Vegan Personal Products

This section is a listings directory by type of cruelty-free products for vegans in South Africa. It will help you choose personal care brands that are animal-friendly and explain where you can buy them. We also have some useful tips for persuading your local store to begin stocking these products.

Key: ICSCA - product appear on the International Corporate Standard of Compassion for Animals. It is uncertain and not verified that the product contains no animal products.

Personal     Household      Tips      Listings Criteria

Antiperspirant/deodorant    Bathing/shower    Cosmetic    Fragrance   Hair products    Lip balm    Shaving    Skin care    Soap    Sun protection    Toothpaste

Select a personal care product option from the list above or select the 'Household' tab to review our household products.

Listings Criteria for Personal Products

In this section we list out toiletries, cosmetics, healthy and beauty, and other personal products that are suitable for vegans and are available in South Africa. Our dual purpose is to promote animal-friendly, or cruelty-free, businesses whilst also providing a useful guide for South African vegans searching for suitable personal care items. Our listings service is free of charge.

The listings and criteria in this section are kindly provided by Beauty Without Cruelty, who investigate the humane status of manufacturers and their products.

To qualify for a listing on our site as a animal-friendly personal product, products and the substances contained therein:

• Must not have been tested on animals, since January 1990; and
• Must not contain any animal products; and

Furthermore, in relation to the personal product manufacturer and parent company:

• Written assurance must be given by the company wishing to be listed, as well as its own subsidiary companies, its parent company/ies and other subsidiary companies of the parent company/ies, that it has not commissioned any form of live animal testing on individual ingredients, or on any of their finished produce since January 1990; and
• Written assurances must also be given that substances which are contained in the product have also not been so tested by the substances supply company/ies since January 1990.

If your business produces animal-friendly personal products and you would like to be listed here, we'll gladly reward you with a free listing. Please contact us now to get your vegan-friendly business listed and help promote veganism and bring an end to animal cruelty in South Africa.

Helpful Hints for Asking your Store to Stock Cruelty-free Produce

If you can't find these products in your own local area we recommend that you approach your local supermarket/shop to ask them if they'll be willing to stock the product.

Here we provide step-by-step instructions on how best to approach the store manager/supermarket stockist, what issues to/not to mention, what details to provide of the brand, and how to overcome difficulties.

1. Find out the name of the manager or the main buyer for that section of the store/shop.
2. Go to see that person and arrange a meeting at a time that suits him/her.
3. Be charming, earnest and constructive throughout the meeting.
4. At the meeting, explain how happy you are shopping at the store, mention a few good points about the store, e.g. staff courtesy, efficiency, cleanliness, good stock.
5. Then mention that you are a vegan. Explain what a vegan, is and how being vegan can be quite difficult in South Africa.
6. Mention certain products or foodstuffs in the store that are vegan or cruelty-free, and how much you appreciate them being stocked.
7. Ask if the manager would be prepared to order more cruelty-free products in South Africa if you gave him a list of suppliers/producers with their contact details.
8. Mention that not just vegans, but also vegetarians would be interested.
9. Inform the manager that the VeganSA.com website may list the store as vegan-friendly and an ideal place to buy cruelty-free vegan products. This is a free-of-charge promotional opportunity and can only help the store with more sales.
10. Ask if he/she knows of any other cruelty-free vegan product brands that the shop does not stock due to perceived lack of interest. Please forward this information to Vegan SA so that we can add these brands to this section.
11. Thank the manager for his/her patience, understanding and support and assure him/her that you're looking forward even more to shopping there with your friends or family in future.
12. Now repeat this process with any other stores that you wish to approach.
13. Conduct a follow-up with the manager/buyer a month later regarding what stock the store now has.
14. If there has been progress then thank him/her for acting on your conversation. If there has not been any progress then ask why and if there is anything that you can do to change the situation. Contact Vegan SA if you need any assistance in handling any specific issues.
15. Report back to the manager/buyer on various cruelty-free vegan product brands, and say what you like about them.
16. Keep a list of all the stores that are vegan-friendly, and blacklist those that are not, and submit your report to Vegan SA, together with each store's contact details and any further suggestions.