Question for Ethical Vegans

guineapig

As an ethical vegan myself and a lifelong frugalista:D I find it very frustrating that there are lots of toiletries in the carnivorous world out there that can be picked up for a song, but for those of us who choose animal/cruelty free it can work out pretty expensive.

I know that the food side of things works out very cheaply I reckon that's one of the great paybacks,that and the cholesterol free bit;)

Anyway, I wonder how many of you buy the ready made Vegan stuff out there and how many make your own?

I have used faith in Nature and like it but not the price:eek: and I have got some JR Liggitt Shampoo bars that I bought from the USA ( when I had one of those mail forwarding address things) it is great and I don't need a conditioner:j but it is not available in the UK ( although you can get it from Sweden as they are currently the only European distributors)

Having read the very small ingredient list I was thinking of making my own shampoo bars that could double up as body and/or hand soap too.

Do any of you/have any of you used any shop bought vegan soap on your hair with good/bad results? and if so which?

I have bought faith in nature and jasons conditioner and made it in to detangler by diluting it 1:5 with water, spray in hair ( whilst in shower) comb through with wide tooth comb and rinse out works great and makes one bottle last a loooooooooooooog time;)

How do you guys do the "money saving thing" when Vegan (non food) stuff is so expensive ( compared to the non vegan)?

Can anyone reccomend a good and not too expensive long lasting hand cream?
Thanks GP

IamJen

Hm. See I don't think Faith in Nature is all that expensive. Also, while I go through the conditioner quickly, but the other items (we currently have two shampoos, two conditioners, body wash, hand wash and washing up liquid) last a good while.

wrt hand cream, many of Palmers cocoa butter items are vegan. Also, if you're in/near London, the Whole Foods there carries a store brand hand lotion that is wicked cheap.

Many, if not all, of the Original Source products are vegan. You can get them as cheap as most any "standard" brand, and often less, if you catch them on offer. I've seen them at Superdrug, Boots, Waitrose, and Tesco, often on bogof. They're still a bit "chemical", for lack of a better word, for my taste, but they smell nice.

Many many items at the Co-Op are vegan too, and labeled well. We just picked up some shaving foam for about £1, and I've used their soap before too.

Lush has some vegan shampoos bars which are very long lasting too.

I use Simple brand moisturizer that you can find at Superdrug, etc. and it's vegan.

I post on another board, and they recently had a conversation about vegan toiletries:
http://www.veggieboards.com/boards/showthread.php?t=90575

guineapig

I have tried/used most ( but not all) of the products mentioned, but I am trying to get away from " the chemical nasties" as far as is possible.

I am also a big fan of "double duty" products and using the JR Liggitts shampoo bar I have found I don't need to use conditioner:j so I just wondered if could replicate that with a bar of soap all ready "out there", rather than make my own, I am lazy, it won't take long what I have in mind:o so I should just get on with it, I have made all kinds of stuff in the past and regularly experiment, hence my user name:D

I make hubbie shave with undilute hair conditioner whilst on holiday to save carrying too many bottles and it works just fine, so that's few products and even fewer plastic bottles to recycle, oh, and he is fine with this, and it doesn't make any difference to his skin, so another "double duty" product;)

DreamerV

I struggle with getting hold of certain vegan products. Shampoo and showergel is getting easier because of Original Source, but I tend to opt for Co-Op if I can (e.g. when they have deals on to make it more affordable).

I am struggling to work out where to buy vegan sunblock for a not-too-extortionate price though.

greenbee

Some ethical/organic websites have Faith in Nature in 5l containers, which works out cheaper (and greener). I have shampoo and conditioner, and love just being able to top up rather than remember to go shopping/order more!

I can't remember whether I got mine from Natural Collection or Ethical Superstore but one or both of them do it.

prettyinblack

Faith in nature looks pricey - but it can go a *lot* further than the 'cheaper' things (for example - using a washmitt/scunchie thingy I'm a fortnight into a bottle of shower gel. Most needed is a couple of drops.... it still looks as if its untouched.

I can't sing the praises more highly of their laundry liquid as well - you can use less than half the suggested amount (we regularly use less than that), even in a hard water area, and still get nice clean clothes. :-)

And its all made in the UK as well :-)

bigpaws23

In desperation, I've used watered down, Ecover's vegan washing up liquid to wash my hair before LOL! It was actually quite good for a number of months, but then got a bit harsh. I followed it with an apple cider rinse.

I've also used clay and soapwort in the past with great success.

Probably not the answer you're looking for, but I thought I'd share

For handcreams / moisturisers etc I just use a few drops of jojoba oil

Doom_and_Gloom

I use Lush as I find them to be the best.
Their biggest bottle of Veganese lasts me half a year £10.95 for 500g that works out at around £1.83 for the conditioner a month which I think is rather good. I use their solid shampoo bars and get the Karma Komba one that is £4.50 and that lasts me around 5 months so that's about 90p a month for shampoo again rather good. I have rather long hair too as it goes down to the small of my back so I've found this works out cheaper than most brands to be honest :rotfl: . £2.73/month on my hair to keep it healthy is amazing and I haven't had it cut in over 2 years so it's working well :T and it's vegan to boot :j .

They have haircare, body care etc and even sell vegan makeup and even deoderants :cool: . All of them work out at reasonable prices I think. Ilove how well they label the vegan stuff to as it makes it easier to know what you can buy :beer: .

Just so you know I don't work for lush :rotfl: I just find their products that are vegan the best for the price they are.

I'm working on finding other cheaper non-food stuff such as washing up liquid (as ecover are no longer allowed to carry the vegan logo :rolleyes:) etc. It can be difficult but usually as vegans you realise that you can do more with less sometimes which is good for the environment and your pocket :T .

Teria

I just use the Original Source products, and occasionally Lush if I'm anywhere near one of their shops.
I'd like to try and make my own, I'm not sure it would work out any cheaper though.

guineapig

Well seeing as I started this and no one else seems to have tried this, I have been true to my user name and been experimenting:D

I tried shampooing with a bar of "Faith in Nature" soap ( Lavender if you are interested LOL!) cost about £1 .50

Washed out ok, but there seemd to be a slight residue of "something" left behind, nothing outragous, my hair "looked" ok, just a slight, "coating" of something.

A few days later............

My next bar, was Suma glycerine( lavender) the round non-wrapped bars that look like large Jelly Tot's without the sugar:D cost £1.09

Did the usual, wet hair, rub in soap till lather appears,use fingers, rinse off and whilst under the running water comb hair with very wide tooth comb.

Result? well it was very good! as good as , if not better, than my beloved American Shampoo bars.
My hair is clean, soft and no need for hair conditioner:j
At £1.09 a bar I can wash my hair/body and face, and I now when I run out of my American Shampoo bars, it doesn't matter,I can "Suma shampoo" my hair:D

For what it's worth, I like Faith products and I have had the big 5L size in the past, but the aim is to cut costs, reduce the overall number of products and save space in my little house, I hope my results help someone;)

Pandora123_2

I use Faith in Nature shampoo, but my favourite is Aubrey Organics (they're expensive though).

Favourite lotion is Aubrey's Rosa Mosqueta. I order Aubrey's from a company in the US; works out cheaper even with shipping.

I'm starting to experiment with making my own toiletries (and laundry stuff); just ordered a big jug of Dr Bronners castille soap, vegetable glycerine etc, so we'll see how that works out.

Thanks for posting about your Suma shampoo experiment!