Veganuary is a campaign started in the United Kingdom in 2014 by husband-and-wife duo Matthew Glover and Jane Land asking people to ditch meat for one month. In 2021, 580,000 people from over 200 countries tried vegan during last year's campaign.

Skin Proud, the vegan and PETA-approved cruelty-free skincare brand, is kicking off 2022 with a mission to save the cows with their “Cowfunding” campaign this Veganuary. As part of this they have commissioned research on the public's views on vegan alternatives while sharing the impact of dairy farming on animals and the environment.

The research uncovered that more and more people are choosing vegan alternatives for their skincare following the boom of Veganuary, with nearly half of Americans stating they have started looking for vegan options in their skincare. A survey of 2,000 US adults found the main reason for being vegan or trying vegan products was due to worries of environmental impacts (37%) and concerns over animal welfare (32%).

• Vegan beauty is seeing a huge surge, and the main reasons for the consumer switch has to do with how natural the ingredients are (48%) and the price point (41%).
• 1 in 3 people are more willing to try vegan skincare than vegan milk.
• Nearly half (47%) of people claim cows' milk negatively affects their skin.
• In beauty circles, it is widely thought that dairy and milk produced by cows can cause eczema, acne, or simply dullness; while not a trigger to all, for some, dairy can provoke flare-ups and inflammation of the skin. Of those surveyed, those who claim cows' milk negatively affects their skin say they suffer from dry skin (59 percent), acne (55 percent), and puffiness (48 percent) as a result.
• Almost 5 in 10 of those polled claim they didn't even know that vegan skincare exists.
• Of those who look for vegan skincare products, the top reasons were because it's good for the planet (66%) and often no animals are harmed (65%).
• Top influences when choosing skincare products included recyclable packaging (39%), natural ingredients (48%), and being cruelty free (41%).
• Almost half were unaware of the impact of dairy farming on cows; of the 60% who are aware of the impact, 7 out of 10 said knowing this makes them more inclined to try dairy-free milk alternatives. Interestingly, more women are likely to try vegan options than men.

Nora Zukauskaite, Marketing Director for Skin Proud, said: "It's truly sad to see how little people know about how dairy cows fare when it comes to farming. We need to raise awareness of the treatment of cows as a result of dairy farming, looking at alternatives as well as taking a look at the beauty industry impact and looking at vegan options. We know many people are hesitant to take the step to try vegan alternatives in their skincare routines and diets. At Skin Proud, we are committed to being vegan and cruelty free and are PETA certified. We want to encourage people to incorporate more alternatives into their daily lives from clothes to skincare through simple and easy changes. We can help people make that change, with our simple and affordable vegan skincare products that are easy to use. Our hope in 2022, is that vegan options should become the first and only consumer choice for skincare and beauty products to help with animal and environmental impacts."