Sephora is one of the most popular online stores for buying skin care. And for a reason – it simply has an extensive selection. Luckily for vegans, Sephora also has a very large selection of vegan skincare brands or companies that offer vegan skincare products.
You can find 100% vegan skincare brands at Sephora such as Biossance, The Ordinary, and Youth To The People. However, it can be tricky to get to 100% vegan products at Sephora. So, in order to find vegan products quickly, we have come up with a list of the best vegan skincare companies and brands that offer high-quality vegan skincare products in Sephora.
How To Find Vegan Skincare Brands at Sephora?
Vegan Skincare Brands At Sephora
Best Vegan Skincare Brands At Sephora
Best Vegan Skincare Products At Sephora
Vegan Skincare At Sephora
Although Sephora has developed its selection system with detailed options and filters, they can sometimes lie. For instance, you can find cruelty-free products rather easily. On the other hand, you have to work harder to find 100% vegan skincare products.
Some brands that come up in Sephora after applying the vegan filter are not in fact 100% vegan-friendly because they test on animals. By definition, vegan skincare is free from animal-based components and should not be tested on animals.
In addition, the cruelty-free filter does not help on its own either. Some products that are marked cruelty-free are not vegan. Because cruelty-free and vegan skincare is not the same.
Cruelty-free means that the product has not been tested on animals. Vegan means that the product has not been tested on animals and does not contain any animal ingredients. Read more about the differences between cruelty-free and vegan skincare here.
Many brands that would not otherwise test their products or ingredients on animals want to sell in China. As animal testing in China is required by law, many skincare companies should not be categorized as vegan, since they test on animals in order to sell in China.
It is important to mention, that a lot of retailers still use a limited vegan definition. As does Sephora. Their “vegan” refers to ingredients, leaving out the aspect of animal testing. A more comprehensive vegan definition, however, means no animal exploitation at all, including refraining from animal testing.
How To Find Vegan Skincare Brands At Sephora?
To find 100% vegan skincare products at Sephora, type in your keyword and go to the filter bar on the left side of the website. Under ingredient preferences, tick in both, vegan and cruelty-free boxes. See an example in the video below.
Also, every time you start a new search, you have to re-enter the filters. For example, if you already found the desired vegan moisturizer and want to move on to a cleanser, you have to reapply both of the filters.
Sephora has also come out with a separate Vegan Skincare Page that can be clicked on from the black menu bar at the top of the page. There you can spot familiar vegan brands like The Ordinary or Youth To The people. However, you can also notice brands that are not cruelty-free or vegan. For example, Caudalie, Algenist, or Nécessaire.
As of November 2022, Sephora’s vegan skincare subpage has listed nearly 800 ‘vegan’ products. If you add cruelty-free and vegan filters to this page, the number decreases to 200. See an example in the video below.
So, unfortunately, Sephora’s vegan filter (read more about it here) or vegan skincare page cannot be fully trusted on their own. In addition, it does not really help to type in and add the term ‘vegan’ to your desired search either.
But as Sephora actually does have a wide variety of vegan skincare, it is still a good place to shop. So if you are shopping at Sephora, choose both keywords from the list on the left side of the webpage – vegan and cruelty-free.
Vegan Skincare Brands At Sephora
Although Sephora has a large selection of vegan and cruelty-free products, not all brands are 100% vegan-friendly. In this alphabetical list, you can find all 100% vegan skincare brands in Sephora.
- alpyn beauty
- Biossance
- Flora + Bast
- Freck Beauty
- GXVE Beauty
- Herbivore
- Isle of Paradise
- Kopari
- Milk Makeup
- Summer Fridays
- The Ordinary
- Youth To The People
The 4 Best Vegan Skincare Brands At Sephora
Below you can find our recommendations and the skincare community’s favorite vegan brands that are represented in Sephora. By buying from these brands, you can be sure that the product is always vegan.
1. Youth To The People
Created in 2015, the vegan skincare brand creates skincare by mixing superfoods. The company is certified cruelty-free, clean, and made in the USA. To a very large extent, YTTP uses glass packaging and also supports many non-profit organizations.
Shop Youth To The People At Sephora
2. Biossance
Created in California, the vegan skincare brand is female-owned and produces clean and natural vegan skincare products. Biossance has listed over 2,000 toxic ingredients and stays clear of them. The brand also sources its materials sustainably and uses a lot of plant-based squalene in its products.
3. The Ordinary
The Ordinary is a vegan skincare company with a transparent policy that creates effective products based on active ingredients. It is an affordable vegan skincare brand that is certified cruelty-free and mostly come in glass packaging.
4. Herbivore
Herbivore makes vegan skincare products from natural ingredients. The brand is certified vegan and you can even find organic options from the product list. Herbivore skincare is made in the USA and mostly comes in glass packaging.
The Best Vegan Skincare Products At Sephora
We have listed the best vegan skincare products that Sephora has to offer. Down below you can also find a specification behind each product whether the brand is 100% vegan or if it is a non-vegan brand offering vegan options.
The Best Vegan Moisturizers At Sephora
- Milk Makeup Vegan Milk Moisturizer For Dry Skin – VEGAN BRAND
- The Ordinary Natural Moisturizing Factors For Oily Skin – VEGAN BRAND
- Youth To The People Superfood Anti-Aging Moisturizer – VEGAN BRAND
- First Aid Beauty Intense Moisturizer For Dry Skin – the brand is not 100% vegan
- Skinfix Barrier+ Triple Lipid-Peptide Face Cream – the brand is not 100% vegan
- Drunk Elephant Protini™ Firming Moisturizer – the brand is not 100% vegan
The Best Vegan Cleansers At Sephora
- Youth To The People Superfood Antioxidant Cleanser – VEGAN BRAND
- Biossance Squalane + Amino Aloe Gentle Cleanser – VEGAN BRAND
- Drunk Elephant Beste™ No. 9 Jelly Cleanser – the brand is not 100% vegan
- Farmacy Green Clean Cleansing Balm – the brand is not 100% vegan
The Best Vegan Eye Creams At Sephora
- Biossance Squalane + Marine Algae Eye Cream – VEGAN BRAND
- Skinfix Barrier+ Brightening Eye Cream – the brand is NOT 100% vegan
The Best Vegan Face Oils At Sephora
- Youth To The People Superberry Hydrate + Glow Dream Oil – VEGAN BRAND
- Sunday Riley Luna Sleeping Retinoid Night Oil – the brand is NOT 100% vegan
The Best Vegan Serums At Sephora
- The Ordinary Hyaluronic Acid 2% + B5 Hydrating Serum – VEGAN BRAND
- The Ordinary Niacinamide 10% + Zinc 1% Oil Control Serum – VEGAN BRAND
- Drunk Elephant T.L.C. Framboos™ Glycolic Resurfacing Night Serum – the brand is NOT 100% vegan
The Best Vegan Toners At Sephora
- Glow Recipe Watermelon Glow PHA + BHA Pore-Tight Toner – the brand is NOT 100% vegan
- The INKEY List Polyhydroxy Acid (PHA) Gentle Exfoliating Toner – the brand is NOT 100% vegan
The Best Vegan Sunscreens At Sephora
- Biossance Squalane + Zinc Sheer Mineral Sunscreen SPF 30 PA +++ – VEGAN BRAND
- Supergoop! Superscreen Daily Moisturizer Sunscreen SPF 40 PA+++ – the brand is NOT 100% vegan
The Best Vegan Exfoliators At Sephora
- Biossance Squalane + Glycolic Renewal Mask – VEGAN BRAND
- tarte SEA FRXXXTION Stick Exfoliating Cleanser – the brand is NOT 100% vegan
FAQ About Vegan Skincare Brands In Sephora
The best vegan brands at Sephora are Youth To The People, Herbivore, The Ordinary, Skyn Iceland, Biossance, and many others.
No. Sephora Collection is not vegan and cruelty-free.
No. Sephora also carries non-vegan products. But you can still find a long list of vegan brands represented in Sephora. To find vegan products on Sephora, add ‘vegan’ and ‘cruelty-free’ filters to your search.
No. You cannot trust Sephora’s vegan filter by itself. To find 100% vegan products on Sephora, you always have to add both, vegan and cruelty-free filters to your search.
Summary
Sephora offers a wide selection of high-quality and community-approved skincare. Among them, you can also find many vegan and cruelty-free skincare options. However, the vegan filter on this website is not 100% reliable.
To find skincare products that meet the definition of 100% vegan, always apply both keywords ‘vegan’ and ‘cruelty-free’ as filters under the ingredient preferences. That way, the list of products includes reliable vegan brands such as Biossance, The Ordinary, Youth To The People, alpyn beauty, Herbivore, and many others.
See also: where to buy vegan skincare