Other Products

Animal use is so pervasive that it is easy to find animal products in places we didn’t expect them to be. In order for us to avoid animal ingredients, we must become familiar with the animal-derived ingredients that can be found in household cleaning items, toiletries, and other personal care and cosmetic products.

Fortunately, finding such products that contain no-animal products is becoming easier than ever. If that is not the case where you live, remember that you can always make your own homemade vegan products! Nowadays, information and even video tutorials on how to make them are available with just one click, and most of them can be easily created with everyday household items like sodium bicarbonate, coconut and essential oils.

The rule is always the same: checking the ingredients to avoid animal products. Even though checking the ingredients might seem difficult at first, once you have done it a few times, you will become an expert!

Animal By-Products

Here you have a list with some of the most frequent animal by-products that can be found in shampoos, conditioners, soaps, cosmetics and other toiletries:

Animal fat, beeswax, bristle (animal hair that is often used to make brushes), chitin, carmine, casein, collagen, elastin, fish oils, glycerine (it can come from sugar fermentation, but also from animal fats, and is used in some toothpastes), honey, keratin (often used in shampoos and conditioners), lactose, lanoline, musk, oleic acid (used in soap and other cosmetics; it can come from vegetable or animal fats), oleostearin, estrogen, progesterone, propolis, royal jelly, sable, shellac, sponge, squalene, stearic acid (it can be obtained from vegetable sources), spermaceti wax, tallow (often used in soap and other cosmetics), urea (also known as carbamide; nowadays most often derived from synthetic sources).

There is a more detailed and expansive list here.