How can you know whether a product

[Jamie in Chile]

I can actually sympathise with Mobius X.

It's totally true that vegan toiletries are more expensive, harder to get, a hassle etc. There is literally no toothpaste within 20 miles of my house that's vegan, I tried every single supermarket, online order here in Chile for home delivery is way harder than US, UK (whole other story). I eventually made my own toothpaste from a vegan blogger recipe and it went hard and tasted crap. And that's one product and I still haven't found a solution yet.

It totally is time consuming.

I suspect though, the time consuming comes in more at the beginning when you find the products and figure out how to make them. Once you get into the ryhthm of it, it probably isn't any worse. The solution is just to add more and more vegan products over time.

For the lazy/busy, one solution I have is just buy less toiletries. Ditch the air freshener (toxic chemicals and won't recycle anyway) and just open the window. Shampoo once a week or once a month instead of once a day. For example.

We had a (meat) farmer come on here and get a nice welcome and here someone is taking more heat for not going 100% on all toiletries immediately. Come on people, the meat farmer is causing 100x the suffering and death even if it is a family farm. Keep some perspective and be more patient. Otherwise people like Mobius X, or perhaps more likely someone else watching this thread, is going to go back to eating meat because they think vegans are OTT.

 

[Lou]

I used to buy vegan cream cheese. and I even made some at home a few times. but now I just buy hummus from the store. Sometimes I make my own hummus but the last time I made some I felt bad about grinding up whole communities of chickpeas.

Anyway, roasted garlic hummus on a bagel with lettuce, slices of tomato, cucumber, and onion. you don't even miss the cream cheese. And hummus is much healthier than any of the store bought cream cheeses. And I have been cutting back on bagels too. But when I do buy hummus (or make some) I tend to go on a bagel binge - otherwise, the hummus goes bad in the frig.

 

[MobiusX]

Correction, that is "Kirk's Original Coco Castile Soap" - here it is sold at less than $1.50 per bar, and that's on line, I do think you could get it for less possibly in a drug or grocery store.

https://www.swansonvitamins.com/kir...MI8qCKi_ml4AIVQh6tBh0CvgmcEAQYASABEgILrPD_BwE

Kirkland is also cruelty-free, but is a Costco brand, so you'd have to get a Costco card - if you have one, they have a huge variety of grooming products. My old housemate in LA used a lot of Kirkland stuff, that's why I confused it with the Kirk's castile soap.

go to my other thread to see what I said about soap bars for my face. I only want gel. That's it. This soap isn't even a real facewash. It's just coconut oil. I am only looking for a facewash that is gel, that's it.

 

[MobiusX]

I used to buy vegan cream cheese. and I even made some at home a few times. but now I just buy hummus from the store. Sometimes I make my own hummus but the last time I made some I felt bad about grinding up whole communities of chickpeas.

Anyway, roasted garlic hummus on a bagel with lettuce, slices of tomato, cucumber, and onion. you don't even miss the cream cheese. And hummus is much healthier than any of the store bought cream cheeses. And I have been cutting back on bagels too. But when I do buy hummus (or make some) I tend to go on a bagel binge - otherwise, the hummus goes bad in the frig.

I will continue BUYING vegan cream cheese and I will not make my own.

 

[TofuRobot]

"I think in order for me to be more vegan there has to be a lot more improvement in the vegan products that are being sold."

Ok then - you've got your excuse not to be vegan (actually you've mentioned several). Congrats. You've got plenty of company (elsewhere). Over here, we actually want to be vegan, so we're not looking for excuses not to be. We're not "vegan for convenience" (even though in many ways, it's much more so). It's all about how you want to look at it. How you choose to look at it is your decision.

 

[MobiusX]

j

"I think in order for me to be more vegan there has to be a lot more improvement in the vegan products that are being sold."

Ok then - you've got your excuse not to be vegan (actually you've mentioned several). Congrats. You've got plenty of company (elsewhere). Over here, we actually want to be vegan, so we're not looking for excuses not to be. We're not "vegan for convenience" (even though in many ways, it's much more so). It's all about how you want to look at it. How you choose to look at it is your decision.

it's not an excuse, it's reality. Ever tried buying vegan condoms? Way too expensive compare to what I already pay. That's why I haven't bought the vegan kinds yet and probably never will. A pack of less than half of what I already buy but costs even more....

 

[Sax]

Just let your dates know you have a hard time making hummus and you won't have to worry about having vegan condoms.

 

[MobiusX]

Correction, that is "Kirk's Original Coco Castile Soap" - here it is sold at less than $1.50 per bar, and that's on line, I do think you could get it for less possibly in a drug or grocery store.

https://www.swansonvitamins.com/kir...MI8qCKi_ml4AIVQh6tBh0CvgmcEAQYASABEgILrPD_BwE

Kirkland is also cruelty-free, but is a Costco brand, so you'd have to get a Costco card - if you have one, they have a huge variety of grooming products. My old housemate in LA used a lot of Kirkland stuff, that's why I confused it with the Kirk's castile soap.

this same soap can be used to wash dishes, this isn't a facewash. It's a joke.

 

[Lou]

“Nothing in the world is worth having or worth doing unless it means effort, pain, difficulty… I have never in my life envied a human being who led an easy life. I have envied a great many people who led difficult lives and led them well.”
― Theodore Roosevelt

“Life itself is simple...it's just not easy.”
― Steve Maraboli, Unapologetically You: Reflections on Life and the Human Experience

“Follow your dreams. I am not saying it’s going to be easy, but I am saying it’s going to be worth it".
― Moffat Machingura

“... it is the greatest of all mistakes to begin life with the expectation that it is going to be easy, or with the wish to have it so.”
― Lucy Larcom, A New England Girlhood

Will it be easy? Nope, Worth it? Totally.

Do what is right, not what is easy.

 

[Forest Nymph]

this same soap can be used to wash dishes, this isn't a facewash. It's a joke.

You asked for general products, it's a body soap, it's a freaking bar of soap.

See a lot of us who are not only vegan but are into sustainability realize that certain natural or chemical-free cleansers can be used for multiple purposes. You can clean your mirrors with white vinegar instead of Windex, use Borax to clean the bathtub with lemon juice, or toss some in your laundry with soap, or make general strong cleaners by mixing both vinegar and baking soda, for jobs like cleaning the kitchen.

This isn't your "facewash" thread so I was focusing on other grooming products. Honestly your posts creep me out a little, I'm curious as to how you became vegan? What is your story? Because the tone of both of these threads suggest that you don't question society, capitalism or advertising at all.

 

[Forest Nymph]

I will continue BUYING vegan cream cheese and I will not make my own.

Boy oh boy, people are just trying to make things cheaper for you, and actually if you ever get stuck somewhere like Chile and decide to join Jaime, you won't have to search for these products or give up your diet because you'll know how to make cheese sauce out of cashews and/or nutritional yeast in some form.

You keep complaining about how much things cost. I'm not telling you to stop buying cream cheese overall, honestly I buy vegan products I LOVE Vegenaise and enjoy Beyond Burgers occasionally, as well as making Tofurky or Field roast once and a while...I'm telling you how to cut costs. If you cut costs with your food you can balance out your budget, or vice versa with grooming products.