What is Vegan skincare?
It’s easy to wrap your head around a vegan diet, but the concept of vegan skin care can be a bit confusing.
Is it the same as cruelty-free skin care? Are there certain ingredients you should avoid?
There are plenty of questions that come along with this emerging trend. TODAY Style sought the help of experts to help break down the benefits of vegan skin care and determine whether it’s worth trying.
WHAT IS VEGAN SKIN CARE?
In general, vegans follow a diet free of meat and animal byproductssuch as milk or cheese. Much like these dietary restrictions, vegan skin care also forgoes animal-derived ingredients when formulating products.
“By definition, vegan skin care products are not produced from an animal or an animal byproduct. This means that traditional ingredients like beeswax, honey, collagen, lanolin and keratin are not used,” said Dr. Hooman Khorasani, chief of the division of dermatologic and cosmetic surgery at Mount Sinai Health System.
There are plenty of other animal-derived ingredients that vegan skin care brands avoid, including carmine (a colorant derived from beetles) and silk, and they tend to use plant-based or synthetic ingredients instead. In most cases, vegan products even steer clear of animal byproducts that are ethically sourced.
“The term ‘animal derived’ isn’t always such a clear designation. Lanolin, a fantastic moisturizer, comes from the washing of sheep’s wool. It doesn’t hurt the sheep and it’s actually necessary to shear the sheep so their coat doesn’t get too heavy. But many vegan products avoid this ingredient,” cosmetic chemist Kelly Dobos said.
ARE VEGAN AND CRUELTY-FREE THE SAME THING?
When you hear that a product is vegan and free of animal byproducts, you’d think it’s also cruelty-free, right? Not necessarily.
“’Cruelty free’ simply means a product or its ingredients have not been tested on animals by a supplier, manufacturer, producer or any third-party entity. Some brands may be cruelty-free without being vegan, so if you are looking for the latter make sure it is explicitly stated,” said Dr. Anthony M. Rossi, assistant attending of dermatology at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center.
Cruelty-free products can be ethically sourced but still contain animal byproducts like beeswax, carmine and lanolin, so it pays to read the ingredients list. You might also assume that vegan skin care products are always considered organic or natural since they tend to use plant-based ingredients. But since they often use synthetic colorants or fragrances, that’s not always the case.
“’Organic’ means that the product was grown without the use of pesticides, synthetic fertilizers or (genetically modified organisms). The term ‘natural,’ on the other hand, means that the product does not contain anything artificial or synthetic,” Khorasani said.
HOW CAN YOU TELL IF A PRODUCT IS VEGAN?
Keep your eyes open for several telltale ingredients, including aloe, shea butter, grapeseed extract and green tea, according to Dr. Debra Jaliman, a board-certified New York City dermatologist and author of the book “Skin Rules: Trade Secrets from a Top New York Dermatologist.” She added, “Many essential oils are also vegan.”
But if you’re pressed for time and don’t feel like poring over an ingredients list, you can also look out for several common vegan seals on products you’re considering purchasing.
“There is no one official certifying agency, but there are groups such as PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) that do label certain products as being vegan or cruelty-free,” said Dr. Robert Anolik, a fellow of the American Academy of Dermatology.
Vegan Action has a list of vegan-certified brands as does the Vegan Society.
IS VEGAN SKIN CARE BETTER FOR YOU?
In theory, more plant-based ingredients should be better for your skin, and vegan skin care products can offer a range of benefits. Just do your research first. There are more and more brands hitting rhe market everyday so it’s importtant to k ow who is offering what.
Stay tuned to Wasted and we will keep you updated as soon as we hear of anything good hitting our shelves!
