What is considered as Vegan Skincare?
Know about Vegan Beauty
7/2/20262 min read
What is Vegan?
Products that don't contain any animal based ingredients be it natural or synthetic.
Which ingredients are excluded?
Ingredients such as beeswax, modified beeswax known as cerabellina, lanolin, carmine, snail mucin, tallow, ghee, milk, curd and squalene are all commonly found in cosmetics.
From where are these ingredients derived?
Glycerin- popular ingredient was previously derived only from animal fat. But now Veg glycerin has been popular and there is significant reduce in using animal fat derived glycerin.
Beeswax is extracted from honey comb, while lanolin is derived from sheep's shredded wool.
Carmine is extracted by crushing cochineal insects.
Snail mucin is collected from snail's slime.
Ghee, milk and curd are all extracted from animal's milk.
Squalene is derived from Shark liver. Note there is Squalane which is plant derived from olives and sugar cane. Notice the a in Squal'a'ne which is plant derived and not Squal'e'ne.
Tallow is rendered form of animal fat.
In which products do you find these ingredients and how to identify?
Beeswax- found in balms, lotions, hair masks, deodorants, foot care. Look for name as Cera Alba (INCI name)
Cerabellina - found in lip care products, less found in India market. Look for Polyglyceryl-3-beeswax
Lanolin - found in hydrating creams, lotions, foot care and hair care. Look for Lanolin
Carmine - It is widely used in lip care products for its bright red color. Look for name as Carmine or CI 75470 color code in ingredients list
Snail Mucin - found in skincare masks and sheets. Look for Snail Secretion Filtrate
Ghee, milk, curd - found in ayurvedic formulations for face and hair
Squalene: hair and face serums
Tallow is widely used in hydrating creams, less found in India
Are animal based ingredients necessary?
There is no necessity to use animal based ingredients since we have lots of advanced lab made ingredients(so called chemicals) which are intensively tested and work well.
Then why are they used?
Because animal based ingredients cost less, easy to extract and are considered natural.
Are there any vegan skin care brands?
There are couple of vegan skincare brands and products. Look out for the ingredients that I mentioned to make sure what brand is claiming true. I found out that one brand claiming vegan has beeswax in it which is disappointing. If you are looking for suggestions, I would recommend ' The Bare Necessities'.
We(Abhika Naturals) offer vegan lip care and personal care products which are formulated consciously. Click shop to check the products offered.