You may not have known about the negative impact the skincare industry has on our environment, but in this blog post we’ll highlight the key issues of the skincare industry and provide some vegan, cruelty-free and sustainable alternatives.
Animal Testing
Sadly, animal testing is still going on in 2021. Animal testing often includes cruel practices such as: skin and eye irritation tests where chemicals are rubbed onto the shaved skin or dripped into the eyes of restrained rabbits without any pain relief.
Be sure to look out for certified cruelty-free bunny logos that’s printed onto the products packaging. This is the best way to check if a brand is cruelty-free, but it does have its limitations such as: Companies must pay to license and use one of the three certified bunny logos. That means a company can be certified cruelty-free and meet all the standards but they might not be able to afford to pay and use the logo on their packaging.
There are also many unofficial bunny logos! Some companies will try to deceive their costumers, buy putting a cute bunny on their packaging thinking that their compassionate buyers will take the bait.
Plastic Waste
Almost 70% of cosmetics end up in landfills, unfinished. These plastics take a very long time to decompose, so most of the time they end up in our oceans, ruining eco systems and disturbing aquatic life.
While we can’t completely eliminate plastic in our packaging, we can try to reduce the amount of plastic we use, by purchasing skin care in reusable/recyclable containers and recycle the plastic containers that you’ve already bought. You can also reuse your plastic containers too!
Look for companies that offer refills for their products! (It’s also cheaper this way ;))
Harmful Ingredients
Many non-vegan, non-natural cosmetic brands contain chemicals that harm your skin, such as parabens, which can enter the body through the skin and mimic estrogen, this has been found to interfere with the production of hormones and an imbalance of estrogen in rare cases can also trigger breast cancer.
Also look out for Benzophenone which can be found in different types of sunscreens, benzophenone’s have also been found to negatively affect the environment as they migrate from human skin to the surfaces of the environment — such as from sunscreen to the ocean, lakes, and rivers — meaning these chemicals are continuously released into the environment, and are harming sea life, especially the coral reefs.
Be sure to check what types of chemicals are in your skin care products. If you’re buying skin care online, then it’s always a good omen if the company has an extra page explaining their ingredients, where they come from, if they’re vegan, and what they’re used for. To see if a product is vegan in a store, similarly to the cruelty-free bunny logos, there are also certified vegan logos that you should definitely keep an eye out for.
You can start taking steps towards taking care of your skin and taking care of the planet, just by looking out of these things. Nobody’s perfect and if you’re reading this thinking that you have to throw out all of the products that you own that aren’t vegan, cruelty-free and come in a plastic bottle that can’t be recycled, DON’T! The best thing that you can do is to not waste that product and once it is completely empty start try some sustainable options! J
Be sure to take a look through our shop if you’re interested in more vegan skincare! We’re sure to only show the highest quality vegan cosmetics from brands that actually care about the earth.
What’s going to be your first step to a more sustainable skin care routine? Thank you for reading!
