These are the vegan skincare buys our beauty team love

Nourishing but featherlight, this youth-boosting eye cream combines quick-acting retinoids and melatonin to bring life back to weary eyes. Its supercharged formula uses hydrating mushroom extracts to revive your skin while you sleep.

Medik8’s latest innovation is a high-tech serum designed using MiniProteins technology to tackle deep-set wrinkles at a cellular level. With regular use, the peptides help to relax fine lines while boosting collagen and elastin levels, making it ideal for mature skin. Even better, this family-owned brand voluntarily works with The Vegan Society to carry out vegan assessments of each of its products.

We love a multitasker at GH, and this universal day-to-night vegan moisturiser is just that. Also cruelty-free and certified organic, the 24-Hour Cream is packed with plant-based Baicalin – an anti-ageing active to enhance the skin’s elasticity. Available in both a rose-scented and fragrance-free version for sensitive skin, look no further for a hydrating boost.

Senior Beauty Editor, Alexandra Friend says…

“My skin feels more comfortable and brighter after using this. The best part is that you can slot it into any skincare routine alongside any active ingredients and it makes everything feel more effective.”

While we know that one product can’t do it all, this supercharged skincare concentrate comes pretty close, especially if dullness is among your prime skin concerns. With the power of 15 active ingredients, this vegan serum is designed to keep your complexion bright, resilient and hydrated…could we ask for much more?

Although 100% of The Body Shop’s formulas are vegan, this daily vitamin C moisturiser is a clear, glow-giving winner. Featuring 97% natural ingredients – including a hyaluronic acid and camu camu berry extract blend – and a lightweight gel texture, it adds healthy-looking radiance to a dull complexion.

There is something quietly special about this apothecary style toner from Thayers (not least because it has been around in the US since 1847, no less). It's a useful step to sandwich between cleansing and moisturising: one swipe over a cleansed face soothes, hydrates gently and also helps minimise the appearance of pores (that'll be the witch hazel). You can get it in a mist version or this bottle.

Is your skin dry, dehydrated and desperate for a dose of long-lasting hydration? This ultra-light cream will come straight to the rescue. It combines over 20 nutrient-rich seed oils for skin that is soothed, softened and instantly relieved of tightness.

Beauty Editor, Fleur Fruzza says…

“I love this - it has all the super seed nourishment of the original Nutrient Cream, but in a texture that’s perfect for summer. And I’m a long-time fan of the Super Seed Oil, which I apply over the top to lock the moisture in. As well as making my skin feel supple, it smells extremely natural, which I love.”

Lush doesn’t just deliver when it comes to a fancy bath – its vegan skincare range is as affordable as it is effective. We especially love the Matcha Face Mask, a nutrient-rich ‘skincare smoothie’ certified by The Vegan Society. Its antioxidant matcha, combined with vitamin C and vegan glycerine, offers a fresh, revitalised face in just 10 minutes.

We love exfoliators for their instant brightening and clarifying effects. Alcohol and fragrance-free, this gentle exfoliating toner is perfect for decongesting, soothing and cooling skin without risking the irritation associated with intense physical scrubs. Simply sweep over your skin after cleansing for dewy, refreshed skin; just remember to follow with an SPF in the daytime.

For beards in need of a little TLC, Bulldog delivers nature-loving nourishment. The fast-absorbing Original Beard Oil softens and conditions hair using aloe vera, and is ideal for dry to normal skin types. Simply massage a few drops into the beard in the morning, and style as desired.

For sensitive and redness-prone skin in need of a hydrating facial mist, look no further than Pai Skincare’s version. Not only does its alcohol free infusion of plant juice and hyaluronic acid deliver a much-needed moisture boost, its prebiotic insulin replenishes the skin barrier and forms an anti-inflammatory shield.

This innovative brand repurposes by-products of the food and drink industry that would otherwise go to waste, and transforms them into quality skincare. The award-winning Kaolin Clay Face Mask, made using the fine powder of olive stones, detoxifies the skin while eliminating pores and blackheads.

If there's anything we’ve learned from journalist and Beauty Banks co-founder Sali Hughes, it’s that the most effective skincare doesn’t always have to be the most expensive. Her new range in collaboration with Revolution Skincare takes beauty back to basics, using efficacious ingredients at an affordable price point. This AM to PM moisturiser features a quintet of the best in barrier-boosting ingredients: ceramides, glycerin, squalane, niacinamide and hyaluronic acid.

Calling all reactive skin types! This gentle reformulation of Farmacy’s best-selling Green Clean cleansing balm is a saviour for sensitive complexions. By retaining all the cleansing and purifying benefits of the original formula but removing its signature scent, this updated version melts away debris, makeup and SPF without aggravating sensitive skin.

As well as using 92% organic ingredients, Neal’s Yard is a passionate activist for animal welfare, having most recently advocated for the protection of bees in parliament. Its Frankincense range works hard to gently nourish all skin types, blending apricot and jojoba oils for maximum hydration.

These gem-like orange capsules don’t just look elegant on your bathroom shelf – the vegan, biodegradable ‘hearts’ ensure that the 2% vitamin C serum delivered in each dose stays as fresh and potent as possible (vitamin C is a notoriously unstable skincare ingredient). Paired with vitamin E, which also helps to preserve vitamin C’s brightening, collagen-stimulating powers, the handy capsules provide your morning antioxidant skincare hit in a rich, moisturising plant-derived formula that’s kind to both your skin and the planet.

Cooling and hydrating, this gel-based vegan moisturiser has a real plumping effect thanks to a multi-weight hyaluronic acid formula that binds water to the skin. If you’re prone to sensitivity, it’s the perfect soothing fragrance-free face cream option and works well as a smoothing makeup primer too. Keep it in the fridge during the summer months – applying it first thing or at the end of a long, hot day feels like bliss and helps to boost circulation.

Skincare doesn’t have to contain potent actives to be powerful. Helping skin to protect itself is all part of Byoma’s ethos: the brand focuses on reinforcing the natural skin barrier by rehydrating cells, giving skin the strength to protect itself better from daily aggressors. This contains Byoma’s signature vegan barrier-boosting tri-ceramide complex and antioxidants, to do just that. This gentle just-add-water lather gently cleanses without stripping away moisture or causing sensitivity, making it perfect for compromised skin types.

Rich in omega 3 and fatty acids, this fast-absorbing blend of nutrient-rich, 100% natural-origin ingredients is the softening, balancing formula our thirsty skin has been begging for.

Former Beauty Intern, Katie Withington says…

“I have breakout prone skin, so I often shy away from products that leave my face feeling slick as I’m always thinking about congestion. This elixir perfectly balances the lightweight texture of a serum with the nourishing properties of an oil without leaving a lingering residue. It takes the edge off post-acne redness as well as calming inflammation.”

This zero-waste brand is all about delivering high quality skincare in long-lasting, solid vegan balms. Although SBTRCT targets a range of skin concerns from oil control to anti-ageing, we love its refreshing coconut based cleansing balm for rinsing away any remnants of makeup and being dermatologically approved for sensitive skin.