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Cruelty-Free Beauty Brands Accelerate as Vegan Cosmetics Market Heats Up

The global pivot toward ethical cosmetics is intensifying as vegan and cruelty-free beauty brands—from Indian upstart Plum to U.S. drugstore staple Wet n Wild and celebrity-backed Haus Laboratories—gain market share, social visibility, and certification clout in a fast-expanding vegan cosmetics market projected to grow through 2026, according to recent industry reports and advocacy group data.

Plum and Wet n Wild Emerge as PETA-Certified Power Players

India-based Plum has been named one of the “10 leading companies” in the cruelty-free cosmetics market, with analysts citing its fully vegan positioning and PETA certification as key differentiators in a crowded global landscape, Kings Research reported in its latest roundup of ethical brands.¹

Headquartered in India, Plum offers skincare, haircare, and color products, including its Green Tea Face Wash, Chamomile & White Tea Sunscreen, and liquid lipsticks. The company emphasizes transparency in ingredient sourcing and labeling, which Kings Research identified as increasingly central to consumer decision-making in conscious beauty.¹

Meanwhile, long-time U.S. drugstore brand Wet n Wild continues to leverage its mass reach and price accessibility while pushing further into the vegan category. The brand is PETA-certified cruelty-free with a “large and growing” roster of vegan formulas, though it has not yet transitioned its full assortment to vegan status, according to a 2026 brand ranking by Live Tinted.²

The combination of legacy recognition and updated ethical positioning appears to be placing Wet n Wild in a strategic middle ground—bridging mainstream shoppers and ingredient-conscious consumers with “on-trend, high performance products at an ultra affordable price point,” Live Tinted noted.²

Vegan Cosmetics Market Tightens Competitive Field

The shift is unfolding against a rapidly evolving competitive backdrop. A recent vegan cosmetics market analysis from InsightAce Analytic lists Zuzu Luxe, Ecco Bella, Urban Decay, Arbonne, Pacifica, Beauty Without Cruelty, Billy Jealousy, and MuLondon Organic among key global players, with “others” signaling a growing long tail of niche brands vying for share.³

Analysts describe a landscape in which clean, plant-based formulations and third-party certifications are no longer niche additions but core value propositions. The report positions vegan beauty as a key growth vector within the wider cosmetics sector through at least 2026, driven by consumer interest in animal welfare, ingredient transparency, and environmental impact.³

Certifications Become Cultural Currency

Verification logos are emerging as cultural signifiers as much as regulatory shorthand. PETA’s Global Beauty Without Bunnies program and the Leaping Bunny scheme have become some of the most recognized marks on shelves and social feeds, aggregating brands that pledge to avoid animal testing across their supply chains.⁴

PETA’s searchable cruelty-free database allows consumers to verify whether companies test on animals or offer fully vegan lines, positioning the organization as a de facto compliance and discovery engine for ethical shoppers.⁵ PETA also highlights that purchasing from vegan brands “that don’t test on animals” signals demand and can pressure additional players toward all-vegan portfolios, according to its guidance on cruelty-free and vegan makeup.⁶

Rhode, Hailey Bieber’s skincare label, exemplifies how these third-party seals function as cultural capital in celebrity beauty, carrying both Leaping Bunny and PETA certifications for its vegan and cruelty-free status, The Independent reported in a 2025 overview of leading ethical skincare brands.⁷

Celebrity Beauty Brands Double Down on Vegan and Cruelty-Free

Celebrity-led beauty continues to lean into cruelty-free positioning as a baseline rather than a differentiator. Lady Gaga’s Haus Laboratories, launched in 2019, entered the market as a fully vegan and cruelty-free label, aligning the brand’s identity with the artist’s longstanding message that “beauty is about creativity and self-acceptance,” according to coverage by Livekindly.⁸

Hollywood professionals are echoing that momentum behind the scenes. A Los Angeles–based makeup artist writing for Be Kind & Co. noted that she has “incorporated more of these [vegan, cruelty-free] products” into her on-set kit in recent years, citing the growing availability of budget-friendly options like Milano at CVS, alongside higher-end cruelty-free favorites.⁹

Influencers and artists are effectively functioning as gatekeepers of ethical credentials in the celebrity–beauty ecosystem, blending performance-driven requirements with on-camera narratives of “choosing kindness over cruelty,” as the artist described it.⁹

On social platforms, cruelty-free credentials have turned into shareable shorthand for values-led consumption. Dash Social’s analysis of top-performing vegan beauty brands points to the visibility of PETA’s Global Beauty Without Bunnies logo and Leaping Bunny’s iconography as powerful tools for audience trust and quick consumer recognition.⁴

Influencer data from Influencer Hero shows a dedicated tier of creators specializing in cruelty-free and vegan content. Flowerkist (@flowerkist), described as “Beauty on a Broad Spectrum™” and positioned as a luxury, plant-infused skincare and cosmetics voice, has built an audience of roughly 49,000 followers with exclusively vegan and cruelty-free messaging, according to the firm’s top-20 U.S. cruelty-free beauty influencer list.¹⁰

This ecosystem of creators is shaping product discovery, steering audiences toward specific brands and certifications, and helping turn niche labels into mainstream talking points.

Legacy Brands Reformulate as Ethics Go Mainstream

Traditional brands are not exempt from the pressure. Allure’s review of “beauty brands you probably didn’t know were cruelty-free” highlights how some established labels have undertaken full-scale reformulations to remove ingredients such as beeswax, lanolin, and carmine from their products. One brand re-evaluated its obligations in 2017 and pledged to reformulate its entire collection to remove animal-derived ingredients while maintaining “complexion-perfecting” performance, the magazine reported.¹¹

In the U.S. natural and organic segment, Derma E’s trajectory illustrates how long-standing brands are rebranding around ethics and impact. Founded in 1984 with a single vitamin E cream in a California health food store, Derma E now markets itself as a clean, vegan, and cruelty-free brand, while also centering philanthropic initiatives, according to Coco Eco Magazine’s feature on beauty brands that give back.¹²

Trade Shows and Awards Elevate Ethical Innovation

Industry events are reinforcing the pivot to clean and ethical formulations. London’s Natural & Organic Beauty Expo explicitly welcomes exhibitors that are “natural, organic, vegan, or cruelty-free,” along with sustainable packaging and ingredient suppliers, positioning ethical criteria at the heart of professional networking and B2B discovery.¹³

In the U.S., Cosmoprof North America’s Discover Green program promotes brands that emphasize cleaner formulations and eco-conscious positioning—including nail brands spotlighting “21-FREE” polish formulas that avoid 21 common harsh chemicals and are designed to let “water and oxygen permeate through” to keep nails hydrated, the trade show’s materials note.¹⁴

At the ingredient level, innovation is also being rewarded. Cosmetics & Toiletries’ C&T Allēs awards shortlisted The Ordinary’s Sulfur 10% Powder to Cream Concentrate as a notable active, citing its stable, travel-friendly powder-to-cream format as a “ground-breaking approach” to acne care that addresses the instability and bulk of traditional liquid sulfur products.¹⁵ While not marketed strictly as a vegan flagship in the coverage, such innovation-focused recognition intersects with consumer expectations around efficacy, safety, and often, cleaner ingredient strategies.

Consumer Culture Shifts Toward Ethics and Efficacy

Advocacy organizations are underscoring the cultural consequences of these shifts. PETA argues that supporting brands with vegan and cruelty-free practices “helps animals” and signals to the market that there is “a demand for these types of products,” potentially nudging more companies into the all-vegan category over time.⁶

Independent rankings of the “best vegan and cruelty-free skincare brands” and “best cruelty-free makeup brands,” along with curated editorials on organic and natural skincare, reveal a consumer culture increasingly defined by alignments between ethics, aesthetics, and performance.⁷¹⁶¹⁷

Drugstore leaders like Wet n Wild, globally expanding brands such as Plum, celebrity-driven lines like Haus Laboratories, and long-running clean brands including Derma E now coexist as part of a broader, values-charged beauty economy—where logos, labels, and social validation have become as influential as shade ranges and texture.

References & Links

Kings Research, “Cruelty-Free Cosmetics Market: 10 Leading Companies to Know.” ↩ ↩²
Live Tinted, “19 Best Vegan Makeup Brands for 2026 (Clean & Cruelty-Free).” ↩ ↩²
InsightAce Analytic, “Global Vegan Cosmetics Market – Latest Trends Analysis Report 2026.” ↩ ↩²
Dash Social, “Top Performing Vegan Beauty Brands on Social.” ↩ ↩²
PETA, “Search for Cruelty-Free Companies, Products, and More.” ↩
PETA, “Vegan Makeup Products From Cruelty-Free Brands.” ↩ ↩²
The Independent, “Best Vegan and Cruelty-Free Skincare Brands in 2025.” ↩ ↩²
Livekindly, “How Many Celebrities Have Beauty Brands Now?” ↩
Be Kind & Co., “A Hollywood Makeup Artist Shares Her Favorite Vegan Cruelty-Free Makeup Products.” ↩ ↩²
Influencer Hero, “Top 20 Cruelty-Free Beauty Influencers in the US.” ↩
Allure, “33 Beauty Brands You Probably Didn’t Know Were Cruelty-Free.” ↩
Coco Eco Magazine, “Beauty Brands That Give Back.” ↩
Natural & Organic Beauty Expo, exhibitor FAQ. ↩
Cosmoprof North America, “Discover Green” program details. ↩
Cosmetics & Toiletries, “Which Cosmetic Actives Will Triumph in This Year’s C&T Allēs?” ↩
Axiology Beauty, “Best Cruelty-Free Makeup Brands Redefining Beauty in 2025.” ↩
The Good Trade, “11 Best Organic Skincare Brands for 2026.” ↩