Why Vegan Hair Salons Are Growing Across the UK

If you’ve noticed more salons shouting about “vegan” and “cruelty-free” lately, you’re not imagining it. It’s one of the fastest-moving shifts in UK hair and beauty right now, and it’s more than marketing language. Here’s what’s driving it, and what it means for the salon chair you sit in.

Here's what's actually driving it, and what it means for the salon chair you sit in.

The numbers behind the shift

This trend is backed by real market movement, not just social media noise. The global vegan haircare market was valued at roughly $11 billion in 2025 and is projected to nearly triple by 2034, driven by demand for transparent, traceable ingredients rather than niche “free-from” positioning alone.

In the UK, over 30% of salons now offer vegan-friendly services, and a 2023 consumer survey found that 39% of people actively prefer cruelty-free and vegan hair products.

$11bn

Global vegan haircare market, 2025

30%+

UK salons offering vegan-friendly services

39%

Prefer cruelty-free and vegan hair products

82%

Gen Z and Millennial clients who expect clean, cruelty-free formulations

It’s generational too. For 82% of Gen Z and Millennial clients in the UK, clean and cruelty-free formulations aren’t a nice-to-have. They’re an expectation baked into how they choose where to book.

What “vegan” actually means in a salon

The term gets used loosely, so it’s worth being precise. A genuinely vegan-conscious salon means:

No animal-derived ingredients in the products used on you or sold to you (no animal-sourced keratin, lanolin, beeswax and so on)

No animal testing, at any stage of a product's development

Transparency about what's in the products on the shelf, not just a logo on the door

A salon that stocks one vegan retail line but colours and treats with conventional products isn’t the same as a salon that has made it standard across the board.

The benefits of a vegan hair salon

For your hair

Vegan formulations are increasingly performance-led rather than "free-from and hope for the best." Ingredient innovation has pushed hard on scalp health and hair strength, so you're not trading results for ethics.

For animals

No testing and no animal-derived by-products. It's straightforward, and increasingly the industry standard rather than the exception.

For the planet

Vegan product lines are often paired with lower-impact packaging and more sustainable sourcing, and with salons rethinking their water and energy use day to day, not just what's in the bottle.

For your peace of mind

You can ask what's in a product and get a straight answer rather than a shrug.

How we approach it at Thriv

This isn't a one-off campaign for us. It's built into how the salon runs:

We work with vegan-certified colour and product lines, rather than treating vegan as a single retail shelf

Our retail products are cruelty-free

We use sustainable, recyclable packaging, with refill options where we can

We've built water and energy-saving practices into how the salon operates day to day

None of this is about being precious. It's about running a salon we're proud to invite people into, and being honest about what's behind the products we use on your hair.

Book with us

If where your products come from and what they’re made of matters to you as much as the finished style, we’d love to have you. Take a look at our service menu, or book a consultation using the button below and we’ll talk you through it.

Thriv Salon Wellness: Cardiff’s home for afro and textured hair.