A Spotlight on Vegan Companies and Businesses
throughout the United States and a few beyond - updated May 2006
by M. 'Butterflies' Katz
co-author of Incredibly Delicious; Recipes for a New Paradigm
by Gentle World www.gentleworld.org
| International Vegetarian Union (IVU) | |
|
|
|
A Spotlight on Vegan Companies and Businesses throughout the United States and a few beyond - updated May 2006 by M. 'Butterflies' Katz co-author of Incredibly Delicious; Recipes for a New Paradigm by Gentle World www.gentleworld.org |
|
|
|
|
Vegan Cosmetics and Toiletries companies based in the USA: Auroma International, Inc. markets ONLY vegan products. The owner and his wife are vegetarians for 36 years, but not 100% vegan. The staff is not vegan. The company has been in business since 1980 and they offer 2 varieties of Chandrika Ayurvedic Soap, Herbal Vedic Ayurvedic products including; toothpaste, soaps, clay skin cleanser, pain balm, and amber resin, as well as a wide assortment of incense in many fragrances. Santosh Krinsky started the company due to his connection to the project of Auroville, a new city of human unity being built in S. India. Auroshikha was located there and needed representation in the USA. Since that time, the company has expanded its offerings to provide 100% vegetable and herbal based personal care products. In 1970, Santosh became a vegetarian, which he has been for his entire adult life. At that time, he included milk, butter and cheese in the diet (no eggs) and basically has maintained that diet for 36 years, except that he has switched to soy milk and dramatically reduced butter and cheese from the diet. While not 100% vegan diet, Santosh has a clear understanding and support for the vegan diet and lifestyle from personal commitment. He has experienced the difficulties of finding 'clean' products as well as the difficulties of travel with special dietary restrictions for his entire adult life! Today he and his wife Karuna both continue with their vegetarian lifestyle after having raised two vegetarian children! Santosh concludes by telling us, "Our company is run by practitioners of yoga and focuses on products of value to a yoga lifestyle including natural incense from India and vegan personal care products. Auroma International is located
at P.O. Box 1008, Silver Lake, WI. 53170, USA Essential Wholesale (and private label Von Natur) sell only vegan products. The owners and staff are not vegan. The company has been in business for 2 years offering a line of 36 SKUS, all vegan-certified, naturally derived, containing organic ingredients, and are aromatherapy based. Their products are for facial skin care and most are unisex. They also have a body & bath line. "Von Natur isn't currently known as being Vegan Certified, so we're needing to get the word out there. It's surprising how many vegans don't realize what ingredients are animal byproducts!" says Laura Craig, Von Natur representative. The CEO isn't a vegan, but she is a cosmetic formulator and registered and certified aroma therapist. She actually has another company, Essential Wholesale, that makes private label products for other businesses, and one day she decided she wanted her own private label. Thus the birth of von Natur (which means 'from nature' in German). She wanted to give our skin the integrity that she felt it deserved, so started a line with no cheap ingredients, no animal byproducts, no fillers, no chemicals, no parabens, no sulfates, and gluten-free. von Natur is a vegan certified and cruelty-free cosmetic line. von Natur never has and never will test on animals. Von Natur, Laura Craig (Sales
Director), 8850 S.E. Herbert Court, Clackamas, OR. 97015. Fresh Body Market sells ONLY vegan products. The company owner is not vegan, however she says she's working on it. None of the staff is vegan. The company has been in business since 2001 offering body butter, milk bath (coconut milk), soap, etc. Delma Hernandez, founder and owner, tells us in her words about her company: "Tired of dry and scaly skin, I decided to 'cook up' my own skin care recipes. I turned to my kitchen and its organic fruits and vegetables. After much trial and error I finally formulated a product that left my skin softer and better nourished than any product used before. Thus, Fresh Body Market was born. Two years later the skin care line has more than thirty different products. While most 'natural' skin care lines use only food extracts which must go through a chemical process, Fresh Body Market uses only real fresh fruit and vegetables (organic when feasible) to provide skin with the most nutrients possible. The benefit of each ingredient is explained on the 'skin nutrition label' which has become the company's trademark. The environmentally-friendly packaging is modeled after food containers to emphasize the freshness of the products. In fact, the products are so fresh that an expiration date is on each label. A true animal lover, I promise that all products are tested on friends and family, not animals. Fresh Body Market is vegan certified by Vegan Action - a trend started in the United Kingdom and quickly sweeping the United States. Located at 2030 Century Center
Blvd., Suite H, Irving, Texas 75062 Greenridge Herbals offer organic hand-crafted skin-care products inspired by nature, such as Chamomile Rose Face Cream, Organic Body Cleaning Gel, Face Petals Cleansing Grains, Secret Skin Serum, Rosewater Glycerine Toner, Baby Bath Tub Petals, Spa Bath Crystals, Organic Massage Oil, Whipped Body Butter, Organic Shea Butter Moisturizing Lotion, Essential Oil Soy Candles, and more! None of the products contain animal products at all; everything they make and sell is completely vegan. Colleen Miller, owner and founder, says: "I am so particular, even resins which have beeswax in them, I won't purchase or use." Colleen and her husband are both vegans. Colleen has been vegan since 1994 and her husband since 1998. The company has been in business since 1999. In her own words, this is how Colleen came to be a vegan: "It was a cold, harsh winter day in Chicago where I was visiting. I just finished having a delicious meal at the first vegetarian restaurant I ever ate at, with my cousin who was vegan. We were driving home and passed a huge semi carrying animals. I asked her what it was and she explained that it was on its way to the slaughterhouse. Well it was about 0 degrees that day, if even that. And these holes were all over the truck so it had to be so cold in there. I was cold in the car, with the heat on! Those animals had to be suffering so much, I couldn't stand it. I vowed never to eat meat ever again. And I haven't. I was vegetarian for about two months, not eating any dairy, but stuff with dairy in it, then after those 2 months switched over completely to vegan. And now the challenge is vegan organic, and making sure I get quality organic ingredients in my food, as well as in my products because what goes on your skin is just as important as what you eat." Green Ridge Herbals is located
at PO Box 411393, Melbourne, FL 32941 Inky Loves Nature sells ONLY vegan products. The owner is a vegan for 18 years. Passionately presenting products to the world, UK native Leesah B, a long time vegan, animal lover and environmentalist launched inky Loves Nature in the summer of 2005. Making indulgent goodies that are exclusively vegan (certified), free from parabens and formaldehyde donors. Consciously crafted using community traded and traditionally extracted butters and oils, biodynamic herbs and plant-based ingredients. The company offers a unique collection of body wash, body scrub, scalp butter, etc.; fair-trade, organic and vegan. Packaged in funky, eco-friendly and recyclable containers. Inky screams out to the culture craving "brown skinned beauty", "the vegan", "the organic head", the conscious consumer with funky-fresh style, or anyone. At 15 she became vegetarian and veganism was just the next step from that, she told us. Inky Loves Nature LLC is located
at P.O. Box 2603, Seacaucus, N.J. 07096 Lamas Beauty founder, Peter Lamas, is one of the most respected make-up and beauty experts in the world. His clients read like a Who's Who of Hollywood; Jackie Onassis, Elizabeth Taylor, Audrey Hepburn, Faye Dunaway, Diana Ross, Sharon Stone, Cindy Crawford and Kate Winslet, to name but a few. Peter has worked on numerous television, video, print and film projects. All Lamas Beauty products including hair care, skin care, and bath and body are certified vegan. Phone: (888) 738-7621 / (877)
604-6521 / Fax: (713) 869-3266 Pallas Athene Soap sells ONLY vegan products. The company owner, Kerri Mixon, is a vegan and has been a vegan for 14 years, since 1992. 100% of company employees are vegan. Pallas Athene Soap has been in business since 2001. Products include 45 types of natural soap and bath salts. All products are manufactured by Pallas Athene Soap; they do not resell other brands. "All products are vegan, are biodegradable, are not tested on animals, and are made without artificial colorants, without chemical preservatives, and without synthetic fragrances" says Kerri Mixon. The decision to sell natural vegan soap as a nonprofit venture to raise funds for donations to charity came after Kerri Mixon, the owner, found there were few vegan, natural soaps (free of artificial ingredients) on the market; all other soaps contained some amount of sodium tallowate (tallow) or lard. Pallas Athene Soap operates as a nonprofit vegan business. Kerri continues, "For each bar of vegan soap sold, Pallas Athene Soap donates a bar of vegan soap to a southern California charity. Pallas Athene Soap has helped the community by donating natural vegan bars of soap to organizations. Their need to purchase animal-based soaps has diminished, because their needs for soap are met by the donation of Pallas Athene Soap's vegan soap. The overall goal of Pallas Athene Soap is to benefit the community and to see the day when no soap in the world is made with animal ingredients--because animal ingredients are not needed in soap! "Pallas Athene Soap's natural vegan soaps won the Natural Soap Council's "Best Handmade Natural Soap" award and completed against other natural soaps that contained animal ingredients, yet our vegan soap won the award over all other soaps--even the competitors' animal-based soaps!" Pallas Athene Soap, PO Box
133, Spring Valley, CA. 91976-0133 Rosa Y Fruta sells ONLY vegan products. The owner was a strict vegan for ten years. When she moved to Vermont she included truly free range organic eggs occasionally in her diet. The company has been in business for two and a half years. All products are vegan and 100% certified organic and there are too many to list, but here is a descriptions of a few of her client's favorites: Ambrosia de Rosa (deluxe rose face and eye cream): 100% certified organic, Ambrosia de Rosa is a creamy and elegant melange of Ruby Rose Berry, White Rose, and Damask Rose lushly whipped together with Creme of African Karite. Ambrosia de Rosa softens, smoothes, tones, replenishes, restores the skin's pH balance, neutralizes free radical formation on the skin, increases elasticity, and keeps skin healthy and lustrous. Nectar (fruit antioxidant face and eye oil): 100% certified organic, Nectar is a sumptuous blend of European Vineyard Grapeseed, Siberian Orange Berry, and Rosemary Resin Antioxidant. Nectar is packed with skin vitamins and antioxidants that nourish and replenish while helping to neutralize free radical formation on the skin. Nectar also has a remarkable ability to tighten and tone the skin lessening fine lines especially on the forehead. Dulce Fresca (fresh candy cane facial mask & scrub powder): 100% certified organic, simple and sassy, Dulce Fresca is invigorating, purifying, toning, and nourishing! Made with refreshing Sweet Peppermint, nourishing Ruby Cranberry, healing Arauta, and soothing Avena, this mask/scrub smells just like a candy cane! It goes on sweet and pink and gently tingles to deep cleanse pores and help clear skin of blemishes. It tones and tightens while bringing health and vitality back to the skin after a long day or as a pick me up in the morning. You can also pour a little in your bath! "I created the Rosa y Fruta collection to give women a healthful alternative to mainstream skin care. Rosa y Fruta is about blending business and politics into something beautiful for all. Rosa y Fruta combines the extraordinary with purity, simplicity, and social responsibility. Vegan products are one way my company is socially and environmentally responsible. "Personally, I do not have a problem with my local organic and free range Vermont farms (it is a far different world than farm factories), however I do not believe it is at all necessary to use animal products in skin care. Many of my clients have requested that I use milk and honey in my line, as both these ingredients are nourishing to the skin, but I have decided not to use these and to let my clients add these from there own kitchen if they wish." explains Elizabeth O'Rourke, creator of Rosa y Fruta Organic Skin Care. "I am no longer a vegan because I do eat local eggs on occasion, but I do not eat poultry, pork, cattle, etc. I was a vegan for ten years for reasons of compassion. I have found recently however, that sometimes my politics of compassion and what my body needs are not the same thing." Located in Newport, Vermont;
Phone: (619) 819-5234 Sappo Hill Soap company sells ONLY vegan products; a creamy vegetable glycerin soap. The owner is not a vegan. Perhaps 20% of the staff consider themselves to be vegan. They have been in business for 34 years, so I guess they make good soap!! Varieties include: Almond, Aloe Vera, Oatmeal, Cucumber, Desert Sage, Jasmine, Lavender, Aloe Oatmeal, Sandalwood, Natural, Gardeners Lemon, etc. The soaps are biodegradable, eco-friendly, use minimal packaging, and use organic oats and cornmeal polenta. Fragrance-free bars available, as well. Sappo Hill is located at 654
Tolman Ck. Rd., Ashland, OR. 97520 |
