5-minute focus on: Vegan beauty

‘Vegan’, it’s a big word these days, and it’s mainly due to what seems like the unstoppable rise in the number of people cutting out animal products, such as meat, fish, dairy and eggs, in favour of a vegan diet.

The veganism trend just keeps on growing

According to the latest research by the Vegan Society there are around 600,000 vegans in the UK. This snapshot’s been taken from their most recent stats, which were collated in 2018, and are bound to have risen a fair bit since then.¹

On top of this, there’s also the Veganuary campaign, in which people pledge to eat a vegan diet for the whole of January, and is a good barometer for literally gauging people’s appetite for veganism.

The campaign’s been running since 2014, and has attracted more-and-more participants year-on-year, which goes hand in hand with the general upsurge in veganism. For instance, in 2018, there were 170,000 participants, and this year, there were 400,000 – the highest number so far.² What’s more, many people extended Veganuary for the whole year. Almost half (42%) of UK vegans made the full switch to veganism in 2018.³ The veganism trend looks set to continue to climb too, with the market for global plant-based meat projected to increase from USD 3.6 billion in 2020 to USD 4.2 billion by 2021.⁴ But that’s on a global scale, what sort of an impact is veganism having from a UK perspective? According to a survey by finder.com, the number of vegans in the UK is set to skyrocket by 327% by this year. The survey also revealed that over the next year, 2.2million people will adopt veganism, increasing the vegan population to around 2.9million.⁵

And that’s just the food side of veganism

There’s a whole other side to veganism – vegan beauty, which is what you’re no doubt here to read about. So, let’s spend the next few minutes focusing on the beauty side of the veganism picture.

What is vegan skincare?

It’s a lot like food veganism, in that vegan beauty products are created without any use of ingredients from animals, animal-derived products or animal by-products e.g. collagen, carmine, cholesterol, and gelatin.⁶ None-vegan beauty ingredients can include beeswax, honey, lanolin and different types of milk.⁷

Why choose vegan skincare?

Again, there’s a bit of a crossover with food veganism. Generally speaking, people become vegan from an environmental, health and/or ethical perspective, e.g. help save animals’ lives, in protest against the way animals may be treated and killed and to eat more of a nature-based diet.⁸

These principles can also apply to vegan beauty too, in the sense that people may choose these types of products because they’re more favourable to animals and the ecosystem as a whole.

How do you know which beauty products are vegan or not?

Vegan products aren’t actually certified by a governing body, which means there’s no certification stamp to look out for.¹⁰ However, most products will say on them if they’re vegan or include reference to their vegan properties in their descriptions. But on the whole, you can generally identify vegan beauty products by:

• Looking for a ‘vegan’ or ‘cruelty free’ logo and information that says the company doesn’t test on animals
• Checking the ingredients list
• Choosing certified organic cosmetics, which often tend to be vegan because of the ban on animal derivatives in certified organic beauty products
• Contacting the manufacturer to specifically ask them the question, especially as there are lots of ingredients that can be derived from a plant or animal source and the ingredients list doesn’t always disclose which ones

How should I use vegan skincare?

Pretty much how you would use all beauty products, i.e. introduce them slowly to your skin and then gradually build up, depending on how your skin responds to them.

You may want to introduce one vegan product into your skincare or beauty regime at a time too, rather than replacing your cleanser, moisturiser, toner etc. literally overnight and then expecting your skin to deal with it. Although, having said that, vegan products are said to be suitable for all skin types, even the most sensitive skin.¹⁰ While you may be tempted to experiment with a few of these products, it’s best to stick to one or two core ingredients.¹¹ Are you feeling the love for vegan beauty now? We know we are, so much so, that we’ve listed some more of the benefits of using it in this article, ‘What are the benefits of vegan skincare?’

Shop Vegan Beauty

Last updated: 18 June 2020