Beauty & Skincare products are often overlooked when first starting transitioning to Veganism. The Ethical Beauty industry is vital for your health, the environment & the wellbeing of the animals. Here you’ll find the truth about animal testing, how to walk away from commercial toxic brands, requirements for purchasing an ethical product, and why this topic is so important.
Okay, so you’re vegan or you’re somewhere near to being vegan. When people think vegan they immediately think only of food. The reality? Vegan food it’s just the tip of the iceberg, there are so many other aspects to Veganism that are so easily overlooked.
For example, the beauty & skin care industry. Most commercial products are made with substances that don’t go along the lines of veganism (animals, health, environment). Think about it, your skin is the body’s largest organ, it protects you and keeps you safe. It would only make sense that if you’re keeping your inside organs healthy & clean with veganism, that you do the same with your skin. So what to do? You always want to put the least toxic, least cruel products on your skin because your body soaks it right into the bloodstream.
Today I’m sharing WHY the Ethical Beauty industry is so vital. And I get it, at first it may seem unimportant, it happened to me. But being two years into veganism after making the food changes myself, and learning tons of new information, when I started making these other changes I felt like I wasted a lot of time being ignorant. So I want to bring you all the information so don’t have to waste time like I did.
Disclaimer: Just like there are many aspects to Veganism, there are many aspects to Ethical Beauty that go along the same lines. However, the lines on this topic are still murky, the Ethical Beauty “business” is still in diapers, and there are tons of controversies going on regarding the topic. So I’m going to give you my input, which is MY OPINION, along with my requirements for purchasing a product, my tips on how to start, and why I think this is important.
Animal Testing: NEWSFLASH it’s not “just the lab rats”
Although they are not required by law, several cosmetics tests are performed on mice, rats, rabbits and guinea pigs. At the end of a test, the animals are killed without pain relief by asphyxiation, neck-breaking or decapitation. These tests can include:
- Skin and eye irritation tests where chemicals are rubbed onto the shaved skin or dripped into the eyes of restrained rabbits without any pain relief.
- Repeated force-feeding studies lasting weeks or months to look for signs of general illness or specific health hazards such as cancer or birth defects.
- Widely condemned “lethal dose” tests, in which animals are forced to swallow large amounts of a test chemical to determine the dose that causes death.
information retrieved from The Humane Society of The United States
“No One Should Have to Sacrifice for Beauty”
When I started changing my skincare & beauty products arsenal, I struggled a lot finding my why’s; I wanted my products to be vegan, cruelty-free & eco-friendly all at once. I quickly realized that this was nearly impossible since this industry is still in diapers. Two months into trying different products I decided that, my number one requirement for purchasing a beauty product: IT HAS TO BE CRUELTY-FREE. Today, this is non-negotiable for me, and it should be for you too.
Coincidently, a lot of brands started jumping in on the Ethical Beauty trend, but many for all the wrong reasons. For example, a certain commercial brand (which I’ll refrain from naming for legal reasons) released at the beginning of last year a line of hair products that were branded as vegan. However, this company is notoriously known for testing animals and branding themselves as a “natural” brand, even though it’s far from being eco-friendly. This was back to when I was starting to change my products, so naturally, when I saw the product branded as vegan at Walgreens I got really excited & bought it. One month in, I came to the conclusion that it made zero sense for a product to be vegan only to still be tested on animals.
“Where do I Start?”: Simple Changes
- Start here: Choose what’s ethically most important to you. Is it for your products to be vegan? For them to be eco-friendly? Or for them to be cruelty-free? Like I said before, for now, there are a handful of companies that make their products check all of those boxes.
- Slowly but surely: You probably didn’t become vegan overnight; definitely, don’t try to change your arsenal of beauty products cold turkey. Do your research, at your own pace. Substitute your products, when they end. Resist your urge to splurge and our wallet will thank you.
- Don’t fall into certifications & fancy words: Just like I mentioned before, companies are jumping on this trend and many for the wrong reasons. “Organic certified, vegan certified, cruelty-free certified, natural certified” those are all words that you might read from just one product. However, most companies practices don’t align with what they’re trying to sell; just like the brand that I mentioned before that sold vegan products but still tested them on animals. There are many small, independent brands with a true passion for their ethics, that can’t afford to certify, but still, use 100% organic ingredients, so it is important to read your labels, research and ask questions.
- One size does not fit all: In the Ethical Beauty Industry you can find amazing products, but you’ll also run into some flops. This will be a process with lots of trial & error. It has taken me a year to finally be comfortable with all the products that I currently have. So be patient, and enjoy the process.
My Advice?
- First thing to go? Lipstick: This is a product that you’ll end up ingesting one way or another. Yes! You’re literally eating it. So why not make it vegan? There are tons of brands out there creating amazing lipsticks with a wide range of shades.
- Hair is next!: Your scalp is more absorbent than the rest of your skin. So it’s really important that when you’re changing your routine and detoxing your body from animal products, to tackle this first. I know this can be hard when you’re used to products for many years. It was for me, but in the end, the only products that worked best for my curly hair were the vegan, cruelty-free & eco-friendly ones.
- Ingredients: Just like you learned (or are still learning) how to read the labels on your food, learn how to read the labels on your beauty
How to Spot Ethical Vegan Products
So, I’ve talked about the importance of Vegan, Cruelty-free & Eco-friendly products. But how does that actually translate? Be aware of the following when looking for your beauty and personal care products:
- Cruelty-free: Products with ingredients that at no stage in their development where tested on animals. However, animal testing is not the only thing that you may want to consider here. Pay attention to where the palm oil in your products come from; this simple ingredient is responsible for the devastation of thousands of hectares of rainforests and consequently all the animals that live in them. So make sure that your palm oil is sustainably certified.
- Vegan: Products that do not contain any animal ingredients. But be aware, shockingly enough, some companies test their vegan products on animals.
- Eco-friendly: Products that are organic, natural and non-GMO, without manufactured herbicides, artificial fertilizers, artificial or synthetic colors, preservatives or chemicals. But be aware, not all eco-friendly products are fully vegan; some may contain egg derivatives or honey.
Whether you already support Ethical Beauty brands or you’re just starting out on your journey, you’ve taken the time and effort to make a positive decision for the good of the environment. The world needs more people like you! Changes like these, as small as they may seem, have a huge positive impact.
I hope you find some value from my words and invite you to share this with friends, family & colleagues to join the movement!
Resources to Learn More
- Cruelty-free Kitty Brand List: A comprehensive and updated A-Z list of cruelty-free brands.
- Ethical Elephant Vegan Brand List: A complete and updated list of 100% Vegan beauty brands!
- Citrus Sleep Eco-friendly Brands: list of organic and eco-friendly beauty products
- Fact Sheet: Get the facts about cosmetics animal testing and learn more about The Humane Society of the United States Be Cruelty-Free campaign to end cosmetics animal testing worldwide.
