The Growing Vegan Beauty Movement

Your favorite lipstick might have crushed beetles in it. Your favorite lip balm could contain fat made from boiling slaughtered animals. Your favorite perfume might include secretions from deer.

Animal products and byproducts are commonly used in many beauty products but most people do not know their name on the ingredients listed on the back of the packaging (carmine, tallow, musk). Just a few other popular animal derived ingredients in cosmetics include beeswax, lanolin, gelatin, milk and honey. 

The beauty industry is changing and there are more options to choose from that are vegan. If shoppers want to be sure that their beauty products do not contain any animal ingredients, then they must search out for 100% vegan cosmetics. Additionally, a growing number of customers are looking for cruelty free cosmetics -- beauty, skincare and personal care products that are not tested on animals.

Research shows that vegan cosmetics are growing from the increase in demand for cruelty free makeup, beauty, skincare, and personal care. A recent study shows that the vegan cosmetics market size will be worth $20.8 billion in 2025 with a compounded annual growth rate of 6.3%

And according to Mintel’s Global New Products Database, worldwide vegan cosmetics launches have more than doubled over the past five years. The global marketing firm reported that new cruelty-free and vegan cosmetics launches represented a 175 percent increase from July 2013 to June 2018. Mintel’s research shows that it is younger consumers (Gen Z and Millennials) that are driving these lifestyles, with a growing desire to follow a plant-based diet. Younger consumers are also very informed on what is in their products and ethical and natural factors are very important to them.

The growth in vegan cosmetics is reflected in larger brands reformulating their ingredients. For example Kat Von D Beauty changed to all vegan ingredients in 2016, and in March 2018, Milk Makeup reformulated a few of their existing products so they could claim the brand was now entirely 100 percent free of animal products like beeswax or carmine. Unilever's Dove brand also the earned PETA cruelty-free certification in 2018. And by 2020, any cosmetics or ingredients tested on animals will be illegal in the state of California.

Since most beauty ingredients are not regulated by the U.S. government, it’s up to consumers to research which products meet their values. A product or brand can be vegan but not cruelty free. Or a lipstick could be totally vegan, made by a cruelty-free brand, but that brand is owned by a larger beauty conglomerate that tests on animals. This makes it challenging to shop for products that match consumers’ values. And some ingredients can be hidden – for instance “fragrance” or the scent of a product is exempt from the FDA’s requirement to list ingredients so any chemicals or animal derived ingredient can remain hidden.

 The only way to know for sure if your using vegan makeup is to check every ingredient carefully. At Love Goodly we make it easy to switch to the best vegan and cruelty free beauty and skincare through our curated bimonthly subscription boxes where all products are vetted. All cosmetics and skincare in our e-commerce shop and box are always vegan and cruelty free. Join the growing number of beauty consumers that are seeking products that do not use animal derivatives.