Reasons to use vegan, cruelty-free products

Made from natural components, vegan products have minimal effects on your skin. Invest in cruelty free products as they are not tested on animals and are safe from harmful chemicals, say experts.

Shikhee Agrawal, Head Trainer at The Body Shop, Ragini Mehra, Founder at Beauty Source and Nina Lekhi, Chief design curator at Baggit, have listed reasons to opt for cruelty free products:

* Following a vegan beauty regime helps you gain a healthy skin. Vitamins B and Vitamin E regenerates the skin cells making your skin appear more soft and radiant and also enhances the natural radiance of the dull skin.

* Thick and long hair is all conceivable with vegan products. Natural extracts such as green tea and banana in shampoo, hair scrubs and conditioner helps in eradicating impurities and clearing the scalp, as a result in thicker, longer and stronger hair.

* Natural ingredients such as seaweed, tea tree oil, vitamin E, aloe vera, chamomile and vitamin C, adds energising abstract to these vegan products. Camomile, aloe vera, seaweed and tea tree purifies the skin and gives a silky soft feel to the skin and are popular for removing excess oil and impurities, thus helps in treating acne.

* Safe from harmful chemicals, vegan products are safe for skin and hair. Choosing only vegan products will save you from harmful chemicals and cruel cosmetics and lowers the chances of skin problems such as rashes, allergies, eczemas, acne, skin inflammation and other skin diseases.

* Vegan beauty products are never tested on animals and therefore are 100 per cent cruelty free. The animals used in experiments are not only kept in small cages and put through inhumane conditions, but they're also subjected to tests that are cruel.
* Vegan products are free from beeswax, collagen, gelatin, honey, carmine, cholesterol and other animal derived ingredients.

* Choosing vegan products is also a great excuse to give more thought to what we buy and have more of a moderate, minimalistic approach. By only buying the items we require, we're more likely to minimise waste and doing our little part to be more conscious, and less wasteful of our resources.