The beauty industry has time and again been scrutinised for its effects on the consumers and the ecosystem – this can be during the manufacturing process or the effect it has on the consumer's thought processes.
Now, as the world moves towards adopting Global Sustainability Goals, committing to a world that works with the natural resources instead of against them – it is only fair for each individual to be curious about making the right choices to make their beauty bag as consciously curated as possible.
With multiple brands coming up with new standards of vegan and sustainable beauty, many consumers are left confused and doubting the authenticity of these claims.
So here is a quick guide that can help you make the right choices:
Vegan and cruelty free labels
Keeping true to the traditional meaning of Vegan – any vegan beauty product means that it is completely plant-based and has no animal ingredients or any of their by-products like honey, beeswax, dairy product etc. Similarly, cruelty-free as a label means that the ingredients or the final product did not test on animals or harm any animals during the production process.
One way to test the authenticity is to check if these products are legally certified by PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) or verified by Vegan organisations as The Vegan Society and others. Cruelty-free and vegan products are also generally categorised by having cleaner and gentler formulas as they are mostly deprived of harsh chemicals and solvents.
Ethical and natural ingredients
It is equally important to invest in products that use ethically sourced and sustainably harvested ingredients. Since most vegan products tend to be plant-derived, it is of utmost value to ensure that while the source is nature, the impact of manufacturing is also minimal so that there is no harm done to the environment.
Often, the face scrubs used by us are most damaging not just to the face and to the marine life as well, thus opting for more natural ingredients rather than synthetic ones is quite beneficial. Some natural scrubbing ingredients are sugar, salt, coffee which are safe for the coral reefs and far gentler than synthetic scrubs.
Sustainable and eco-friendly packaging
While the ingredients and formulation can be certified, it is also important to pay attention to the quality, material and nature of the packaging in which the product is being stored. With an increase in clean-beauty standards, the consumption of such products has also increased, thus giving brands the opportunity to further develop their packaging in a manner that is sustainable and its increased quantity does not harm the environment.
This could translate into using raw materials that are recycled and can be renewed or even introducing the concept of up-cycling the product packaging for decoration or storage purposes. For example, The Body Shop has recently launched a new line of vegan hair care and body butters that are not only made of 95% ingredients of natural origin, but the packaging is made of recycled plastic that can further be recycled, thus continuing the recycling system. Their make-up brushes also have wooden handles instead of plastic ones this adds to their classy appearance and use of eco-friendly material.
The above is a small snippet in a long list of things that can help contribute to a cleaner and more consciously lifestyle. Where demand increase, supply follows – as people begin to demand ethical, responsible production and products, more and more brands have begun to deliver. An increasing number of brands are pioneering conversations on clean, green and sustainable beauty.
This article first appeared in Saturday Insider, Dec 4, 2021