We’ve been ensuring your body care is suitable for vegans since 1990 when The Vegan Society first launched the Vegan Trademark!
Toiletries and cosmetics currently hold the highest amount of Vegan Trademark registrations – even more than food. This is largely because it isn’t as easy to tell if your shower gel or shampoo is vegan just by looking at the ingredients as it is with a food product. Personal care products may also be tested on animals to check if they are safe.
Here are some things we look out for in your body care products to ensure they are vegan:
Lactic acid is used to regulate the acidity of personal care products like shower gels, and for its disinfectant properties. It’s produced via fermentation, the process of which can use animal-derived ingredients such as milk and whey.
Fatty acids are used as lubricants in products like shampoos and soaps. They can be derived from vegetable sources but animal fats, too.
Glycerin is used as a lubricant and humectant (humectants draw in moisture from the air). Like fatty acids, glycerin can be from a plant or animal source.
Bet you didn’t think your toothpaste could have animal ingredients in it? However, there’s often something that can catch you out, like xanthan gum. It’s used as a thickening agent in personal care products such as toothpaste.
Xanthan gum is produced via fermentation. Again, this process can use animal ingredients like casein from milk. Xanthan gums can also undertake a clarification stage which uses enzymes; one of the most common being an egg-derived enzyme.
When sanitary towels use ‘neutralising technology’, it often means a fragrance has been added. These scents can contain animal derived ingredients like castoreum, a vanilla scent obtained from beavers.
Sanitary towels also use adhesives to ensure they stick to underwear. Some glues and tapes are prepared using collagen from mammals, insects, fish, and ingredients found in mammal milk.
Personal care items have to be tested to check that they are safe for us to use on our bodies. Unfortunately, these tests can involve animals or animal derived products.
The Vegan Society works hard to ensure that products we register have not been tested on animals (at the initiative of the company or on its behalf, or by parties over whom the company has effective control.) You can read more about our standards here.
If you’re new to vegan body care, here are some products registered by us to get you started:
Shower Products and Deodorants
Green People (be sure to check our directory to see exactly which products are registered by us), Colgate Smile For Good Protection and Whitening toothpastes, UltraDEX toothpastes, mouthwash, oral rinses and breath spray, and many more.
We hope we’ve shown you that taking care of our bodies and wellbeing without the unnecessary use of animals is more than possible with so many great and accessible alternatives registered by the Vegan Trademark.
Want to check if your favourite personal care products are registered by The Vegan Society? Our Vegan Trademark product search is the simplest way to check.
By Vegan Society Digital Marketing Officer, Nishat Rahman
The views expressed by our bloggers are not necessarily the views of The Vegan Society.