UK Shoppers Want More Vegan Verified Cosmetics

A new report released by The Vegan Society has revealed 97% of British consumers are looking for more vegan verified cosmetics and toiletries. 

The 18-page Vegan Beauty Takeover report looks into consumer perception of how animals are used in the cosmetics industry and the growing demand for vegan beauty products.

According to a survey, the majority of shoppers (56%) want more vegan-verified products across all cosmetic and toiletry products. Forty-one percent of respondents said they’d like to see more vegan shampoo, vegan conditioner and hair styling products. Forty percent are keen to see more vegan toothpaste and mouthwash with 39% saying they would like to see more vegan deodorant options. Vegan skincare, such as moisturisers, toners and soaps, also scored highly, with 38% and 37% wanting to see more options in those categories, respectively.

Females aged 45+ are the most interested in buying vegan options, with 71% of this group stating they would like to see more vegan options across all cosmetic and toiletry products. In a similar report from 2019, 62% of women declared their conscious beauty shopping habits had significantly changed over the last five to 10 years.

As part of the survey, shoppers were also asked if they felt confident identifying animal derived ingredients in cosmetics and toiletries. Forty-six percent said they felt confident, 43% said they did not feel confident and 11% said they were unsure as they never check the ingredients. However, when giving the respondents real examples, just 3% of our panel could correctly guess animal derived ingredients which are often found in cosmetics and toiletries. 

Encouragingly, 91% of respondents said it was important for brands selling vegan cosmetics and/or toiletries have their vegan products certified by a third-party organisation, such as the Vegan Society’s vegan-certification scheme the Vegan Trademark.

The Vegan Society works to encourage industry to be more transparent about their ingredients, and to embrace animal-free products and processes.  

Nourish London, is one of the companies that has 48 products registered with The Vegan Society’s Vegan Trademark.

Dr Pauline Hili, Founder of Nourish London said: “It is great to see the demand for vegan certified cosmetics and toiletries grow. As a formulator at Nourish London, it means more and more wonderful ingredients become available for us to use and the supply chain becomes increasingly skilled at ensuring products meet the vegan criteria.”   

“Certified vegan cosmetics and toiletries ensure people can enjoy using products that support their values - ensuring no animal ingredients are used in the processing or final product.  The rigour of the auditing process and the thorough review of our company’s internal compliance mechanisms has been vital for us as a vegan brand. It has made us do what we do even better. External certification by The Vegan Society, who we first registered with in 2012, helps us stay abreast of latest understanding of best practice and it is a crucial part of our growth as a brand.”

As of August 2021, the Vegan Trademark has 55,611 products registered, of which 24,117 are cosmetics and toiletries (43%). This includes vegan make up, deodorants, vegan skin care, perfumes, lipsticks, vegan shampoos, conditioners, soap bars and vegan toothpastes from various brands.