Step1
Avoid non-vegan ingredients in food. Of course, there’s the obvious meat, milk, cheese, butter, eggs and honey. But you need to memorize this list of commonly used vegan no-no’s too: whey, gelatin, casein, rennet, cochineal and shellac.
Step2
Avoid non-vegan ingredients in beauty products. Lanolin, for example, is a grease derived from sheep wool. Keratin is another common one, but it’s a protein made from hair, horns, hooves or feathers. Others to avoid include honey, beeswax, shellac (in nail varnish), civet, musk, castoreum, ambergis, chitin, tallow, gelatin, elastin, squalene, urea and propolis.
Step3
When shopping for household products, buy only those that say “Cruelty-Free” or “No animal testing. No animal ingredients.”
Step4
When shopping for clothes, avoid wool, leather, fur, feathers and any other material or adornment that came from an animal.
Step5
Find out which companies do not use animal testing or animal products. Just because it’s not on the packaging doesn’t mean it’s not vegan. Equally helpful is knowing which companies do test on animals. For lists of both, check out Cruelty-Free Companies linked to at the bottom of this page.
Step6
Find a store that caters to the vegan lifestyle. Health food grocery stores are a great place to start, especially the chains that are spreading like wildfire all over the country, making healthier food alternatives more affordable for us all. They carry everything vegan these days, from laundry detergent to shampoo. Of course, regular grocery stores also carry some vegan products, you just won’t find as wide a variety, and you’ll have to search harder to find them.
Step7
Search online for any vegan products you cannot find in your local stores, like cosmetics, hair color and shoes. Just be sure to use the word “vegan” in your search.
Novice 
