Are Vegan Products The Better Option?
With the increase of interest in ethical consumption among MZ generation, the interest in vegan cosmetics is increasing as well. Many cosmetics industries are introducing vegan products that do not use raw materials of animal origins and do not experiment with their products on animals. Various types of vegan cosmetics, ranging from skincare products to cosmetics, are being released steadily, and it makes me wonder if vegan cosmetics are good or not.
Q. What is vegan?
Vegan pursues not only vegetarianism, but also concerns individuals’ health as well as an awareness of respecting everything surrounding them, including animals, land, water, and ecosystem. Vegetarians are only prohibited from eating meat, while vegans take active actions that prohibit dairy products, eggs, leather products, and any products that conduct animal experiments using chemicals, drugs, food, and so on.
Q. How are vegan cosmetics made?
The cosmetics industry must meet two criteria: 1) not to experiment with animals and 2) not to contain secondary ingredients obtained from animals to be certified by the Vegan Association. Vegan cosmetics can only be made after a rigorous examination that does not contain any secondary ingredients such as ranoline, beeswax, honey, milk, and eggs collected from animals.
Q. Which vegan certification authority is it recognized by?
Internationally recognized vegan certification includes The Vegan Society, V-Label, Eve Vegan, Vegecert, etc. What is peculiar is that the cost standards for receiving vegan certificates from some certification associations are set according to the sales of the corporation and must be selected between 12 and 24 months of validity. In other words, companies with larger sales have to pay more and get certified again after the expiration date. Vegan cosmetics that we purchase with a vegan certification label are consumed after paying a considerable amount of money to the vegan certification association. Companies even have to renew their certification again after the expiration date where consumers must bear the burden of this, and the higher the sales of the corporate, the higher the cost it is going to be.
This makes me question that vegan certification associations may take profits by disguised ethical consumption. We may be paying a lot of money to the certificate association for a lot of promotional marketing that makes us mistake vegan cosmetics for good cosmetics without doing so knowingly.
Not using vegan cosmetics is not to be blamed at all, but it seems necessary to follow a clean way of life to cause less damage to the global environment and other lives living alongside us on the Earth. However, in order for everyone to live harmoniously together, in a sustainable way, it seems necessary to practice ethical consciousness not only in consumerism but also in many other places.
Q. What are some vegan cosmetic brands?
