Today, November 1, is World Vegan Day, a day dedicated to teaching people about the benefits of a vegan lifestyle and celebrating businesses that sell vegan products. If you’re a beauty lover, then what better way to observe World Vegan Day than by supporting beauty brands that don’t use animal byproducts in their formulations?
While you may not think of your makeup drawer as a hidden source of animal byproducts, there are unfortunately plenty of them lurking in your products. According to the New York Times, common beauty ingredients like honey, beeswax, lanolin, squalene, carmine, and gelatin are all derived from animals.
However, there are so many high-quality and effective beauty and skin care brands with vegan products in their lineup, so you can get everything from glamorous makeup to creams, serums and hair treatments that are full of powerful active ingredients while remaining free of animal ingredients.
Retailers like Sephora make it easy to shop vegan items, thanks to dedicated landing pages for makeup, skin care, hair care and fragrances that are free of animal-derived ingredients. You can also use apps like Yuka (a scanner that gives you health info on food and cosmetic products) and check for Leaping Bunny certification (a designation for animal-friendly products) when trying to find vegan products.
Below, we’ve rounded up some of the best vegan beauty products around. Update your makeup drawer with some new foundation or lipstick, upgrade your skin care regime with a powerful serum or get the best hair of your life with a cult-fave thickening spray. There are more options available than you might think.