Looking to update your seasonal skincare routine? Whether your skin is downright dry, ordinarily oily, or super sensitive, it’s time to tackle the tools you use. Before you buy new beauty bottles for the bathroom cupboard, it might be a good idea to go over our vegan skincare guide. In this guide is part of our Vegan Bath, Body, and Beauty series and covers the best vegan skincare brands, how to shop for cruelty-free skincare, and how to make your own DIY skincare at home.
You might be wondering: What is vegan skincare? What do I look for? How do I get started on a new skincare routine? Which companies offer vegan skincare products? No worries, lotion-loving friends! We’ll answer all of those questions and more.
Before we start, consider the contents of your bathroom counter and muddle through your medicine cabinet. Dig out all of your cleansers, moisturizers, foundation, sunscreens, lip balms, soaps, scrubs, masks, and serums and pile them in front of you. Are any of them clearly marked as vegan or cruelty-free? It’s totally okay if you can’t figure it out or are too afraid to look. Let’s investigate together!
To start, we’ll keep it simple. Here’s what it means to be vegan. And here is why so many people choose to be vegan. At World of Vegan, we consider skincare to be vegan if:
Although there are other issues to consider such as natural vs. synthetic, organic vs. non-organic, or even the environmental impact of certain ingredients, these two principles are the most important in identifying if skincare is vegan or not.
When we think about skincare, animal products don’t immediately come to mind. At least, not like they do with food or drink. It’s really easy to overlook the fact that many basic ingredients found in the most popular beauty products are not vegan.
‘Regular skincare’ might refer to readily available, over-the-counter, and mainstream products which may or may not include vegan-friendly ingredients. On the other hand, ‘vegan skincare’ can easily be misconstrued as something elite, expensive, and hard to find.
The only thing that differs between ‘regular’ and vegan skincare are the ingredients. Our goal is to find an option that keep our skin gorgeous and glowing, without anything to do with the animals we love.
Which Skincare Brands Are Vegan And Cruelty-Free?
Because new skincare brands coming out on the market all the time, these are just a few of our tried-and-true favorites. We’ll be updating this list often, so make sure to check back when you’re searching for new vegan skincare options.
If you’re like to explore vegan skincare and beauty brands and products without investing in full-size products, consider subscribing to a vegan beauty box. Here are the three most popular vegan beauty box options today:
As a subscriber to a vegan beauty subscription box you’ll receive a sampling of vegan products every month—usually a mix of skincare, body care, and makeup—at a fraction of the full retail price. This is a great option for anyone who hasn’t yet landed on their favorite vegan skincare products and brands, or if you’l like to build up a collection.
While this is not a complete list of all of the skincare ingredients that are not vegan, these are the most commonly known and used in commercial skincare products.
Until recently, collagen and elastin have been entirely animal-based. Both collagen and elastin are proteins extracted from the various parts of an animal, usually a cow or horse. Collagen is made with fibrous proteins of the animal tissue, bone, skin, or ligaments, while elastin is created from the muscles, ligaments, and aortas of animals.
But, thankfully, science is truly coming along in the skincare world. There are now plant-based collagen options manufactured using yeast and bacteria. Pacifica has a range of vegan collagen skincare utilizing this new technology. In addition, the company, Geltor, has taken advantage of the fermentation process to invent a PETA-approved elastin ingredient for use in skincare.
Yay for science!
Often, but not necessarily. You would think that any vegan skincare product would be the better choice (and when it comes to the animals, it always is!), but it really depends on how these non-animal ingredients interact with your own skin or skin type. Also, keep in mind, that every person is unique and reacts differently to certain ingredients.
Sometimes, using a petroleum-based product can wreak havoc on the skin due to the man-made chemicals. On the other hand, if you have sensitivities to nuts or seeds, you might want to be extra careful of natural oils that come from almonds, coconut, or sesame. What may work for one person may not work for another. There’s a lot of trial and error, but it’s well worth it in the end.
For the best chance at high-quality vegan skincare, here’s what to strive for:
It might be surprising to learn that many of the low-end skincare companies have a number of accidentally vegan products, while many of high end, more expensive brands have less. Why is that? It’s mostly due to the fact that lower-end brands use synthetic ingredients such as mineral oil, as the basis of their products.
Since mineral oil is an industrial by-product, it’s inexpensive and readily available. The high-end companies tend (not always, of course) to use more “natural” ingredients. Sadly, those end up being focused primarily on animal-based, rather than plant-based, substances like beeswax, collagen, lanolin, etc.
Sadly, there isn’t an easy “yes” or “no” answer to this question. Some affordable vegan skincare products may have better options than more expensive brands, or vice versa. It truly depends on the company and product itself. This is a great opportunity to do a bit of extra investigating on your own. (Though, we’re happy to give you a little guidance.)
When you’re embarking on a new beauty routine, it’s best to stick with the basics. After that, you can add on whichever plumping and pampering practices you like! If you’re anything you’re like us, you’ll find it fabulously fun to experiment and observe the results.
First, choose a vegan makeup remover (if you wear makeup), a cleanser, and a vegan moisturizer. Then, follow these simple steps every evening before bed (very important) and in the morning, if you wish.
These alluring extras may a bit of brightness and a touch of TCL when your skin needs it the most. Feel free to pick and choose the products that suit you best. It’s all about you and what you love.
This suggestion is for all of you DIY-lovers out there! While there are many amazing options for vegan and cruelty-free skincare in stores and online, making your own can be even better. If you have the time (or just love to experiment with creating concoctions), try making your own vegan skincare!
Recipes for homemade products can range in difficulty from super easy to craftily complicated. It’s totally up to you to choose the product that’s right for you. We suggest starting out small. Find a skincare recipe with only one or two ingredients and see if you like it.
You might find that you love making your own beauty essentials so much that you never want to buy them again. Or, you may find this process incredibly tedious and not worth your time. You’ll never know unless you give it a try.
Here are a few of our favorite books for do-it-yourself vegan skincare:
In this episode of The Plant Powered-People Podcast, hosts Michelle Cehn and Toni Okamoto chat with longtime vegan beauty guru Sunny Subramanian about skincare and her top cruelty-free beauty tips.
This vegan skincare guide is not sponsored by any of the brands or companies mentioned, and we only share products and companies we sincerely adore! Love a vegan skincare brand that you don’t see listed? Let us know in the comments!
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Hi Michelle, love your website! We are a new brand of organic, vegan skincare and I’d love to send you some products to try and possibly get included in your posts about vegan skincare.
Thank you! Laura