Increasingly, you can find vegan cosmetic products on the shelves of drugstores, such as vegan makeup. The category of products with this type of declaration is growing in strength. What exactly does it mean that a cosmetic is vegan, what ingredients does it contain and what is it characterized by?
The “vegan”, “vegan”, “vege” markings and certificates appearing on cosmetic products may be related to the growing group of people who are converting to veganism and looking for new “plant-based” solutions. Veganism is not only a diet, but also a lifestyle that manifests itself on many levels. People who define themselves as vegans do not eat meat or animal products, they give up clothes made of, for example, wool or leather shoes. They are also looking for cosmetics that meet their expectations in this regard. Many people for whom veganism is a lifestyle look for plant-based products.
Vegan cosmetic – which is what?
For starters, it’s worth noting that there is currently no legal definition of vegan and vegan food. A vegan cosmetic is not the same as a natural or organic cosmetic.
Based on the very idea of ​​veganism and on the definitions created by certification bodies for vegan cosmetic products, it is possible to define what features such products should have. First of all , a vegan cosmetic is a product that has been produced without the use of animal ingredients (of animal origin) and has not had any contact with them.
What does a vegan cosmetic contain?
In fact, when it comes to what constitutes a vegan cosmetic, there are no restrictions here. Such products often focus on the content of plant materials, but this is not the rule.
When it comes to cosmetics called “vege”, it is worth focusing on what is not included in the composition. Such products do not contain animal or animal ingredients. This means that we will not find dairy raw materials, animal fats, bee products or dyes obtained from animals.
Here is a more complete list of ingredients that are not included in vegan products:
- slaughter products,
- fish fats,
- fish elements,
- honey and beeswax,
- milk products,
- animal waxes,
- animal dyes of parts / elements of animal organisms, including armor,
- scales,
- excretions from vertebrates and invertebrates, e.g. shellac, royal jelly.
By focusing on specific ingredients, vegan cosmetics do not contain, for example, collagen (INCI: Collagen) and elastin (INCI: Elastin), which are found in moisturizing and anti-wrinkle creams. Collagen is obtained from fish skin, while elastin is a protein of animal origin. Another ingredient widely used in the cosmetics industry that cannot be used in vege cosmetics is lanolin (INCI: Lanolin). It is a wax obtained from mammals with wool, whose sebaceous glands secrete lanolin. Lanolin is used in skin and hair care cosmetics as an emollient. It creates a discontinuous occlusion on the surface of the skin and hair, which prevents excessive evaporation of water from the surface, and thus has an indirect moisturizing effect. These are just some of the few examples. There are many substances that are of animal or animal origin in the cosmetic industry.
Some of them, which are naturally of animal or zoonotic origin, may also be in synthetic form in cosmetics. This means that they were not obtained directly from animals, but were produced in a laboratory. Such ingredients can be found in perfumes. Example? Amber or musk, i.e. animal raw materials, currently used in a synthetic form. Similarly, vitamin A, which can come from a variety of sources such as fish, but can also be produced synthetically.
In vegan cosmetics, the auxiliary ingredients used in production should also not be of animal origin. For example, it should not be used in the production of enzymes from eggs or milk, even though they are not present in the final product.
Certification bodies – what additional criteria must a vege cosmetic meet?
There are numerous initiatives available on the market, such as certificates and guidelines of non-governmental organizations. Each of them set their own criteria on the basis of which they certify a given product as vegan, assigning it the appropriate labeling placed on the packaging. This makes it easier to identify a vegan cosmetic among others. However, not only certified products can be defined as vege. Such a declaration can be placed on the product by the manufacturer who applies his own criteria. The rationale is that there are no ingredients of animal or animal origin, but the criteria may also fall outside this range.
Most vegan certification bodies require that the product itself and its ingredients must not be subjected to any type of animal testing. But here we remind you – no cosmetic products on European markets can be tested on animals. In the European Union, since 2004, it has been banned to test products on animals, and since 2009, also cosmetic ingredients. Moreover, since 2013 it is illegal to sell cosmetics whose components have been tested in this way.
Some certification bodies have an additional criterion for vegan products. For example, The Vegan Society requires that the development and production of GMOs should not involve animal genes or substances of animal origin. According to the Vegan Society, products that contain GMOs should be labeled .