We are strictly cruelty-free at The Freeze Clinic. We only sell and promote beauty products that are not tested on animals. We’re also big fans of vegan beauty products—and we’re not the only ones. Between 2013 and 2018 vegan beauty product launches increased by 175 percent. And sales of vegan skincare products rose 38 percent last year.

You don’t need to be vegan to reap the benefits of vegan skincare products, though. For starters, how comfortable are you with the idea of putting animal byproducts on your face? But, politics and squeamish-ness aside, vegan beauty products can seriously benefit your skin. Here’s how:

Nourishing Ingredients

Generally speaking, vegan skincare products contain ingredients that are gentle on skin. You won’t find harsh exfoliants or unrecognizable chemicals. Vegan skincare is about treating your skin with a light touch.

Nutrient Rich

Just because the ingredients in vegan skincare products are gentle and nourishing, doesn’t mean that they’re not effective. You’ll find high levels of active ingredients in plant-based products. And those ingredients are naturally-occurring, which often means that they’re more effective.

Natural Ingredients

Our skin absorbs up to 60 percent of the products we put on it. If you’re using skincare products full of chemicals, that’s a lot of questionable stuff getting under our skin—literally. Most vegan skincare products will have a short list of ingredients and a list that’s easy to read and decipher. You will actually understand what each ingredient is.

Now, as with any category of consumer goods, not all products are created equal. A few things to note:

  • Vegan doesn’t mean cruelty-free and cruelty-free doesn’t mean vegan. If you want both (and we think that’s a good idea), do your research and check the labels on skincare products carefully.
  • A product can be vegan and also have unsafe ingredients in it. Again, look at the label and read the list of ingredients. You can always check questionable ingredients using the Skin Deep Cosmetics Database.
  • Vegan doesn’t mean organic. Again, check the label and ingredients list to confirm whether the plants used were grown without pesticides.
  • Finally, while there are big beauty companies making vegan products, there are also lots of small ones. And getting organic, cruelty-free and vegan certifications isn’t cheap or easy. So, educate yourself about each company before making assumptions based on labels.