Leading a vegan lifestyle is about far more than what we put into our bodies. Walk down any aisle in any supermarket, and you’re likely to find an awful lot of products that use animal-based ingredients, from laundry detergents to kitchen cleaner, shampoo and scented candles.
Brands don’t always state whether a product is suitable for vegans and labels can be frustratingly cryptic.
Elastin, lanolin, keratin, shellac…animal by-products are extremely popular with the beauty industry. They can also be rather difficult to spot on ingredients lists. How can you tell whether the hyaluronic acid you’re looking at is sourced from animals or plants? You can’t, unless the brand decides to let you in on the secret.
We want to make it easier for our customers to buy with a clear conscience. All our categories can be filtered by criteria. So if you want to choose from 100% vegan-friendly soaps, serums or shampoos, you can.
Need some inspiration? Take a look at our favourite vegan skincare and our guide to vegan haircare.
We sell over 100 Green People beauty products that are Vegan Society Registered!
Vegan clothing
Most clothing brands still don’t say which items are vegan-friendly, so it’s a case of checking the labels for fur, silk, leather, wool, suede, down and other animal products.
There’s been a bit of a hullabaloo in the press recently about real fur being sold as fake. It can be difficult to spot the difference, but key things to look out for include:
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The material the hairs are attached to. If you can see a weave, it’s probably man-made. If not, it may be skin.
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The tips will taper to a fine point if it’s real fur. Faux fur hairs tend to be blunter.
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Real fur usually feels softer than fake fur.
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Fake fur is often slightly thicker and courser.
Good quality, hardwearing vegan shoes and boots aren’t always easy to find. Even ones made from synthetic materials sometimes use animal-based glues. There are, however, a few dedicated vegan-friendly brands on the market, including Freerangers, Beyond Skin and Will’s Vegan Shoes. Some retailers are also making it easier for shoppers to find suitable shoes and boots. Schuh, for example, has a vegan section on its website.
Vegan living
From ditching beeswax candles to avoiding feather pillows, there are lots of ways you can make your home a dead-animal-free zone. Of course, it’s not just about furniture and accessories. What you clean your home with also has an impact. Many highstreet household cleaning and laundry products contain animal by-products such as tallow, steric acid, lecithin and beeswax. Some ingredients can be sourced from animal and non-animal sources, making it even more difficult to decipher ingredients lists.
Bio-D cleaning products are Vegan Society Registered!
All our cleaning categories can be filtered by criteria, making it much easier to shop for vegan-friendly products. We sell 100s of vegan household products though, so you might also want to filter by star rating or price.
Read our full guide to vegan cleaning.
Looking for the perfect vegan gift? Take a look at our guide to vegan presents.