plant-based lifestyle started mainly with diet and has now transitioned into beauty. Whether you’re a long-time vegan or just starting to be more conscious of where your beauty products come from, vegan beauty may be more in line with your lifestyle choices and personal values. Treating your skin to vital greens also offers an array of benefits, like better transparency and understanding of what you’re using.

Scroll down to find out what exactly vegan means in the beauty arena.

What is vegan beauty?

Vegan beauty refers to products that prohibit the use of animal ingredients and animal by-products, no matter how ethically sourced they are. It’s not to be confused with cruelty-free products, which aren’t tested on animals but may contain animal-derived ingredients.

Your vanity cabinet may be full of products containing animal-derived ingredients, such as honey, beeswax, collagen and hyaluronic acid.

Luckily, for those who want to go vegan, there are alternatives to these widely used ingredients, like plant or soya waxes for beeswax, almond oil or plant peptides for collagen, and coconut oil or shea butter for lanolin. Squalene is now commonly extracted from olives, amaranth or sugarcane to produce plant-derived squalane for use in beauty products. More brands are also switching to plant-based hyaluronic acid by sourcing it from microbial fermentation in the lab.

Many people are already using natural beauty products that largely consist of plant-based ingredients. Making a few non-drastic adjustments can lead to a 100% vegan beauty routine. To verify vegan products, keep a lookout for vegan labels certified by trusted sources, like Vegan Action, Vegan Society, PETA and The Vegetarian Society.

Is vegan beauty better? Can we get the same effects using only plant-based ingredients?

People tend to think that plant-based products are better because they’re more natural, but this may not always be true. Some vegan beauty products still contain a bevy of synthesized ingredients, though bear in mind that not all synthesized ingredients are bad, like hyaluronic acid to name one. Some animal-derived ingredients also have a closer affinity to skin, making them less likely to irritate.

Nevertheless, there is reason to believe that vegan products are gentler on skin. With vegan products, we tend to have better knowledge of where the ingredients come from and what they do. Plant-derived ingredients usually have more vitamins, minerals and antioxidants to nourish skin, so it’s possible to achieve the same effects as non-vegan products, if not better.

ROVECTIN’s Skin Essentials Barrier Repair Face Oil is packed with neroli oil, plant-based squalane and plum seed extract. Mixing a few drops to your cream hydrates skin, improving its barrier. Formulated with 7-Hyaluronic Acid Complex and aloe extract, Benton’s Aloe Hyaluron Cream is another great option to lock in moisture and nourish skin.

It’s important to note that vegan products can cause the same irritation as non-vegan ones. You still need to assess your skin condition to decide which products are best for you.

What skin type may benefit the most from vegan beauty products?

Vegan beauty is most suitable for sensitive and acne-prone skin. Plant-based ingredients have a lower tendency to clog pores, thus causing fewer breakouts. Nice products to try include PURITO’s Centella Green Level Buffet Serum, which soothes sensitive skin with 49% centella asiatica extract and panthenol, and THE PLANT BASE’s Waterfall Moist Balanced Hyaluronic Acid 100, which moisturizes and revitalizes skin. Follow with Dear, Klairs’s Midnight Blue Calming Cream, which seals in moisture and alleviates blemishes with centella asiatica extract and guaiazulene – an antioxidant derived from chamomile oil.

Be sure to check out YesStyle’s wide selection of vegan products  to find beauty products that suit you best!