Is MERUMAYA Vegan?... Absolutely!
If you do a quick scroll through social media, you'll find numerous brands claiming their products are vegan. But is that the case?
What is the difference between a brand's vegan claims and actually being certified by the Vegan Society? How does the process of obtaining the certification work? Do you have to forsake efficacy in products? A growing number of customers want their products to be cruelty-free, understandably so.
If you are vegan or have religious requirements, make sure to watch the video below!
What Does Vegan In Skincare Mean?
It means the brand hasn't used any animal ingredients in their product. Also, more importantly, that we haven't used any animal-derived ingredients (think honey, beeswax, milk).
Veganism is becoming more mainstream and vital to people, not just in terms of food, but in terms of lifestyle. More and more people want assurances a skincare product contains no animal by-products and that it is cruelty-free. Likewise, you don't have to be vegan to want to use and enjoy vegan-certified skincare.
With MERUMAYA® products, you don't have to forsake efficacy.
What's The Difference Between Saying Your Products Are Vegan & Proving It?
It is a massive difference. MERUMAYA® started the process of obtaining the vegan certification in August 2018. Somewhat naively, we thought we would complete the process by January 2019. However, it took almost a year to gain certification.
How Does The Vegan Certification Process Work?
To prove your products are vegan, to be certified, and to be able to display the Vegan Society logo on the products, is a massive job. Vegan Society checks every single ingredient in every product. When you think any given product has upward of 20 (or more) ingredients, you'll appreciate just how massive that job is.
And that is just a part of the process. Remember - all ingredients, whether they are natural or synthetic, need to be processed. It is not as if we pick a natural ingredient from a field, shove into a bottle, and it turns into a beautiful product. It goes through a scientific process that will make it usable and available for the skin so that you get the results that you want.
To make matters more complicated, many ingredient suppliers have proprietary methods of processing. They are reluctant to make this common knowledge. To get the information from the ingredient suppliers isn't as easy as it seems.
You have to prove that during the processing of the ingredient, you used no animal by-products. For example, to lubricate the processing machinery (be it for the ingredients or the final product), you can't use anything animal-derived.
You might be vegan for dietary reasons, because of your health, or you are concerned about sustainability. In some cases, it is a matter of religious beliefs. Regardless of your motivation, we want you to know and understand the difference between a brand saying their products are vegan and proving so.
Make sure to check for the certification logo either on the brand's website or on the packaging. In Merumaya's case, it was also important not to forsake the efficacy of our products. In the process, we had to change two ingredients because their processing included egg albumin.
Are you vegan? Is it important to you that your skincare products are vegan? Do you check for Vegan Society certification?
