Women's Hand & Foot Care

Shop vegan and cruelty-free hand and foot care products. Take proper care of your hands and feet with the peace of mind of knowing that all of these products are 100% free of animal-derived materials, ingredients, by-products and testing.

Women's Hand & Foot Care

$16
Caswell-Massey – Dr. Hunter’s Hand Crème
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$16
Caswell-Massey – Dr. Hunter’s Foot Crème
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$29
Nature’s Gate – Purifying Liquid Soap
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What are vegan and cruelty-free hand and foot care products?

The term “vegan” with regard to hand and foot creams, soaps and lotions refers to products that do not contain ingredients that are derived or sourced from animals or insects. The term “cruelty-free” means a product and its ingredients aren’t tested on animals. On this site, we feature products that are both vegan AND cruelty-free; they contain no animal or insect ingredients, and are not tested on animals. 

What animal ingredients are typically found in hand and foot care products?

Many common non-vegan creams, lotions and soaps contain a wide variety of animal-derived and sourced ingredients that acts as thickeners, moisturizers, emulsifiers (basically, helping oil and water mix), emollients (which help to smooth the skin by temporarily filling in surface cracks), or as skin conditioners. Fortunately, animal-derived ingredients can be replaced by synthetic, mineral and plant-based ingredients that serve the same functions. Some animal-derived ingredients to avoid include:

Tallow: Comes from the fat of sheep and cows. It's often used as a thickener.

Stearic Acid: Another ingredient that comes from animal fat, is used as an emulsifier (stearic acid can be vegetable-based also, but won’t say on a label).

Glycerin: More animal fat, although thankfully it's also commonly derived from plants. It acts as a moisturizer and skin conditioner.

Animal Fats (various): Fish oil, mink oil, turtle oil, and lanolin (from the oil glands of sheep). These all serve as emollients.

Urea: A water-attracting compound found in urine (in most cosmetics it’s typically made in a laboratory nowadays).

Beeswax: The wax from a bee's honeycomb that is used as an emulsifier

Hydrolyzed Silk/Silk Protein: Broken down silk protein that acts as a moisture barrier and skin conditioner

Collagen: Derived from the connective tissue in animals, it acts as a barrier to help lock in moisture. Fortunately, silica, non-GMO & organic soy, vitamin C, Vitamin A and a host of other vegan sources help us boost our elastin and collagen production naturally.

Please Note: If you’re reading product labels at the drugstore, it can be very hard to tell which ingredients are sourced from where. Your best bet is to stick to the brands listed below, as they only make moisturizers that are vegan and cruelty-free.

What companies make vegan/cruelty-free hand and foot care products?

The following companies make hand and foot creams, soaps and lotions that are vegan-friendly and cruelty-free:

  • 100% Pure
  • Aēsop
  • Andalou Naturals
  • ATTITUDE
  • Caswell-Massey
  • Avalon Organics
  • Nature’s Gate
  • Kiss My Face
  • Yes to

Why buy vegan hand and foot creams and lotions that are vegan/cruelty-free?

It comes down to this: if you buy a vegan-friendly and cruelty-free product, you’re buying an animal-friendly product. There are plenty of plant-based, mineral and synthetic ingredients that act as emollients, moisturizers and emulsifiers in place of animal-derived ingredients. They can get the job done just as well as, and in many cases better, than animal-derived ingredients.

Does buying vegan/cruelty-free products make a difference for the animals?

It's a surprise to many that buying vegan products is actually one of the most effective forms of animal welfare activism, and one of the best ways to promote animal welfare issues. When you buy a vegan and cruelty-free product (such as hand and foot cream), you’re telling stores, manufacturers, and everyone in the supply chain that there’s a market for these items; companies will respond to that demand by supplying products for consumers to purchase. The more people doing this (voting with their dollars, so to speak), the bigger that market will be. And of course, by telling your friends and family about your new cruelty-free and vegan goods, you’re promoting awareness that such products exist, and it gets people thinking, “Why would hand and foot cream not be vegan?…Why would they test it on poor little animals?”. This can create a very positive chain of events; after all, many of us have become vegan after having asked similar questions, and subsequently learning the answers.

I’ve just turned vegan, should I get rid of any non-vegan creams and lotions that I own?

Deciding on how to deal with your old non-vegan, non-cruelty-free clothing, makeup, footwear and personal care items is certainly one of the more challenging aspects of becoming more immersed in a vegan and cruelty-free lifestyle. There really is no right or wrong way to deal with these items; ultimately, it comes down to what you decide you’re no longer comfortable using, what old products you can afford to replace immediately with cruelty-free products, and what you feel can be given away in a hygienic manner. Your best options might be to give away any unused or gently used products to friends and family, or use products (if you’re comfortable doing so) until they have run out or otherwise outlived their usefulness. 

How do you choose which products to list?

We maintain a growing list of companies that we find, or that are suggested to us, whose hand and foot care products seem to be completely vegan-friendly and cruelty-free. We contact these companies to double check, and if they assure us that there are no animal-derived ingredients or testing involved in the making of these products, and they can be purchased on Amazon, then we list them here for your shopping convenience.

Please Note: We like it when companies are on 3rd party certification lists, such as Leaping Bunny or PETA’s lists. However, we do not rely on that information; such certification is voluntary and usually involves an expense to the company, so not every company that’s cruelty-free obtains such certification. Also, it's possible that the information is out of date.

Why are some products you list only available in Canada or the United States?

We try our best to find vegan hand and foot care products that will ship to Amazon customers across the globe. Unfortunately, some products don't ship outside of the country in which they’re warehoused, due to excessive taxation on certain products, hefty importing fees, or any other number of possible reasons.

Similar product categories

If you’ve found this page on hand and foot care creams and lotions helpful, check out similar product categories to learn or shop more:

For companies that make vegan hand and foot care creams and lotions

If you make vegan and cruelty-free hand and foot care products, we’d love to feature you and your products on the “Brands We Love” section of our site! Contact us at  - info(at)getitvegan(dot)com - to get started!

Sources

Some of the information for this mini guide on vegan and cruelty-free hand and foot care products was gathered from the following source(s):