Beginners' Guide to Cruelty-Free and Vegan Skin Care

Vegan and cruelty-free skin care are quickly gaining mainstream popularity alongside an increase in more conscious consumers who are interested in helping the environment and lessening the impact their skin care has on animals. Most mainstream makeup and skin care products use ingredients derived from animals and test different aspects of these ingredients, as well as the final products, on animals. But vegan and cruelty-free products use plant-based products to help your skin without hurting animals in the process.

What Is Vegan Skin Care?

Vegan skin care uses products that don't have any ingredients that come from animals or animal by-products. Most traditional skin care products use ingredients like beeswax, honey, lanolin, collagen, and keratin, which are all derived from animals in some way. Vegan skin care is a great option for those who reject the idea of using animals as commodities. The usual animal-derived products are instead replaced with ingredients such as aloe vera, jojoba oil, argan oil, coconut oil, or other plant-based products. However, not all vegan products will use plant-based ingredients, and some will choose lab-made alternatives, which means that they may not always be healthier for your skin. This is why you should always read the ingredient list of any vegan skin care product before you buy it to make sure that the ingredients are right for your skin.

What Does "Cruelty-Free" Mean?

Cruelty-free cosmetic products are not the same as vegan ones; "cruelty-free" specifically means that the product or its ingredients were not tested on animals. Each year, millions of animals are harmed in the process of creating skin care and makeup products, so cruelty-free products aim to break free from the need to test on animals. If a product is given this label, that doesn't mean the ingredients are all specifically vegan ingredients. The item may still contain animal byproducts, but nothing in it was tested on animals.

• Rising Popularity of Vegan Skin Treatments: With a focus on skin care in recent years, people have been looking to focus more on health and well-being, and vegan and cruelty-free skin care fill that need.
• Clean Cosmetics: The Science Behind the Trend: Clean cosmetics have become a best-selling beauty trend, but what is this movement, and does science support it?
• Cruelty-Free vs. Vegan vs. Organic vs. Natural Makeup: What Is the Difference? There are a variety of different labels given to cosmetic brands, but what do they all mean?
• Understanding Cruelty-Free Topical Emollients for Skin Care: Clarification on emollients which are a moisturizer, or a cosmetic preparation used for protecting, moisturizing, and lubricating the skin.
• Completely Vegan Beauty and Body Product Brands: PETA has compiled a list of vegan beauty and body product brands.
• Cruelty-Free vs. Vegan: What's the Difference? A lot of products are branded either cruelty-free or vegan, but what's the difference between the two titles?
• Vegan Skin Care: What Does Ethical and Natural Really Mean? Vegan doesn't always mean cruelty-free, and cruelty-free doesn't always mean vegan. This article goes into how to demystify the labels.
• Shopping for Vegan Beauty? Here's What to Look For: When you're looking for vegan skin care products, there are specific ingredients you should look for to make sure you're getting a real vegan product.
• Ethical Consumer Guide to Skin Care: Ethical Consumer created a product guide that's based on the social and environmental records of companies.
• The World of Cruelty-Free Beauty: Cruelty-free cosmetics is a growing market, but you can't just add a logo to anything and call it cruelty-free.
• California Cruelty-Free Cosmetics Act: California passed a bill in 2020 that states that it's unlawful to profit from, sell, or offer cosmetics in California that have been tested on animals.
• Cruelty-Free International: This organization is working to build a better world where nobody needs to experiment on animals.
• Cruelty-Free Cosmetics: The Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine is working to assess the safety of cosmetics and cosmetic ingredients.
• Decoding Cosmetic Claims: Often, cosmetics companies will throw on a label like "not tested on animals" or "cruelty-free," but what do those claims mean?
• Cruelty-Free vs. Vegan: What's the Difference? There's a difference between the "vegan" and "cruelty-free" labels often found on products.
• Cruelty-Free/Not Tested on Animals: This page from the FDA looks at questions consumers usually ask about company cosmetic labeling.
• Myths and Facts: A variety of myths are associated with the cruelty-free or vegan labels added to products and brands, and this page discusses what those are and the facts behind them.
• Everything You Need to Know About Vegan Beauty: This page discusses exactly what vegan beauty products are and why you should consider using vegan products.
• Vegan Body Cream, Makeup, and More: An Ethical Beauty Takeover: The Vegan Society created this detailed document about cosmetics that looks at how they were created, how they were marketed, and how consumer preferences have changed over the years.
• Is it Vegan? A Guide to Ingredient Lists: When purchasing vegan products, it's important to look at the ingredient list. This page gives you a helpful idea of which ingredients to look out for when you're shopping for vegan products.
• Vegan Ingredient Checker: You can copy and paste a list of ingredients from beauty products, cleaners, or any other product here to determine whether or not the product is vegan.