Vegan cosmetics: current offer and future prospects

As the percentage of the vegan population increases, so does the demand for vegan cosmetics. Even people who do not lead this lifestyle prefer to buy vegan products, avoiding toxic components and opting for more natural active ingredients.

The term vegan in cosmetics means that it does not contain any ingredient of animal origin or derived from animal exploitation. Although most of the ingredients are synthetic, substances derived from plants or fruits, minerals, and some derivatives of animal origin are also usually incorporated. There is specific labeling for these products at a private level. But there are no specific regulations or any kind of official certificate yet, which makes it difficult to choose at times.

Many people associate vegan cosmetics with natural products, but it doesn't necessarily have to be that way. There are many cosmetic products that are made with synthetic ingredients. If we buy conventional cosmetics, that is, not natural ones, it is very useful to know where the ingredients of its composition come from. Some are very obvious (honey, beeswax, milk) honey, beeswax, milk, but others have too scientific a nomenclature. This is a list of ingredients of animal origin that we must know.

• Cera alba (or beeswax), honey (or honey): Waxes or honey, derived from bees.
• Carmine or cochineal extract, is a natural red pigment from an insect (the cochineal or Coccus cacti) crushed and crushed.
• Collagen: Collagen, an ingredient that is extracted from the bones and cartilage of animals. There is also vegetable collagen obtained from fruits and different vegetables.
• Milk: Milk. That of the cow is usually used, although that of other mammals such as goats or donkeys is also found.
• Silk: Silk or silk proteins. It is extracted from the cocoons of silkworms that are boiled with the larva inside to prevent the cocoon from hatching.
• Keratin: keratin or keratin, is a protein found in the hooves, horns, and hair of animals. Vegetable keratin is extracted from wheat protein.
• Lanolin and cholesterol: Lanolin and cholesterol, obtained from sheep's wool.
• Squalane: Squalene. It's shark liver oil. There is a vegetable substitute made from olives, wheat germ, or rice bran.
• Cod liver oil: Cod liver oil.
• Mink oil: Mink oil.
• Hyaluronic acid: It is obtained from the crest of roosters, umbilical cords, fish, or eggshells. Vegetable hyaluronic can be extracted from the cellulose of pine trees or synthesized in a laboratory.
• Chondroitin sulfate or Chondroitin sulfate: It comes from the cartilage of mammalian animals or the shark.
• Lactoperoxidase: It is an ingredient derived from cow's milk.
• Glyceryl Stearate, PEG-100 Stearate: Derived from tallow or fat from the cow.
• Sodium tallowate: It comes from beef tallow and is widely used in soaps.

Almost all the ingredients are easily substitutable for a vegetable or synthetic version, but they tend to be more expensive than those of animal origin. However, an increase in the preference for vegan products could displace non-vegan cosmetics and incentivize companies to formulate their products with all-plant ingredients.

It should be noted that cruelty-free is not the same as a vegan. Cosmetics not Tested on animals are those that have been tested on animals, neither their raw materials nor the finished products. However, a “cruelty-free” item does not have to be vegan, although all vegan products are “cruelty-free”. Animal testing has been gradually eliminated in the European Union. The experimentation for cosmetic products was banned in 2004 and in 2009 it was extended to the ingredients used. In 2013 the manufacture and sale of cosmetic products in the EU containing ingredients tested on animals was made illegal, although there were exceptions. Currently, MEPs are working to suppress these types of products around the world.