Being vegan is not just about what you eat. It is also about what you wear and use as your daily beauty products or cosmetics. Here are some of the tips for you to understand what it means to use vegan beauty products.
What is ‘Vegan’?
Vegan, similar to being vegetarian, do not eat meat. But unlike the vegetarians, vegans also do not consume any other animal product such as dairy products or eggs. When selecting vegan beauty products, it means choosing products that do not use any ingredients that are derived from animals and products that are cruelty free.
What are Animal Based Ingredients?
You might be surprised at the number of animal based ingredients that are being used in the beauty industry. This is not only limited to those such as animal oils or beeswax. Did you know that there is other animal based products that are being used in your skincare, beauty and cosmetic products ranging from pigments to conditioning agents? These include allantoin taken from animals, carmine which is a red pigment derived from insects, collagen or gelatine and collagen and keratin. If you are looking for products that are vegan, stay clear of products that use these ingredients.
Alternative Ingredients
There are many synthetic as well as natural ingredients that are used in vegan products that avoid the above animal based ingredients. These includes ingredients such as plant based conditioning products such as Shea butter, jojoba oil, coconut oil, almond oil, argon oil, avocado oil, pigments derived from plants instead of animals such as tomatoes, papaya, watermelon, agar or seaweed instead of gelatine or collagen. It is important to remember however, that not all vegan products use natural ingredients only.
What is Cruelty Fee?
Cruelty free products are those that are not tested on animals. You can find out if a product is animals-tested or not by looking for the leaping bunny sign on the product label. However, it is important to remember that all products that are cruelty free are not always vegan.
How to Purchase Vegan Products?
You can find many vegan and animal friendly brands in the beauty and fashion industry. The best way to find these is by reading the labels and checking out the cruelty free certification and the ingredients for yourself.
The product each person buy differs from others due to their unique needs in taking care of their skin and hair. So if you have a hard time trying to finding a product or understanding the ingredients that goes into a certain product the best way to do is getting the help of a customer services assistant or any beauty product expert. And letting them know your needs.
A vegan lifestyle is not limited to cutting off eating animal flesh. So for those who are willing to start a vegan lifestyle, it is important to keep these tips in mind as it affects not just your meals but also other day-today things such as shopping or skincare routines.
