According to an article by WWD, vegan makeup – once a niche market confined to health food stores – is officially trending in the mainstream beauty fold, with sales of UK vegan beauty products increasing by 38 per cent in the last year alone.
In fact, buzzwords such as ‘vegan,’ ‘cruelty-free’ and ‘plant-based’ are now serving as identifiers for ‘cool’ brands, as consumers – particularly health-conscious Millenials and Gen Zs – increasingly shop for products that align with their values.
As a result, many companies are rushing to reformulate old products that contain animal byproducts, while existing formulas are being remarketed with more obvious vegan branding. Over the past few years, numerous prestige makeup brands have committed to eventually becoming 100 per cent vegan, including Milk Makeup, Kat Von D Beauty and Unilever-owned Hourglass Cosmetics.
“It’s a couple of things,” WGSN head of beauty Jenni Middleton said. “It’s this very articulate, prevalent group of [influencers] on Instagram talking about plant-based diets and posting compelling photos of what clean eating looks like and what the results are for the hair, skin, nails and physique. It’s also the generation of future consumers — they are obsessed with making sure we do the right thing by the environment, and the vegan [and cruelty-free] movement is inextricably linked with the sustainability movement.”
According to suppliers, there’s also a growing demand from brands for vegan cosmetic formulations, despite the formulas not necessarily being new. Products that were once difficult to formulate as vegan, such as mascara, which often uses beeswax for hold, and red lipstick, which relies on carmine, are now easier to formulate without these ingredients due to technological advancements.
“[Vegan makeup] is becoming more and more standard,” HCT Group chief strategy officer, Jenny Hsu said. “I think what brands are trying to do right now is reach more people and trying to cater to Millennials and Gen Z, who want to know that their products speak to them and they can feel good about using them.”
