The 14 Best Vegan & Cruelty-Free Facial Serums

SKIN & TONIC’s serum is lovely to use at night. It is packed full of ingredients that are good for your skin – the omega oils help minimise pores, reduce wrinkles and help cell renewal.

This night oil goes a step further though, it’s scented with neroli, which has a soporific effect and has microalgae to protect the skin.

It’s a nice light oil and the bottle itself is very beautiful (which is a big plus for me).

• £30
• Certified cruelty-free
• Vegan
• Best for: anti-ageing
• Only 7 ingredients, including: chia seed oil, plankton extract and neroli oil

Read our cruelty-free review of Skin & Tonic here.

No list is complete without CBD oil in it. This body shop oil is lightweight and almost silky, yet it works hard to rehydrate even the driest of skin.

After use your skin genuinely feels smoother, and the scent of the oil is lovely.

• £25
• Certified cruelty-free and vegan
• Best for: dehydrated, dry-skin
• Key ingredients: CBD, hemp seed oil, vegan squalane and patchouli extract

The Body Shop also do a lovely Vitamin E Overnight Serum which is perfect for tired skin.

Aesop’s Lightweight Facial Serum has an instant, long-lasting moisturising effect.

• £47
• 100ml
• Certified cruelty-free
• Certified vegan
• Made with aloe vera, ylang ylang and panthenol – hydrating, nourishing and antiseptic properties
• Suitable for combination, oily, sensitive and blemish-prone skin types – all skin types
• Non-comedogemic

With highly moisturising, pure aloe vera juice as a base, this lightweight hydrating serum works wonders for combination, oily and reactive skin.

Ylang ylang provides hydrating, antiseptic properties and panthenol works as a moisturising, soothing agent that can alleviate redness and irritation.

Unlike most daily moisturisers, it offers a lighter, less-oily alternative to richer cream or oil-based formulas.

Perfect for year-round shine-free skin. Even in warm, humid climates.

Read our cruelty-free review of Aesop here.

TROPIC products use fresh ingredients and are made right here in the UK. This is why I recommend them in nearly every list I do. TROPIC has a range of serums, but I plumped for this one as who doesn’t want to defy age?

Its Age Defying Serum contains jojoba, rosehip and pomegranate oil as well as other fatty acids and vitamin E.

Like anti-ageing moisturiser, this is thicker and more intense than normal serums, so I wouldn’t recommend for super sensitive or oily skin.

• £23
• Certified cruelty-free
• Certified vegan
• Key ingredients: Golden jojoba oil, organic rosehip oil, pomegranate oil, kiwi seed oil, vitamin E
• Best for: anti-ageing

Checkout our review of Tropic and it’s cruelty-free credentials here. 

Murad’s Recovery Serum is the creme de la creme of serums – it’s suitable for the gentle eye area, and tough enough to combat signs of ageing across the whole face.

It isn’t cheap, but it’s suitable for all skin types and has some killer ingredients, including caffeine, which gives you that instant skin boost.

• £73
• Certified cruelty-free and vegan
• Best for: hydration, anti-ageing and under-eye treatment
• Key ingredients: Hemp seed oil, neuropeptides, caffeine

Read our cruelty-free review of Murad here.

Another TROPIC serum; I couldn’t resist!

This is probably my personal favourite on the list as it’s so hydrating, but so so so lightweight (good if you have dehydrated, yet oily skin like me!).

The hyaluronic acid works to plump as well as moisturise. This one isn’t cheap, but a few drops go a long way.

• £42
• Certified cruelty-free and vegan
• Best for: hydration
• Key ingredients: Hyaluronic acid, plat pepites and evergreen fern extract

If you are a hyaluronic acid fan, then this Beauty Pie serum is for you. The rest of the ingredients are impressive too:

• A super peptide that fights gravity
• And a polysaccharide that reduces the appearance of wrinkles

Sometimes it’s also what isn’t in the product that counts – this serum is free from parabens, fragrance, sulphates and other nasties. If you have a Beauty Pie membership this serum is only £15.60.

• £60 – reduced to £15.60
• Certified cruelty-free and vegan
• Best for: moisturising and anti-ageing
• Key ingredients: Triple weight hyaluronic acid, seafill, idealift, aquaxyl

And checkout our review of Beauty Pie and it’s cruelty-free credentials here. 

Serum mists are a relatively new thing. Barry M have a whole range of them, but the Calming Rose is probably the nicest.

It contains anti-inflammatory, as well as moisturising ingredients and is light-weight enough to use at any time in the day (even over makeup!)

• £4.19
• Certified cruelty-free and vegan
• Best for: moisturising and calming
• Key ingredients: Hyaluronic acid, acacia collagen, vitamin B5

The active ingredients here are lactic acid (10%) and acerola extract. Lactic acid exfoliates your skin (the superficial layers anyway), and helps remove dead cells for a more even complexion.

This Typology Serum is especially good as it also has acerola extract in, which is an antioxidant that ‘attacks’ those pesky free radicals, leaving your skin even smoother.

• £11.80
• Certified cruelty-free
• Vegan
• Best for: overnight exfoliation
• Key ingredients: Golden jojoba oil, organic rosehip oil, pomegranate oil, kiwi seed oil, vitamin E

Typology products have a sparse ingredients list (which in this case is an excellent thing – more good/active ingredients, and no nasties). This is gentle enough to use every day, but you should ease your skin into it.

Another vegan lactic acid (10%) serum, which is gentle enough to use every night. The lactic acid exfoliates, and the squalane nourishes, soothes irritation and heals – which makes it a great option for sensitive skin.

This is a lovely, luxury product. Exfoliation can sometimes seem harsh, but this product is kind to the skin and gives it a boost. It’s not cheap though…

• £49
• Certified cruelty-free and vegan
• Best for: overnight exfoliation
• Key ingredients: Lactic acid (vegan) and squalane (vegan, from sugarcane)
• Non-toxic
• Paraben, synthetic fragrance and PEG-free

Read our cruelty-free review of Bioassance here.

This particular serum doesn’t work overnight. Well, you can put it on at night. But it takes four weeks for it to fully have an effect. It’s a popular one and tends to sell out every now and again.

• £24
• Certified cruelty-free and vegan
• Best for: balancing skin and acne reduction
• Key ingredients: Niacinamide (5%), zinc

This a great alternative to lactic acid serums, and works especially well for oily and acne-prone skin.

The active ingredient here is niacinamide (vitamin B3), which is hailed as a miracle-worker. It works to balance complexion (while hydrating) and reduces oil production. This serum also contains zinc, which minimises your pores.

This NIP+FAB Active Serum uses salicylic acid (2%) to unclog pores and leave you with a clear, fresh complexion. This is another great product for treating acne – exfoliating the skin while keeping pores clean and clear.

This serum also contains aloe vera to balance out the salicylic acid with a soothing effect.

• £19.95
• Certified cruelty-free and vegan
• Best for: balancing skin and acne reduction
• Key ingredients: Salicylic acid (2%), purple ginseng extract, aloe vera

This serum is a nice budget option. It’s highly moisturising and has a good combo of vitamins packed in there (A, B, E, F and H!).

It’s more of a ‘sticky’ substance than lots of the more natural products on our list, but it goes on well and absorbs easily.

• £4.49
• Certified cruelty-free and vegan
• Best for: moisturising
• Key ingredients: Vitamin E and horse chestnut

A nice smelling, ‘time-reversing’ serum. As well as the skin-softening floral oils, this serum firms and plumps the skin overnight.

The inclusion of sea buckthorn oil is great for hydrating dry, malnourished skin. And neroli not only smells amazing, but reduces blemishes.

The smell is very subtle and is best used left on overnight.

• £17+
• Certified cruelty-free
• Vegan
• Best for: anti-ageing
• Key ingredients: sea buckthorn, neroli and geranium