UK Vegan Beauty Products Sales Soar by 38 Percent

A new report compiled by information company The NPD Group found that sales of vegan beauty products increased by 38 percent during the 12-month period between February 2017 and January 2018 in the United Kingdom. The report grouped vegan beauty products into a “prestige” category—which also includes products marketed as “natural” and “naturally derived”—and placed its value at £124 million ($171.7 million) in 2017. Helen Duxbury, NPD Beauty UK Senior Account Manager, revealed that Veganuary—a campaign that challenges individuals to go vegan for the month of January and beyond—has had a positive effect on the growth of the vegan beauty industry. “There has certainly been a rise in the number of vegan brands in prestige beauty, and this coincides with consumers adopting a more conscientious approach when purchasing products, looking closely at the underlying philosophies and actions of the brands,” Duxbury said. “They not only investigate ingredients and efficacy [but] they want to know about traceability and how animal-friendly they are.” A number of beauty brands has removed animal products from their formulations to cater to the consumer shift toward vegan products, including Hourglass Cosmetics, which pledged to go vegan by 2020.