Aveda's Beauty Products Are Now Completely Vegan

Aveda has always been committed to clean, sustainable beauty. Now, the brand is taking things a step further by announcing all of its hair care, hair color, body care, makeup and aroma products are 100 percent vegan. 

Vegan products are defined as those that are created without any animal or animal-derived ingredients. Many such ingredients are used in beauty including beeswax and honey, as well as silk, keratin, glycerin, non-vegetal squalene, lanolin, collagen and carmine. Aveda has been cruelty-free since the brand was founded in 1978, and was largely vegan with the exception of some products that contained honey, beeswax and beeswax-derived ingredients.

“Removing beeswax was one of the biggest challenges for Aveda formulators because it helps to create texture, structure, color payoff, and smoothness,” says Christine Hall, Aveda’s VP of Research and Development. “One common alternative to beeswax for lip products specifically is synthetic beeswax, a wax that is petroleum-derived. But at Aveda, because we are committed to maximizing our use of naturally-derived ingredients, we opted instead to create a unique blend of plant-based butters and waxes that are strong enough for application, but also feel good on your lips," she adds. 

In accordance with Aveda’s founding mission to care for the world we live in, the brand has pioneered new benchmarks of environmental responsibility in beauty for decades. Aveda was the first company to sign the Ceres Principles for corporate responsibility, which calls for the safeguarding of the Earth and its inhabitants. While this was in 1989, Aveda’s commitment remains strong; protecting the Earth’s inhabitants by eliminating animal and animal-derived ingredients from its products was vitally important to the brand. 

In addition to going completely vegan, Aveda launched their Carbon Offset Shipping program in September 2020 which offsets 100 percent of carbon emissions generated by shipping products purchased on Aveda.com and shipped to U.S. guests at no cost to the guest. Additionally, Aveda “flipped the switch” on a new 3.6 acre, 900kW ground-mounted solar array at its headquarters in June 2020. The solar panels collect sunlight throughout the day, converting the light into electricity and supplying it to the manufacturing facility on campus, sending excess energy back to the grid. The new array is part of the brand’s vision to be a renewable energy generator.

To learn more about Aveda’s sustainability initiatives, visit aveda.com/sustainablefuture.