With the explosion in choice for beauty consumers in recent years, these labels can be useful to help guide conscious consumption and making purchasing choices that align with your values.
For those who choose to follow an animal-friendly vegan lifestyle, it’s exciting to know there are far more options than ever before that meet the guidelines.
But what does that mean, exactly?
Most people know a vegetarian diet means someone who does not eat any animals such as meat, poultry, or fish. A vegan is a stricter vegetarian who also avoids consuming dairy, eggs, and any other ingredients derived from animals.
Some people who follow these approaches also choose to extend this belief, aiming as best they can to avoid using animal products in the rest of their lifestyle, including the things they wear and use in their day to day life.
What is vegan beauty?
Vegan beauty products are made without ingredients derived from animals or animal by-products. They’re just like the beauty you already know and love, but without any ingredients that come from animal sources.
But what kind of ingredients in beauty aren’t vegan? Some common ones include dairy, honey, carmine, marine collagen, silk and snail extracts. Other ingredients can be derived from either animal or vegan sources, such as lactic acid, squalane, biotin and peptides.
In the past, following this vegan beauty approach has meant scouring ingredient lists to find vegan-friendly options out there. Now, there’s a much better understanding of what vegan means and commitment from brands to clearly denote on products when they meet the requirements of being labelled vegan.
What is cruelty-free?
The label ‘cruelty-free’ is something different again. This term means a product and its ingredients weren’t tested on animals. In other words, it’s possible for a vegan item to have been tested on an animal and a cruelty-free product to contain animal ingredients.
If you are looking to adopt a vegan approach to your beauty routine, rest assured there are plenty of great products our there. While it might not make sense to suddenly switch out all the products you’re currently using and loving – one of the most sustainable things you can do is finish the products you already have-, if vegan values are something that matter to you, then when the time comes to replace something, look out for those that carry the label.
Beauty specialists like MECCA have a range of products available and their staff are well informed on the best options.
On MECCA’s website there is a category under “edits’ labelled ‘Vegan’, where you can easily see all of the products that suit. Each product listing throughout the site also has icons that denote its characteristics, like ‘paraben-free’ or ‘cruelty free’, and this is where you will also see the ‘vegan’ icon if it applies.
10 of the best vegan makeup products to try:
L-R:Kosas Revealer Concealer ,Rose Inc Blush Divine Radiant Lip & Cheek Color; Rare Beauty Liquid Touch Weightless Foundation; KVD Beauty Tattoo Pencil Liner Waterproof Long-Wear Gel Eyeliner; E.l.f. Ride or Die Lip Balm;
L-R: Milk Makeup Rise Lifting + Lengthening Mascara; MECCA MAX Sunlit Skin Bronzing Powder; Lily Lolo Vegan Lipstick; Morphe M2 Ready in 5 Eyeshadow Palette; Smashbox Photo Finish Primerizer+ Hydrating Primer
