Vegan cosmetics: options, benefits and precautions

What does Cruelty-Free mean?Beyond its simple translation, it is a concept that implies that a product was developed without any tests in animals, while Vegan ensures that the product does not include any animals derived from animals.

The idea is gaining weight sustained in the food industry, in fashion, in entertainment and many other areas, including cosmetics.

Peta, the organization of people for the ethical treatment of animals, has a guide of vegan and free products of cruelty, which include well -known brands, such as Dermablend, Milani, Too Faced, Wet N Wild, Urban Decay and Lush.The Vegan website.com has its own makeup list and skin and hair products.

Not everything they offer in their stores is vegan or cruelty-free, but they have made the decision to give options to those who want to guide themselves for these principles.

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In Ecuador, various brands have alternatives that follow the vegan guidelines.One of them is Botania.EC, created by Marielisa Marques.“From a young age I have had multiple complications with the skin, including psoriasis, and that leaned me a lot to natural cosmetics, which acts as a palliative and a help (there is no cure).There was my interest, ”he says.

Marques explains that in natural cosmetics there are several branches, some include many products of animal origin.Therefore, natural and vegan are not synonyms, although they are not excluded either."Vegan cosmetics is distinguished because it does not accept any ingredient of animal origin or that comes from animal exploitation or has been tested in animals".

Botania has some vegan formulas, such as body butter (cocoa butter, karité butter, macadamia oils, argan and avocado; without beeswax)."Vegetable butter are very nutritious," says Marques, "help recover the skin's lipid mantle.Oils such as Jojoba and Karité have lipids very similar to those of human skin, and help calm dryness in people who have psoriasis and eczema.It is not a medicine, "he reiterates," but a relief ".

Although in our country the vegan includes a small market, the possibilities are expanding.An infusion of camphor and turmeric oils works as a liniment that helps with muscle aches.“There are also the exfoliants of sugar and seeds.And in terms of facials, there are soaps without sulfates and salts, of plant origin, such as tea tree oil ”.There are also vegan shampoo options, "without animal moisturizers such as lanolina, which derives from the wool of the sheep".

Micellar water (used as a makeup remover) can occur with hydrolates or herbal water, which is obtained during the same process in which plants essential oil is extracted, but it is often discarded.This version, explains the entrepreneur, would become a micellar hydrolate.

"We manufacture our products from scratch," continues Marques.“We monitor that our ingredients are mostly national, of organic origin, that they have been responsible in a responsible manner and that they have not been treated with pesticides.We apply good manufacturing practices at all stages;The processing, mixing, packaging and labeling are handmade ”.

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— Samantha Potter Thu Jun 17 04:13:43 +0000 2021

Free of cruelty: a family conviction

Karina Ojeda, with her sister Ileana and her mother Janeth Palacios, directs Natural Blends."All our products are vegan, and those that we produce in the future will also be".

It started in 2014.“I was looking for a repellent that did not make me burn my skin.I started investigating and found a solution that can be prepared with essential oils ”.Some friends contacted her with the Bonaterra Fair.And so the brand was born.

“We wanted the project to reflect our beliefs, my family loves animals, so the products had to be vegan.I started looking for plant or mineral alternatives that give very good results, ”says Ojeda, who has previously ventured into the sale of their products to weight or bulk, for those who were willing to carry their own containers.It is an idea to reduce the use of plastic.

At the moment, personal hygiene products and moisturizing creams have great demand.Also welcomed by alumin stone deodorant."Normally you have to moisten the stone to use it, but in this case it is diluted and ready to use in roll-on," explains Ojeda.Natural Blends offers a shampoo that can be used as body soap."Instead of using keratin, which is of animal origin, we use argan oil and karité butter, which are very good to rebuild the hair".Moisturizing creams have vegetable emulsifiers, not petroleum -based.“A guy is for very dry skins (organic cocoa butter, argan oil) and another lighter version (argan and karité).We design them thinking about our climate ".

For the team, Karina Ojeda emphasizes, it is very important to have cruelty-free products.“We do not believe it is fair for an animal to have to suffer for cosmetics purposes.There are plant and mineral alternatives that have the same or better function and are respectful of animal life ”.

A higher volume production also allows the cost of these products to be reduced.This is the case of the Fabrile, who has its own palm plantations to make the base of the ninacuro soap, according to its spokeswoman Andrea Aguirre.

"Ninacuro soap production has a process called saponification, in which glycerin is in the 100% vegetable base of the soap, obtaining a more soft product for the skin.Then it goes to a continuous completion process where components of plant origin are added that generate added value, is homogenized and shapes the soap taking care of the physical-chemical and sensory conditions of the product.In the entire soap production process there are no parabens, petrochemicals, sulfates or animal ingredients ".

The vegan must also pass the quality test

The tendency to avoid testing in living beings seems correct to the white dermatologist Almeida Jurado."At present, it is assumed that worldwide, cosmetics are free of animals in animals".

But let's not get confused, ask the dermatologist."That something is of plant origin does not mean that it cannot produce any unwanted effect".For example, chamomile, a plant that has always been used as anti -inflammatory, can cause allergic contact dermatitis.

In the same way, some varieties of aloe can cause contact allergy."Contact dermatitis for the Henna dye that is extracted from a plant (Alheña) is well known".There are even allergies to proteins of certain vegetables and fruits.

"It actually depends on each individual.Genetic factors or background of atopia (allergies) sometimes have cross reactions ”.The laboratory that elaborates the product must thoroughly extract the specific active substance of the plant that has the benefit, and present it in a purified way."Also the vehicle in which the active substance is put must be hypoallergenic".And even with all these precautions, the person with predisposition, the least thoughtful product can cause an undesirable reaction, so it is not a bad idea, before applying something on the skin or hair, consult with a doctor.(YO)