peace of mind that the product does not contain any animal by-products.
You can also look for common ingredients in vegan products such as shea butter, aloe vera, and green tea.
Are Organic And Vegan Skincare Products The Same Thing?
Not necessarily. A product can be vegan without being organic, and vice versa or they can be
one and the same. The term “organic” just means that the ingredients used in the product were prepared without synthetic ingredients such as pesticide, growth hormone, or chemical fertilizer.
Also referred to as “green skincare,” organic skincare products can be identified by the logo of an institution that regulates organic products in the country of origin; for example, in the US, you would see a symbol from the USDA or the FAS in the UK.
The Benefits
1. Sustainability
Most skincare products are packages in plastic containers which are not biodegradable and can damage our food chain, whether that means poisoning the animals or crops we consume. However, many vegan companies already have this in mind when designing their packaging to make sure they’re helping the environment in more ways than one.
2. Free From Questionable Ingredients
Many ingredients in non-vegan skincare have fancy names that don’t outwardly identify the unpleasant animal sources they’re made from that could also be damaging to your skin. For example, you might Allantoin on some packaging but won’t release you’re actually putting cow urine on your face. Or the very common Keratin could come from ground-up hooves or horns.
3. Cruelty-Free
Vegan skincare’s number one priority is the animals that have been abused for decades at the expense of luxurious skincare products and makeup. Therefore, vegan products are always 100% cruelty-free which means you can rest easy that no animals were harmed just for a moisturizer. Many companies still engage in these harmful practices today, so be sure to look out for that cruelty-free seal!
4. No Animal By-Products
As mentioned above, many skincare products are made from gross animal by-products that are harmful to the animals they’re acquired from and the humans who use them. Other examples of animal by-products you may want to steer clear from are:
- Gelatin (pig’s skin)
- Lanolin (sheep wool)
- Beeswax
- Carmine (crushed beetles)
5. Not Exclusive To Higher Price Ranges
Lastly, these benefits may seem like they come attached to a higher price tag, but that’s not necessarily the case. Nowadays, you can find vegan skincare prices comparable to non-vegan brands in drugstores and specialty skincare stores.
