Welcome to Gaia! ::

If anyone saw my other recently made topic, you'd know that my New Years resolution is to become vegan. I've done a good deal of research and its convinced me to finally have the guts to go vegan.

But one problem I've found is how many of my daily life needs animal products. Like how soap and shampoo (or at least the ones I have now) aren't vegan.

Does anyone recommend any vegan soaps/shampoos that I might find at a grocery store (like Trader Joe's or Central Market, not Walmart) or drug store? I don't want to have to purchase anything over the web. Deodorant too.

And also if you know of any good milk and cheese substitutes, that would be great.

Another thing: Are there any foods/products that would have animal products in them? I know the basics, like leather and jello and whatnot, but are there any that might surprise me? I really want to be prepared and be as cruelty free as possible.

Any other tips are appreciated. Thanks in advance.

Edit: Some one told me about Tom's of Maine and they seem to have everything I'll need hygiene wise. I know its available where I live, too, because my mom uses their toothpaste.

Vegan cookies invade your cookie jar gives VCTOTW a run for it's money in my humble opinion.

A good basic cookbook for vegans is La Dolce Vegan by Sarah Kramer, it's one of my most used cookbooks. It's got simple, easy to follow recipes that don't require anything you can't find in your supermarket *usually* >.>, Another great cookbook is Alternative Vegan by Dino Sarma. (He's got a podcast too that has information about cooking that every person can use.)

Soaps depends on where you are. I've got great local brands that you might not be able to find, I'll put one out Val's Veggie Bars?

Shops like Vegan Essentials, Karmavore, and Cosmo's Vegan Shoppe are great resources for finding vegan options to look for around your town. Or buying from if you can't find them, I know you're not looking to buy from online stores but sometimes they're worth it if you really can't do without. Vegan white chocolate chips for example in my case. : P

For milk substitutes, Silk or So Nice soy milk are really some of the best, though there are lots of good store brands that work quite nicely.

The most important thing for me about my veganism has been to be smart about my nutrition. Every time I've had a 'vegan crisis' in which I am being stupid and blame veganism rather than myself, I have been ignoring something about my diet.

Pick up Becoming Vegan, because I think it's got really important nutritional information for everyone and it points out some of the other important things that a lot of vegans can forget sometimes. (I know some vegans that don't eat beans, not because they're allergic but because they're dead set on developing a soy allergy)

Good luck and Yayyy! : )

A lot of people say you can still be vegan and have animal products as long as you didn't buy those products new. For example, buying a wool sweater at a thrift store or finding a leather jacket in the garbage. In those cases, no one is profiting from the animal product and you are not helping to keep those people in business, just making use of something that is already there. So if you got your wool sweaters handed down from your mom, that doesn't necessarily mean you're not vegan or that you should feel guilt about it. 3nodding

WestSoy and Silk for soymilk

It's true that sheep are not killed for their wool. But that certainly does not make the wool industry humane.

Sheep that are raised for wool are often kept in factory farms with poor and dirty living conditions. A lot of them get skin infections, have their skin cut, get their tails cut off, etc. http://www.savethesheep.com/animals.asp

Obviously not all sheep are raised that way. But most of us don't know exactly where our products came from. So a lot of people won't buy wool just so that they know for sure that they're not supporting that kind of operation.

Vegans generally also avoid all animal products (even silk, wool, and honey) because they do not believe that humans should be getting ahead by taking things from animals.

I went to a vegan store the other day and saw vegan condoms and laughed my a** off XD