How To Start Transitioning To Vegan Beauty Products
Cruelty-free and vegan beauty products are taking the cosmetics world by storm, but they’re still the minority on most store shelves. If more people choose vegan care, the demand will drive more companies to them too! Here’s how you can transition to vegan beauty products and overcome the difficulties you might face – especially if you’re in the business of beauty!
Practice Gradual Elimination
If you want to move into vegan skin or hair care, tossing out all your old products is not a fiscally wise decision, nor is it environmentally sound. As you run low on stock, bring in new vegan products to replace them. This lets you figure out which products work best for you and which ones are duds.
If you’re a small business, you can offer your non-vegan products at a discount to get rid of the older stock and replace them with vegan alternatives!
Read The Labels.
Products can come with a certified vegan and certified cruelty-free label. Check products for the trademark vegan and cruelty-free labels before purchasing. If they aren’t certified with labels, contact the company and manufacturers, if they have nothing to hide then they are likely to be more than happy to give you some insight on the ingredients and their stance on animal testing.
The labels don’t always tell the whole story though, and if you’re buying products for ethical reasons, make sure to do thorough research. This decreases the chance of purchasing a product which, while getting the least amount of certification possible, still contributes to animal suffering in other ways, e.g. deforestation and habitat loss.
Learn What Plant-Based Vegan Beauty Products Work Best.
The healing power of Mother Nature is incredible, and plant-based ingredients can replace most synthetic or animal-derived chemicals. It’s important to know what the replacement ingredients in your vegan skin or hair product can do so you can make the right choice.
Knowing what plant-based ingredients do has helped Crushed Aftercare make healing, soothing balms that work: calendula is a natural healer, shea butter is an anti-inflammatory, and candelilla wax makes a natural barrier that protects the skin and prevents it from losing moisture.
Know That “Vegan” Doesn’t Always Mean “Healthy.”
It’s also important to know what plant-derived ingredients work best because not all of them are effective! On the whole, vegan and cruelty-free ingredients are better for skin than those derived from animal byproducts, as they won’t clog pores or have harsh after-effects. But there are millions of plants out there, and most have different effects or no effects at all. Just because something is vegan and moisturizing, for example, doesn’t mean it will heal or decrease inflammation.
Regardless of the bad apples, there are so many incredible organic, vegan, cruelty-free options. While consumers used to have difficulty finding them, these days, they are more readily available. The best part is, these beauty products contain less irritating ingredients than conventional choices, meaning they are better for a wider range of skin types!