Cosmetics and toiletries

Veganism is more than just a diet, it is a lifestyle. This means veganism applies to more than just the food you choose to eat. It affects the products you choose to use, such as cosmetics and toiletries. Take a walk down any make-up aisle and before long, you’ll realise how many animal-derived ingredients and other hidden nasties there are in everyday products!

The good news is that as veganism continues to rise, so does the number of vegan and cruelty-free products. But even if labelled as cruelty-free, it doesn’t necessarily mean the product is vegan as many cosmetics and toiletries have hidden animal-derived ingredients.

Animal-derived ingredients can be easy to miss as often they are hidden behind E-numbers. For example, silk can be hidden in shampoo, beeswax is used as a glazing agent in cosmetics, glycerol is often derived from animal fat, and cochineal (a scarlet dye derived from crushing the cochineal insect) can be used as cosmetic colouring.

Thankfully, non-vegan cosmetics are easy to avoid, once you know what you’re looking for. And you’ll be surprised how easy (and cheap!) it is to fully replace your regular routine with amazing vegan beauty products which don’t hurt animals or the planet.

Here are some of the most common non-vegan ingredients found in cosmetics and toiletries. They all have vegan alternatives and so, without clearer labelling, it can be difficult to know whether a product is actually vegan or not. This is why it’s best to always look for the vegan label.

The most common hidden ingredients in shampoo and conditioner are keratin, silk, beeswax, milk and honey. Also look out for biotin, casein, collagen and elastin. Vegan shampoo and conditioners are just as cleansing and soothing to the non-vegan alternatives, whilst also being kinder to animals and the planet.

Vegan shampoo and conditioners are often loaded with nourishing and natural ingredients such as argan oil, lemon oil, cocoa butter, hemp and aloe vera. Here are our favourites:

Similarly to shampoo and conditioner, you can expect to see many animal-derived ingredients hidden in soap, shower gel and bubble bath. It’s so important to look for the vegan label as producers do not have to say whether ingredients are derived from plants or animals. Some key ingredients to look for are biotin, gelatin, glycerol, lecithin and stearic acid.

You can expect to find lots of hidden animal-derived ingredients in make-up and beauty products. From collagen which promises to halt the ageing process, to pearl powder which claims to make your skin radiant, to shellac — a cruel addition to nail polish. But don’t worry, there are tons of cruelty-free and vegan make-up brands that it was actually difficult to choose our favourites!

When it comes to toothpaste, the main thing to look out for is glycerin — derived from animal fats. Again, producers don’t need to state on the label whether glycerin is derived from plants or animals.

That’s right, even deodorant can include non-vegan ingredients. Look out for beeswax, squalene (otherwise known as shark liver oil) and stearic acid which is taken from the stomachs of pigs, sheep and goats.

Don’t confuse deodorant with antiperspirant. Although the two names are used interchangeably, deodorant tackles body odour and antiperspirant stops us sweating in the first place.

When it comes to perfume, you may be surprised about what makes them non-vegan. In addition to the more obvious fragrance extracts, such as milk, honey and beeswax, many perfumes use secretions from the anal glance of civet cats, beavers and musk deer! Although this sounds unusual, it is surprisingly commonplace and to make it worse, perfume producers are under no obligation to list animal-derived ‘musk’ on the label. Instead, you will see ‘fragrance’ or ‘parfum’ on the label.

The hidden ‘musk’ industry is incredibly cruel. Let’s start with civet cats who are captured from the wild, bred and kept in tiny cages for years, completely deprived of all their natural behaviours and environmental enrichment. The musk is then forcibly ‘scraped’ from their anal glands around every ten days.

The same process applies to beavers, to obtain an ingredient called ‘castoreum’ ⁠— a yellow liquid from the castor sacs (next to the anal glands). In the wild, both male and female beavers would use their castor sacs to scent mark their territory. Instead, they are captured and killed, as castoreum cannot be removed from live beavers. The castor sacs are removed, dried and castoreum extracted. All so that humans can have a ‘leather musk’ in perfume.

The cruelty doesn’t end there, perfumes can also include ‘ambergris’ which is obtained from sperm whale intestines. Although this can sometimes be found washed up on beaches, whales can be killed for it too.

The issue with cleaning products tend to be more to do with animal testing than the ingredients themselves. But they may still include ingredients like tallow, glycerol, stearic acid, beeswax (again!) and lecithin. So it’s best to buy certified vegan and cruelty-free products.