Wherever you look, veganism is buzzing. From headlines about Beyoncé going vegan (and encouraging fans to do the same) to the recent boom of the vegan restaurant business, plant-based everything is all the rage.

But what about vegan beauty products? How do they come into play?

Here, we break down why shopping vegan is also pertinent to your beauty routine.

According to Tata Harper (founder of a namesake natural beauty brand that’s predominantly vegan):

Beauty follows food because we use a lot of the same ingredients. If they’re good to ingest, then they’re typically great to apply topically.

But what is vegan beauty?

The New York Times puts it simply: “Vegan beauty means the absence of animal ingredients, while cruelty-free refers to a product that doesn’t test on animals. In other words, it’s possible for a vegan item to have been tested on an animal and a cruelty-free product to contain animal ingredients.”

Why does it matter?

While the common animal-derived ingredients that are found in many beauty products aren’t necessarily harmful, the thought of smearing on the animal parts found in moisturizers, cosmetics and shampoos can be enough for many beauty lovers make the switch. But really the biggest benefit is that it’s pushing consumers to question and research the ingredients in what they’re buying. Many women want to shop according to their personal values and buying vegan beauty products fits the bill.

Should you shop vegan?

It all comes down to a personal choice (whether it’s for ethical reasons or for health and environmental benefits), but we will forewarn you buying beauty products isn’t always as simple as it seems. So many products contain animal byproducts like honey, lanolin and gelatin. But as a number of new vegan lines have launched and existing brands expand their offerings it has become a lot easier! To get you started, we culled a few of our favorite vegan nécessités below.