When I first decided to go vegan two years ago, I vastly underestimated the number of changes I would have to make. Transitioning can be pretty overwhelming, given the sheer number of things we use that contain animal products. It took me a while to realize that most of the makeup I was wearing was not, in fact, vegan.
If I could go back and redo my transition, I would definitely change many things. If you are interested in or currently are transitioning your lifestyle, here are some tips for transitioning your beauty routine.
First off, there are lots of misconceptions on what vegan/natural makeup is. Here are guidelines:
- Vegan beauty products: contain no animal products whatsoever (including animal by-products and animal-derived ingredients), and have not been tested on animals.
- Natural beauty products: ideally are made without or with minimal use of synthetics and chemicals. Made from ingredients found in nature.
- Cruelty free beauty products: products that are not tested on animals. Some brands that are cruelty free are still owned by corporations that are not cruelty free. Products marked as cruelty free can still contain animal products.
- Organic beauty products: made completely or mostly with organic ingredients (Organic guidelines).
- 100% Organic= completely organic
- Organic= at least 95% organic
- “Made with” Organic= at least 70% organic
One of several organic logos out there
Please note that many products fall into only one of those categories. But there are definitely products that are vegan, natural, cruelty free, and organic.
1. Decide how far you want to go.
As I mentioned, there are lots of different levels you can go. Personally, I try to go for vegan and cruelty free and natural as often as possible, but I still use some synthetic products that are vegan. Obviously, it’s going to be harder if you only want products that satisfy all those categories. It’s up to you to decide how strict you want to be. Some products are a bit complicated– for example, some of Urban Decay’s products are vegan and cruelty free, but the brand is owned by L’oreal, which blatantly tests on animals. Its a bit of a grey area that you have to make a decision on.
2. Figure out what already fits your lifestyle.
It’s likely that you are already using several products that are in accordance with your new lifestyle. Although so much out there isn’t natural/vegan, you’d be surprised how much is. Popular brands like Tarte, NYX, and Urban Decay all have some vegan products. Start out by Googling your holy grail products, to see how much you have to replace.
3. DON’T throw everything away.
It’s really expensive to completely re-start a beauty collection all at once. It’s also a headache to try and find new products that work all at once. Instead, keep using your favorite products in the meantime. Although it might be annoying to keep applying animal products or synthetics onto your skin, you already paid for the product so it makes sense to get your money’s worth out of it.
4. Research, research, research.
Spend time looking into new, vegan/natural friendly brands and products. Remember that just because a brand is vegan, doesn’t mean it’s natural and vice versa. Sadly, even vegan/natural brands can be deceptive so you’ll have to do some ingredient scouring to fit your needs. I found that a mix of vegan and natural vegan products works fine with me. Some of my favorite brands are: Lime Crime (vegan), 100% Pure (natural, some vegan), Lush (natural-ish, some vegan), and NYX (some vegan).
Look up products and try to find ones that match your lifestyle and will match your skin/specific needs. Here are some great links to get you started: Vegan Under $10, Drugstore Brands for Vegans, Vegan Makeup Look-up, Natural/Organic Makeup to Consider.
5. When you use up a product, replace it with a vegan/natural version.
This allows you to slowly phase out your collection and really focus on getting a good replacement. Since you can consider one product at a time, there is plenty of time to sample and read reviews. If you can, get mini sizes or samples of the product you are considering. Try it out in store. If that’s not possible, rely on reviews and photos online to get the best idea possible of how your skin will react. You want to be getting a quality product, and despite the reputation there are plenty of great preforming vegan/natural products out there. Just jump in and start testing.
6. Taking forever to replace a product? Chances are, you don’t need it.
Transitioning your collection like this is also a great way to minimize your collection. Did you finally notice that neon coral lipstick that you haven’t used in two years? It might look pretty in your collection, but if you haven’t used it in that long it’s not really worth finding a replacement for. Of course it’s great to have more fun/special event options, but make sure you are using them!
Hope this is helpful! I know it takes a while, but gradually replacing your collection with products that work will save you money in the long run. You will end up with products that work well, not just a big collection of products that don’t really work.
If you have any specific questions, feel free to comment or email me at insightsofawallflower@gmail.com.
Insights of a Wallflower 