The 4 Must-have Pillars of a Vegan Beauty Regime
The contemporary beauty scene is awash with an abundance of labels, clean, natural, organic, it can be a difficult place to navigate as a vegan consumer, so I’ve put together a guide to help ease the anxiety of what products you really should be adding to cart.
For starters, do your brand research! Although a brand might present itself as vegan, it is very much possible for it to be involved with a parent company, subsidiary, or a commissioned third-party lab that engages in animal testing. Transparency is key, so for this reason I tend to recommend supporting independently owned businesses, which are most often small businesses too, so the support is felt tenfold.
Hopefully you discover a few alternate products in the elbow, but listed, are the top 4 ingredients or items you need to know.
Hyaluronic acid
Hyaluronic acid is the talk of the town right now. A cult favourite for its ability to plump skin by attracting 1000 times its weight in water, as well as working to correct fine lines and maintain an overall healthy glow. A handy step within any skincare routine, Hyaluronic Acid is present naturally in your skin, but most commonly it is derived from Rooster Combs (or manmade in the lab).
Lip balm
A must-have in any handbag, no matter the season. Many lip balms on the market use beeswax to perfect that thick yet glossy feel, however this formula has a severe impact on the Earth’s natural ecosystems, and often leads to bees being kept in cruel environments for production purposes.
I’m a huge fan of Candelilla Wax; we use this alongside Macadamia Nut Butter and Rice Bran in the Goddess on the Go Lip Balm. This nourishing mix combination creates a protective barrier, so you can still achieve luscious lips though with less of an environmental impact.
Hand cream
Hand sanitiser and hand hygiene has become a subconscious practice of everyday life at present, but have you stopped to notice the damage it might be doing to your skin? It’s important to have a really soothing hand cream to combat dryness and irritation, however the majority incorporate lanolin which is an ingredient derived from sheared wool (sadly, most sheep are slaughtered following the extraction).
Collagen
Collagen is a wonder ingredient in skincare. It is naturally occurring within the skin and works to provide that highly sought after plumping look, however is often derived from animal products (marine collagen being the most popular). Instead of steering into the synthetics, Edible Beauty utilises Humacoll which is a vegan collagen design to induce the same skincare results as many non-vegan alternatives. Containing no nasties at all, this is a plant-based collagen is also GMO free and cruelty-free.
Clinical trials conducted using this Humacoll show that it delivers 20x greater improvement in skin moisturisation compared to marine collagen, and increases skin elasticity by 26% after only two weeks. 93% of participants in this skincare study also experienced a significant reduction in the size of wrinkles during four weeks, with further improvement noticed at the eight week mark.
Ready to make the switch? Try to cut through the marketing buzz and find a vegan beauty brand or products that work for you. You’ll look good and feel good after every step of your beauty routine.
Hot tip: look for the leaping bunny logo, an easy indicator as to whether a product has been tested on animals. Then search the ingredient list for animal byproducts.
Anna Mitsios is naturopath, nutritionist and founder of Edible Beauty Australia
Being diagnosed with type 1 diabetes at 18 marked a real turning point in Anna’s life. She began to search for natural solutions – nutrition and herbal remedies – to help manage the autoimmune condition. While working in corporate finance in Sydney and New York, Anna also took up studies in naturopathy; a step towards making her passion her career.
Working as a naturopath in a Sydney fertility clinic, I was fed up with the lack of skincare that was safe and clean, especially for pregnant women. So, in 2014 I created a range of products – using Australian botanicals and luxury ingredients – that is so pure you could eat it.
After hours of research, cosmetic chemist meetings, more study, and formulating samples, Edible Beauty was born in Anna’s garage! From 2014 she was stocking the shelves at Sephora Pitt Street, when the store first opened, and within two months Edible Beauty was being sold internationally.