From lash lifts to hair serums, keratin appears in more beauty products than you realize. Healthline recommends that vegans pay close attention to each product’s ingredient list, keeping an eye out for keratin hydrolysates. Keratin and its derivatives often appear in drugstore shampoos and conditioners that promise to tame frizzy locks and give your hair shine, which means it’s in many, many products on store shelves. If you’re at a salon, don’t be afraid to ask your service providers for more information about the products being used.
Vegans may also encounter keratin as dietary supplements. People taking this non-vegan supplement do so because they believe eating keratin stimulates hair growth. Unfortunately, researchers haven’t found compelling evidence that ingesting keratin does much of anything (via Livestrong). That’s no problem for vegans who, according to Vegan Food and Living, can boost their body’s natural keratin production by eating plant-based food like sunflower seeds, garlic, and kale.