Veg*n Soaps / companies and only Veg*n Soaps / companies :

hi everyone. here's what I'm looking to do....I want to compile a list of only veg*n soaps and companies. For my purposes, this includes companies that do not perform animal testing. So, my criteria includes:

• no animal ingredients,
• no animal testing, and
• natural ingredients.

I include vegetarian here simply for one single inclusion - one company in my list makes a lip balm with beeswax that I've been told is collected in a sustainable and compassionate way as to not cause any harm to the bees. All else should be vegan which means lanolin is out, any tallow of course is out, and so on. I am not looking for companies that make a single or even a set of products that are vegan. They all should be.

There are often questions about items like stearic acid, glycerine, etc. These are not always animal derived nor are they always plant-derived. My list should contain only plant-derived, natural where possible, ingredients. Again, the companies on this list should not offer for sale any other products that are animal-derived.
Here are 2 sources that help define some of the ingredients as well as answer some of your questions:

1. http://www.vrg.org/nutshell/faqingredients.htm
2. http://www.vrg.org/nutshell/faqingredients.htm.

I'm really hoping this list stays focused on the list. I'd be happy to answer questions separate from this thread about the what's or why's I will or will not use something but that's gone over many, many times in the threads here. I'd like to create something concise, if at all possible, where folks who are interested in this can find it easily. I will compile this list with URLs, source of confirmation that the product is vegan (except as noted above,) and other relevant information. I will start with some of the companies I believe fit into the criteria and would be very grateful for additions or corrections, especially from our international friends. For anyone interested, at some point in the future, I will be more than happy to share what I've collected. I also welcome corrections to my information/list.
So, here we go....

1. Soap Commander (source: message exchange with owner on Facebook)
2. Los Angeles Shaving Soap Company (source: company website)
3. Mama Bear's Soaps (source: company website)
4. Proraso (source: company website)
5. Dr. Jon's Handcrafted Soap Company (source: PM exchange with owner)
6. Elvado for Men (source: vegan.com)
7. Jack Black (source: company website)
8. Herban Cowboy (source: company website)
9. <your veg*n product/company suggestion here>.

Thanks for your help!

updated list:

1. Soap Commander (source: message exchange with owner on Facebook)
2. Los Angeles Shaving Soap Company (source: company website)
3. Mama Bear's Soaps (source: company website)
4. Proraso (source: company website)
5. Dr. Jon's Handcrafted Soap Company (source: PM exchange with owner)
6. Elvado for Men (source: vegan.com)
7. Jack Black (source: company website)
8. Herban Cowboy (source: company website)
9. Pacific Shaving Company (source: company website)
10. <your veg*n product/company suggestion here>.

This will be a great list, and may even deserve a page on the Wiki. I'd love to see list of companies that make veg*n appropriate brushes as well (you'll have to decide if horsehair could count as the horse isn't killed for the hair).

Dr. Bronner's Magic Soaps might be eligible for inclusion. They do make a line of lip balm with fair trade beeswax from Zambia, but I'm not sure how the wax is collected. Other than the beeswax lip balm, everything else appears to be vegan and my understanding is that they do no animal testing.

Grandpa's Soaps- I've heard rumors that you can shave with the pine tar soap. Their products appear to vegan, but you might want to ask about animal testing.

The Body Shop - makes the highly regarded Maca Root Cream and even sells a vegan shave brush. However, I believe their lip balm products contain beeswax.

Camamu Soap (camamusoap.com) - is close but fails the 100% vegan test because they put goat's milk and honey in a few soaps

Kiss My Face - fails because they use beeswax, honey, and milk-derived lactic acid in a few products

Great reply! Thank you. I frankly didn't know that about KMF and am disappointed. I will investigate the Grandpa's and Camamu (both new to me) and you are right about Dr. Bronner's and The Body Shop, I just forgot them.

As for brushes, that is absolutely on my list to tackle. I've already started that list but each of these requires organization that is somewhat behind me so I have to focus on one of the time. Hey was that a frisbee that just went by? The horsehair a fitting is still up in the air as I've heard that the animals are not formed but I have not actually seen anything conclusive. I need to be pretty well convinced before I would make that call. Thanks again for the great information.

I don't have time to track down the specifics on the ingredients and sourcing for each of the following soaps, but perhaps some enterprising member has already done it or is willing to:

1. Martin de Candre
2. Institut Karite
3. Pre de Provence
4. Provence Sante
5. Le Pere Lucièn
6. L'Occitane Cade

The French soaps have opted for non-tallow formulations, and are all top performers.

@whodunit68
One project at a time makes sense. I'm happy to help with this. It is the sort of thing I enjoy researching, and I have some hardcore vegan friends at my disposal to ask about the specifics of certain ingredients. I have a decent ability to write and read French, so I'll start tackling the French soaps tonight.

Do you want feedback on the products or just a list?

@ciderguy, that's awesome! Thanks for your willingness to help. In fact, that reminds me. I just got back from Brazil (I used to live there and unfortunately my fiancé is still there) where I got a gift of Natura Shave soap. I did a little preliminary research and didn't find much but that adds to the list. It's much more fun/interesting to have a project like this in a team so I'm thrilled to have the help. I'll drop you a note with any findings. Thank you!

L'Occitane has some good chance and I will check that out. MdC I already believe is a no as well as some of the others but I guess I'll check out the ones that aren't French since we have our friend Mr. Ciderguy helping us out with those!

Jarick said:

Do you want feedback on the products or just a list?

Click to expand...

thanks for asking, Jarick. I'm going to start with the list. Once I compile the best list I feel like we can compile to start with, of course I'll look for feedback. Thank you for offering!

Can someone define vegan for me in the context of this thread? For example beeswax is OK but lanolin is not?
Both are harvested without hurting the animal at all?
Also why the Veg*n?

hi Jim, most of this is answered in the first post and I didn't want this thread to be hung up in discussion on this topic so I'd prefer those questions go to either another thread or privately as I'd like to keep this as clean as possible. I will respond to you privately on the rest.

whodunit68 said:

hi Jim, most of this is answered in the first post and I didn't want this thread to be hung up in discussion on this topic so I'd prefer those questions go to either another thread or privately as I'd like to keep this as clean as possible. I will respond to you privately on the rest.

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I am also curious about Jim's questions.

I got your PM and I replied. your first post left me confused so I am asking anyone to define it so we can"keep it clean" Also in effect we are only going to list companies that use no animal products or testing at all, in any product... Correct?

At first glance, when this is listed in the sub-forum I thought it was about adding "The Veg" to unscented soaps, thus giving them a nice fragrance.

Jim said:

I got your PM and I replied. your first post left me confused so I am asking anyone to define it so we can"keep it clean" Also in effect we are only going to list companies that use no animal products or testing at all, in any product... Correct?

Click to expand...

That is what I am hoping to do, yes. Sorry if there was any confusion as I certainly have no intent to create confusion. As in my reply, I will respond to it tonight when I get home and do my best to answer your questions fully. Thanks again for your assistance.

@ciderguy, with regards to Kiss My Face, I contacted them and got this reply:
"Hellos,Thank you for contacting us at KMF. There is no lactic acid in our products. The only non-vegan products that we have are from honey and beeswax. All of the beeswax we use is organic and as such follows the strict protocols for organic certification. At the very end of the ingredient list itself is &#8220;*organic&#8221; to define the &#8220;*&#8221;. Please let us know if we can further assist you."

For the lactic acid, that's good news. With regards to the beeswax, I will investigate further as organic to me doesn't necessarily imply cruelty free.
Steve

I believe wholly kaw soaps are all vegan, and they are amazing.

Shoolie said:

I believe wholly kaw soaps are all vegan, and they are amazing.

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Thanks, Shoolie, great add. according to their web site all vegan and no animal testing.

I don't believe Proraso fits your criteria for natural ingredients. Here's the ingredient list for the White soap: Aqua (water), Stearic Acid, Cocos nucifera (Coconut) Oil, Potassium Hydroxide, Glycerin, Sodium Hydroxide, Lactic Acid, Parfum (fragrance), Menthol, Tocopheryl Acetate, Sodium Lauroyl Sarcosinate, Hydroxyethylcellulose, Sodium Hydroxymethylgycinate, Hexyl Cinnamal, Geraniol, Citral Limonene, Linalool, Pentaerythrityl Tetra-di-t-butyl Hydroxyhydrocinnamate, Thymus vulgaris (Thyme) Flower/Leaf Extract, Etidronic Acid, Tetrasodium EDTA.

Ginger'sGarden.com Amerikesh vegan soap

Ingredients: Coconut oil, Stearic Acid, Sodium Hydroxide, Potassium Hydroxide, Glycerin, Essential Oil Blend, fragrance.