Hello everyone,
I am currently vegetarian, and December 2006, I have decided to become full-on vegan. I wanted to ask vegans, or people who know a lot about becoming a vegan just what products you can/can't buy, and certain preferences they might have. I have been researching this stuff for a couple of months, but I still have a lot of questions.
Clothing:
If I'm right, vegans cannot wear-
Wool
Silk
Fur
Leather
Suede (Is there anything I'm missing?)
Does anyone know where I can find cute vegan boots?
Food:
I know about all the secret ingredients that are usually thrown in casually but was wondering if people considered the following grocery store products vegan approved:
Junior Mints
Doritos-Toasted Corn
Cliff Bars
Luna Bars
Fruits & Veggies- I heard that some are not vegan because they are sprayed with some insect thing???
Where to get fake eggs?
Body Care Products:
Is Hilary Duff's stuff really vegan approved like PETA says?
Avon Products- heard the arguements, is mascara and foundation OK?
I am a glitter freak! I currently have this glitterstick thing from Mary-Kate and Ashley and I love it! Sorry to say, it contains beeswax. Where can I find REALLY big chunky silver glitter (in sticks or whatever) that is vegan approved. If anyone has seen Silverchair's "Ana's Song(Open Fire" video, Daniel Johns is wearing the perfect example of the glitter I like, and he's a Vegan!
Any other makeup that can hopefully be found at a store.
Shampoo, Conditioner, Body Wash-
What kind to use is the best?
Is there any good kinds you can find at a local Super market/healthstore?
Burt's Bee's Garden toner- Is it considered Vegan approved? I checked the ingredients and everything seemed to look OK, plus they don't test on animals.
Vegan lotions- never heard of a brand that carries them. Anyone know?
What about floss?
Soaps,Detergents,etc:
Is there any Laundry Detergent that isn't Vegan?
What about Downy?
Spray and Wash?
Dawn Soap?
Does anyone know where to get regular handwash Vegan soap?
What about like the Purel hand sanitizer-I'm gonna need one for public bathrooms?
Other weird questions I'm afraid to ask:
What about Mattresses? Don't most of them contain feathers, or is it foam?
Tips on what to do when your at a friends for dinner.
I heard about some vegan buying this special paper- is regular paper harming/exploiting animals?
Thanks for any tips, comments, and sorry if this is too much. I've been trying to read around at other posts, I just got very anxious! Once again, thanks for the help!

If I'm right, vegans cannot wear-
Wool
Silk
Fur
Leather
Suede (Is there anything I'm missing?)

Correct, however a lot of Vegans "use it up" or donate old items.

Does anyone know where I can find cute vegan boots?
Depends, high cut, low cut, high hell, square heel? Payless has several as well as several online shopping sites such as veganessentials.com, mooshoes, etc.
Food:
I know about all the secret ingredients that are usually thrown in casually but was wondering if people considered the following grocery store products vegan approved:
Junior Mints -?
Doritos-Toasted Corn -?
Cliff Bars -yes
Luna Bars -yes
Fruits & Veggies- I heard that some are not vegan because they are sprayed with some insect thing??? - organic is best but buy what you can afford
Where to get fake eggs? -use Ener-G egg replacer for baking and find a good recipe for a tofu scramble for scrambled eggs.
Any other makeup that can hopefully be found at a store.
Shampoo, Conditioner, Body Wash- I like soy from Bath & Body Works
What kind to use is the best?
Is there any Laundry Detergent that isn't Vegan? -yes tested on animals
What about Mattresses? Don't most of them contain feathers, or is it foam? most are foam, but check
Tips on what to do when your at a friends for dinner. inform them ahead of time and you may want to eat before you leave or volunteer to bring a dish
Good Luck!

My first comment is good for you!
Instead of saying you want to finish in december 2006 set smaller goals. It's hard to do it all at once, so phase out one thing at a time. One month take out butter, next take out eggs, etc. You asked where to get fake eggs. It depends on what you're using them for. If you want scrambled eggs, you can use tofu (there are recipes for it on this website). If you need a replacement for baking with, use nothing! I've been a vegan for 3 years and I found that eggs just aren't necessary.
I know I'm not objective, but my mom has some great vegetarian/vegan cookbooks. Her name's Nava Atlas, this is her website: http://www.vegkitchen.com/
Lastly, I know you said you know about hidden products, but did you know that apple juice (non-organic) is purified with gelatin?

Congrats on the desire to go vegan, what animal foods do you still eat? That'd be the place to start, I'd think, eliminate that stuff, usually the toughest part for people, and the rest shouldn't be too hard.

but did you know that apple juice (non-organic) is purified with gelatin?

All non-organic apple juice is clarified with gelatin? :eek: Do you have any sources so I can read up on this?

\/\/007! Good for you! and Congrats on going vegan! ^_^. well my advice for vegan no-no's would be to go to peta.com and download their animal ingredients list (like peta or not, this list is very informative and has alternative and a little paragraph explaing what the ingredient in question is and whats it made of ect)

as far as cute vegan boots, that would depend on your style. however, sorry to say it again but peta.com and peta2.com has loads of vegan shoe lovers links. Being the shoe whore that i am, i love these sites:
http://www.snaz75.com/
http://www.mooshoes.com/aff.cgi?rm=dl&aid=12345
http://www.petamall.com/shoe.asp
http://www.clubpam.com/store/store.asp?OpenA=1221&nProductTypeID=1221
http://www.ethicalwares.com/
http://www.alternativeoutfitters.com/

vegan beauty: http://www.veganbeauty.myarbonne.com
lipbalms!! http://www.pussypuckerpots.com/
http://www.animalsavingsclub.com/company_townley.asp
http://www.store.yahoo.com/yhst-48641225173758/mabrmishet.html

test free: http://www.caringconsumer.com/page/CompaniesDoDont.doc
hiden animal parts:
http://www.caringconsumer.com/ingredientslist.asp

all your vegan online shoping needs:
http://www.veganessentials.com/
http://www.veganline.com/


also i'd check out vegweb.com, vegan.org, vegan.com ect ect

also check out the cheap vegan! its a zine by stephanie on how to live vegan and live cheap its amazing! also how it all vegan and the garden of vegan are two great books by sarah and tanya good luck! and feel free to pm me for anything you need, you could also e-mail me or add me to your msn, i'd be glad to help out in anyway way you need. or if you want more links just ask me later when i have more time ;). Much love and best wishes. -B.A.D. :bobo: :nana: :vebo:

but did you know that apple juice (non-organic) is purified with gelatin?

I know it's a fairly common practice...but are you saying that organic apple juice is never filtered with gelatin? (I hope so!) I'd like to see sources, too.

Wow! Thanks a lot. All the websites are great! Some of them I had already had bookmarked! OK, I just wanted to tell everyone how my whole "vegetarian" thing started, kind of like my testimony. Alright, 2 years ago, a friend and I decided to go vegetarian for 3 months (1/4 of a year) and the year after that I made it 1/2 of a year. This year it is 3/4 of a year. Unfortunately, in this year and the last, I allowed myself to eat fish sometimes, only because my mother was concerned of the ammount of protein I was getting, and was worried that I was going to become anemic. Fortunately, as soon as a realized by doing this I was a pescatarian, I stopped because I wanted to be able to call myself vegetarian (I also found out about gelatin and stopped eating anything with that ingredient). Until this year, I had never even been a vegetarian for animals' sake. Like everyone around me, I thought animals were meant to be food, blah blah. When I told myself that for my final year of vegetarianism-a whole year, I would make it interesting and December become a vegan (I had heard of vegans before and thought I could NEVER do that). Then, when I started researching it, I decided more and more that this was the thing for me. I have gone to the peta website and got all the information on what vegans can/can't eat, all those tricky little ingredients, etc. I have read books on being a vegan, animal liberation, etc and am soooo excited to start. Now whenever I eat something I have to check the ingredients label first and say "now if i was a vegan, could I eat that?" I currently eat eggs, cheese, milk, although the only one of those I know is going to be hard to give up is cheese. I also have a problem with liking vegetables. So, I've been forcing myself to try different vegetable recipes and get used to onions and tomatoes. It's worked, because I'm growing more fond of some. When I told my mother I was going to go vegan, start totally in december (although I'll probably start taking things out of my diet before like suggested) and continue on, throughout my life, she only thought that meant food. She doesn't really understand that it's a lifestyle and a statement, as well as a personal choice. She said that as long as I was healthy, she would stick by me. So yeah, sorry for the little story, I just thought some people might want to know because I never thought, three years ago, even three months ago that I would be preparing to go vegan. I want everyone to know that there is hope, people can change!!!
I also have a couple more questions-
Do you have to buy coffee organic for it to be vegan? I have organic coffee, but it's not strong enough for me, and I like to drink it black and bitter, as everyone says. Does anyone know of a strong, organic brand?
chocolate- Where to get vegan chocolate? At health food stores? I went to one and found this cool chocolate but on the back it said "might contain milk powder" Is milk powder the same as milk? If bread has nonfat dry milk powder in it is it not vegan? Also, what about whey protein concentrate?
Does anyone know of a good deodorant (not tom of maine's I've tried it) that REALLY works? I tried to find some other threads on this, but they wouldn't come up.
Once again, thanks for all the help and encouragement!
Oh yeah, that apple juice thing is weird, I'll have to be careful!
If anyone wants to e-mail me anything, my e-mail address is:
ikisstrees@yahoo.com.au

All non-organic apple juice is clarified with gelatin? :eek: Do you have any sources so I can read up on this?
It's a big website but the info is there. I'm also fairly sure you can find information on it on wikipedia.org

Quote from:

http://64.233.161.104/search?q=cache:ov7S5QZNLd4J:www.omri.org/Gelatin-TAP.pdf+how+is+apple+juice+purified+gelatin&hl=en

Gelatin is also used as a fining agent for white wine (Vine, 1999), as a beer clarifier (Brewers Resource, 2001), and to clarify fruit and vegetable juice, especially for clarified apple juice (Tressler and Joslyn, 1954; Peterson and Johnson, 1978) and pear juice (Lee and Lee, 1999).

I know it's a fairly common practice...but are you saying that organic apple juice is never filtered with gelatin? (I hope so!) I'd like to see sources, too.

I guess I'm partially going on assumption with organic apple juice, i figured they would purify in an alternative way. You are however safe with apple cider either way it's murky like that because it hasn't been purified. I'll check on organic juice.

R do that). I also have a couple more questions-
Do you have to buy coffee organic for it to be vegan? I have organic coffee, but it's not strong enough for me, and I like to drink it black and bitter, as everyone says. Does anyone know of a strong, organic brand?
chocolate- Where to get vegan chocolate? At health food stores? I went to one and found this cool chocolate but on the back it said "might contain milk powder" Is milk powder the same as milk? If bread has nonfat dry milk powder in it is it not vegan? Also, what about whey protein concentrate?
Does anyone know of a good deodorant (not tom of maine's I've tried it) that REALLY works? I tried to find some other threads on this, but they wouldn't come up.
Once again, thanks for all the help and encouragement!
Oh yeah, that apple juice thing is weird, I'll have to be careful!
If anyone wants to e-mail me anything, my e-mail address is:
ikisstrees@yahoo.com.au
"might contain milk powder"??? Not to be disrespectful, but I think you could be mistaken about that. There are labels that read: may contain trace amounts of milk, eggs, nuts or wheat. Or something of the like, most or all vegans concider food with that label to be vegan, it's just allergen information. Coffee: not that it's entirely necessary, but if you to stay completely "kosher," buy organic shade grown, or fair trade coffee. Chocolate: http://www.chocolatebar.com/
Milk powder is dehydrated milk. Whey is derived from milk, so anything that has it is not vegan. I don't drink coffee, so I can't help you with a brand.

sadly jr. mints aren't even vegetarian :no: because they have gelatin.

ikisstrees - congratulations on your decision to become vegan!!! Here's my 2c - concentrate on what you CAN eat - not on what you cannot eat. I have found a huge, enormous world of food that I CAN eat - and love. Check out the recipe section here - it's great, and you'll find lots and lots of new and tasty treats! And - it gets easier the longer you do it!

I also have a problem with liking vegetables. So, I've been forcing myself to try different vegetable recipes and get used to onions and tomatoes. It's worked, because I'm growing more fond of some.

This was an issue with me too. I still don't eat as many veggies as I should, but I definitely have found that I love some veggies that I never did years ago.

chocolate- Where to get vegan chocolate? At health food stores? I went to one and found this cool chocolate but on the back it said "might contain milk powder" Is milk powder the same as milk? If bread has nonfat dry milk powder in it is it not vegan? Also, what about whey protein concentrate?
Does anyone know of a good deodorant (not tom of maine's I've tried it) that REALLY works? I tried to find some other threads on this, but they wouldn't come up.

Tropical source is good vegan chocolate that you can get at grocery stores. And look in the frozen section of health food stores for chocolatey vegan "ice cream". My dad who's not vegan (although he doesn't eat red meat or chicken) loves tofutti fudgesicles!
When a food says it might contain traces of milk, that just means that it's made it near something that does contain milk. I wouldn't consider this not vegan, but if someone is really allergic to milk, it could be a problem.
I cheat and use non-vegan deoderant. :/ So I can't really help you. I've tried the deoderant crystal or stone, but it didn't really work for me.

Hi. You asked about Downy and Dawn in your first post. Downy and Dawn are both made by Proctor & Gamble who test on animals and are boycotted by a lot of veg*n's, including a lot of us here on VB. You also asked about detergent in general- Tide is also made by P&G. There are some other detergents as well. I have a link to a list of all products made by P&G if you'd like it, but I didn't want this turned into a "boycott Proctor and Gamble" thread. :)

As a person who wants to be vegan, I'm assuming you're also an environmentalist...So, in that regard, you should ask yourself, "How much do synthetic fabrics hurt the environment" such as oil-based fabrics (polyester and the like).

On one side:
--Hemp is very sturdy and long lasting, also, it produces a lot of oxygen for the planet.
On the other side:
--Vinyl is THE WORST THING FOR THE PLANET ever created. It's incredibly toxic to create, and never biodegrades. Don't buy anything containing vinyl.

I agree with Zephyr, start small and work into it. It's a huge thing to keep track of all at once. When you get used to watching out for , say, 10 things, start to watch out for another 5 or 10, until it's second nature. (I'm not vegan, but strict veg.)

--Go to vegweb.com for recipes. There are some great ones there. Mostly vegan or adaptable for vegans.

The Vegetarian Society has a great list of "Stumbling Blocks":
http://www.vegsoc.org/info/stumbling.html

I guess I'm partially going on assumption with organic apple juice, i figured they would purify in an alternative way. You are however safe with apple cider either way it's murky like that because it hasn't been purified. I'll check on organic juice.
"cider" is frequently the same as juice, so it may or may not be filtered. but yeah, you can tell by whether it has sediment, and unfiltered always seems to be labeled as such.

Veganism for me means primarily not contributing to demand for animal products, but also to protect my body and to not contribute to the cultural demand. So, I'm not going to worry about bread that doesn't have milk or eggs in the ingredient list, but has "may contain trace amounts of milk" (i.e. it was made in a factory where stuff with milk was made) on the package. Likewise, I won't eat pizza at a social function even if my presence didn't mean more was ordered.

I never bothered to check if Junior Mints are vegan because I was pretty sure they aren't. Generally, processed food that is white and opaque has milk in it. I've never heard of fruits or vegetables being sprayed with insects, only insecticide or fertilizer. You can buy egg replace in a health food store (watch out for the ones marketed to people with high cholesterol; they may have egg whites). For baking, I replace one egg with 1/2 mashed banana.

I can't answer your questions about those particular brands because I don't use them. I get that sort of stuff from my local health food store. I have yet to find anything from there that has an animal product that wasn't plainly stated (like beeswax chapstick or something), or anything that didn’t explicitly say it wasn’t tested on animals. Read the ingredients and look for a picture of a bunny on the back of the label. I don't know about dentil floss, I never really thought of it before. I think mainstream laundry detergents are tested on animals. My health food store carries environmentally friendly soaps and detergents which are probably not tested on animals if for no other reason than they're being marketed to hippies. :D

I wouldn't worry about mattresses unless I was about to buy a new one. You don't do the animals or the environment a favor by throwing out ones that are still serviceable. The same goes for leather shoes and jackets and wool sweaters (although you may want to give them to Salvation Army so you won't play "gotcha" with the omnis).

Tell your friends you are becoming vegan in advance. If they don't know what that means you may have to tell them "no animal products" means no chicken broth in the soup, no ranch on the salad, no butter on the vegetables, and no, peeling cheese and pepperonis off pizza is not acceptable. Give them some ideas of things they can make (the staple being pasta with marinara sauce and salad :)). Also, it's prudent to bring something you can eat in case they accidentally put animal products in everything, or just don't care.

Here's something I found on sugar from a vegan FAQ:
"Is sugar vegan?
The two major types of refined sugar are cane sugar and beet sugar. Some vegans do not use refined sugar because it may be bleached using animal bone charcoal at the end of processing. Beet sugar producers do not use bones in the refining process because dark coloration does not occur. Ion exchange or pressure lead filters are used instead. If you want beet sugar then look for the words "Granulated Sugar" on the label. Bone charcoal is not used in processing all cane sugars but its use is very common. Since the bones are heated to a very high temperature (to change them into carbon), there is a physical change in its structure, leaving no actual bone particles, so it is certified as kosher. The bone charcoal is used to filter the sugar; it does not become a part of the sugar. Florida Crystal and Jack Frost are two cane sugars available in the USA that do not use bone charcoal for processing."
So if I buy granulated sugar I should be OK???-Did anyone else get that out of this?

"Raw" sugar, also called turbinado sugar, is vegan. Although it undergoes some refining, it is not bleached. True raw sugars cannot be bought in most countries. Brown sugar is refined sugar with molasses added. If beets are used to obtain the raw sugar, it is vegan; if cane sugar is used, then bone charcoal filters may have been used in the processing. Powdered sugar (sugar mixed with corn starch) may or may not have been produced using bone charcoal.
The major source of the bones used to make bone charcoal filters comes from cattle from Afghanistan, Argentina, India, and Pakistan. After the marrow is scraped from the bones to make gelatin, the bones are used in the bleaching of sugar."

Here's some stuff about the whole "insect on fruit thing"
"Wax - Vegetable, animal (insect- or cow), synthetic. Put on vegetables and fruits as a protective coating. Candy, chewing gum. Usually vegetarian.
Fruits and vegetables are vegan, right?
Some fruits and vegetables are not vegan because they are coated with shellac, a resin made using the bodies of insects. Other vegetables are coated with a wax that may or may not be vegan. Many vegetable suppliers use methods other than waxing to get a shiny look. The most reliable way to be sure of buying a fruit or vegetable has not been coated with wax or resin is to purchase organic produce."
I was just really concerned about the whole "only organic" fruits & veggies because I know my mom is not going to want to drive 30 miles so I can have a salad. My mom is a proud supporter of organic, just not an everyday buyer. Rarely is organic fruit even sold in our local grocery store's produce section.
About the milk thing, I checked back on it and I finally found the Tropical Source chocolate (I wanted to try something w/o the "may contain traces of milk") and I absolutely LOVED it! Does anyone know where I could get a HUGE bar of this stuff??

deodorant Jasons is great, if you have a super store they should have some, baking soda also works, but it gets messy >.<

http://www.store.yahoo.com/yhst-48641225173758/deodorant.html
a couple brands there
hope this helps! feel free to e-mail or pm if ya need more

Hi. You asked about Downy and Dawn in your first post. Downy and Dawn are both made by Proctor & Gamble who test on animals and are boycotted by a lot of veg*n's, including a lot of us here on VB. You also asked about detergent in general- Tide is also made by P&G. There are some other detergents as well. I have a link to a list of all products made by P&G if you'd like it, but I didn't want this turned into a "boycott Proctor and Gamble" thread. :)

wow, could i have a copy of that list? everytime i think i've found something they don't earn it turns out, its no so good. thouse jerks own EVERYTHING.. well ok allmost everything.:gun:

Also for tips/recipies/advice/etc check out "garden of vegan" and "how it all vegan" by sarah and tanya. filled with loads of vegan advice. It have 45 things ot do with baking soda and the other book has 45 things to do with vinegar. Party tips/idead and advice. Recipies to pamper yourself, feed your belly and clean your house.

deodorant Jasons is grat, if you have a super store they should have some, baking soda also works, but it gets messy
I've tried Jasons deodorant and shampoo but didn't like either one.

ikisstrees - When I first started looking intro buying only cruelty free products I was pretty overwhelmed. Check out caringconsumer.com or PETA's website for good lists of cruelty free and non-cruelty free companies. To make it easier for myself when shopping I narrowed down the list to companies I had heard of or used before. Then I wrote down that list and carried it with me to the store. I found that there are actually quite a few "mainstream" brands that you can buy without having to visit an organic type store.

For makeup, try Revlon or Almay. I already used Almay so that was great for me. Almay also makes a great deodorant. For shampoo try something like Citreshine. It can be found at any grocery store and is great stuff. Not sure if you're in the U.S. or not, but if you live near a Tom Thumb grocery store, you can buy any of their house brand labelled under the brand "Safeway". Many grocery stores also carry Seventh Generation brand detergent, toilet paper and stuff.

Here are some other more common companies from the list that you might find. Bonne Bell, Avon, Aveda, Avalon Organics, Bath & Body Works, Beauticontrol, Clinique, ConAir, Freeman, Jane, Jheri Redding, John Paul Mitchell, Kiss My Face, KMS, Nexxus, Nivea, Physicians Formula, Rusk and Tom's of Maine. Like I said, those are just a few. If you haven't already, check out the list from PETA's website.

bad- angiedawn404(right??) gave me this link in another post where I asked about P&G which has a good list of their controlled products, as well as other very useful info on the whole site:
http://www.pandgkills.com/boycott/index.html
Luckily, I found a pretty good store not too far from my house that sells every kind of vegan deodorant and face wash (not too much make-up) but pretty much a lot of the things I will need. I guess I'll just try all the deodorants out and see which one I like the best!

I had some email correspondence with a couple of apple juice companies one organic one non organic, both claim to not use gelatin. I guess it really depends on the brand. The companies were Apple and Eve, and James White Drinks.