The skincare market is a highly saturated one. Beauty stores are overflowing with options, from classic brands to celebrities launching a new line weekly. When looking for a new product, it can be overwhelming to research the best one for your skin! First, you have many categories: cleansers, toners, creams, oils, and more. Then each has a list of ingredients a mile long and full of incomprehensible words. How do you decide which skincare items to stock in your bathroom?
Making these decisions is where the importance of vegan skincare comes into play! Typically, the word vegan makes one think of a diet without meat, dairy, or eggs. However, regarding your toiletries, vegan skincare means the products are free of all animal byproducts. Traditional skincare has ingredient lists full of chemicals such as parabens, phthalates, PEGs, SLS, synthetic fragrances, silicones, and formaldehyde. Vegan skincare contains all-natural animal-free ingredients, including items like plant oils, flower extracts, and nourishing kinds of butter. To read more about trendy skincare vs. vegan skincare, read our article Organic vs. Trendy Skincare.
Over the last few years, vegan skincare lines have almost tripled, and the industry has seen sales growth of 175%, according to The Vegan Society. Society is making a massive shift with environmental consciousness, and vegan skincare is part of this shift. Our mission is to provide resources and products to support this shift. Let’s learn about the importance of vegan skincare to help you have the healthiest skin ever. Here are three reasons why it is crucial to choose vegan skincare!
Vegan skincare is important because what goes on your skin goes through your skin.
The largest organ in the body, your skin is working hard daily to keep you safe. The average adult has nearly 21 square feet of skin that weighs approximately 15% of their body weight. That is a lot of surface area! Comprised of three layers, the skin protects the body from the external environment and is the body’s cooling system. Despite being the body’s protection, skin is porous and its average thickness is 2mm (0.7 inches). Because of this information, scientists have called the skin “the window to the body”.
When we eat something, it filters through the kidneys and liver before entering the rest of the body. The skin does not have the same filter protection. Anything and everything you put on it enters the body directly into the bloodstream, traveling around your entire body! In fact, approximately 60% of what you put on your skin enters the body. This is important to consider if you are using products that contain harmful ingredients like harsh, toxic chemicals, colors, and artificial fragrances! Once in your body, your bloodstream carries these potentially carcinogenic chemicals, allergens, and irritants to other organs including the lymphatic system.
How do you prevent this from happening? The importance of vegan skincare is that it does not include these terrible animal-based ingredients! Instead, the products contain natural ingredients like aqua, cocoa butter, coconut oil, and plant extracts. Not only are these ingredients pure, but they are also effective in giving your skin the best glow possible!
When regarding the importance of vegan skincare, don’t underestimate the power of plants.
People eat vegan diets for many health benefits, such as lowering the chances of heart disease and cancer and improving liver function. “Beauty follows food because we use a lot of the same ingredients,” said Tata Harper, who owns a namesake natural predominately vegan beauty brand. “If they’re good to ingest, they’re typically great to apply topically.” Excellent advice to follow when shopping for a new skincare product! With many people looking for more simple skincare routines, it is important to not underestimate the value and power of edible skincare.
Plants are the earth’s primary source of important vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants. These three are key to hydrating, nourishing, and protecting your skin! A great example of this is using comfrey root extract instead of uric acid. Would you rather put an ingredient that comes from animals’ urine and/or other bodily fluids or a product derived from a plant leaf/root on your face? We think the choice is obvious. Another example is retinol, which in traditional skincare derives from animal products (think chicken livers) or is made in a lab. Instead, a vegan option is bakuchiol which derives from seeds of the Psoralea Corylifolia plant.
Some traditional vs vegan skincare ingredients.
Other popular ingredients in vegan skincare that are important to create glowing skin are classic kitchen items! Think coconut oil, avocado, matcha, spirulina, and raw cacao. Natural vegan ingredients give science-backed results comparable to traditional skincare components, if not more significant. For instance, compare a lab-formulated Vitamin C against the power of the acai berry. Acai berries not only have high levels of Vitamin C, but they contain essential fatty acids and Vitamins A, B, and E.
Another winning vegan skincare ingredient popular in the food world is coconut milk. Coconut milk contains high amounts of MCT (medium-chain triglycerides), with essential acids like lauric acid, caproic acid, and caprylic acid. Natalie Hwong, a product development manager for KORA Organics, says, “These acids make up the MCTs that are known for anti-microbial and anti-inflammatory properties. This makes them a great option for use in rinse-off cleansers, masks, or leave-on moisturizers helping to soothe and improve the skin barrier.”
A key reminder: fewer ingredients, less irritation!
Traditional skincare ingredients that derive from a lab or animal are known to irritate the skin barrier. This irritation can cause dermatological issues such as acne, rosacea, eczema, and seborrheic dermatitis. Because vegan products have a shorter ingredient list with words that you can easily recognize, it is easier to see any potential allergens listed.
More important vegan skincare ingredient alternatives.
Importantly, vegan skincare has all-natural ingredients that are supreme for calming irritation and healing the skin barrier. Two of these fantastic ingredients are matcha and rose water. Made from high-quality green tea leaves, matcha, or Camellia Sinesis, it is a beautiful replacement for chemically compounded ingredients like Vitamin C. The antioxidants found in matcha are higher than in any other fruits or vegetables! Matcha is also known for its high levels of Epigallocatechin gallate. EGCG is a polyphenol proven to increase circulation and reduce free radicals. Would you like to learn more about the benefits of matcha in skincare? Read our article The Amazing Benefits of Matcha! The report also includes links to some super matcha skin care products to try.
Secondly, another natural ingredient known to soothe irritated skin is rose. The flower is famous for its classic beauty and is of value to cultures worldwide because of its moisturizing properties. Roses contain Vitamins A, B3, C, D, and E, as well as a multitude of flavonoids. Amanda Bell, a world renowned makeup artist, says, “Rose is a perfect all-rounder for every skin type. It’s a hydrating and soothing ingredient, which appeals to our olfactory sense and blends beautifully with other oils as a booster for the skin.” Roses are a winning vegan skincare ingredient. They are an excellent alternative to the hyaluronic acid ingredients, which in traditional skincare can come from places such as the rooster’s comb. We can only imagine which one you would prefer to put on your face!
For glowing skin, the choice is obvious! Vegan products are important.
You do not have to have an entirely vegan lifestyle to use natural vegan skincare products! Even if you are not ready to eat a vegan diet is smart and recommended to use vegan beauty products. Using vegan items in your beauty routine is an easy switch to not only help your skin but to ensure your body’s health overall. By being particular about what you put on your skin, you can easily protect your bloodstream and organs from dangerous toxins and chemicals. Never forget that your skin absorbs approximately 60% of what you put on it! This is a lot of potential damage to important systems like the lymphatic system that you can easily avoid.
Because vegan skincare products contain more vitamins and minerals than their traditional counterparts, you can be sure you are getting effective products that will make a difference! Your skin will glow with the abundance of antioxidants that will fight the free radical damage caused by everyday stressors and the environment. Be sure to look for products that include edible ingredients like matcha, coconut water, acai, and rose to ensure you are using ingredients that are proven to be soothing and give a glow. Remember that it is easy to find natural plant based ingredient replacements for traditional lab or animal ingredients. Plants are kinder and easier on your skin, and less likely to cause irritation or have long term negative effects.
We are here to help you make the transition with your beauty routine!
We hope that you are interested in adding more vegan skincare products to your beauty routine. It will not only change the way your skin looks but also how you feel overall. Be sure to check out the rest of our blog for product reviews and suggestions! To read more about the importance of vegan skincare, we recommend reading this article: Reasons to Use Vegan, Cruelty-Free Products.
