Hello-I’m new here and have never used a chat forum before. I just wanted to get in touch and get some support from like minded people. I becamse a vegan over a gradual time span; I was a pescatarian for 3 years, a vegetarian for 5 total, and now I’m a vegan. I’m new at the veganism, and I’m really overwhelmed. There’s animal by product in so many places I’d never think to look. Becoming vegan has made me so much more aware of this than I was when a vegetarian. I came to this site because I reached kind of a breaking point today. See, here’s the story–yesterday, I went to a salon, and I had my hair dyed for the first time in my life. In the middle of the process, it hit me: there’s probably animal by product in this. So, then of course, I come home, and google and google, and can find no ingredient list for the product I used, so I finally called Matrix and talked to a customer service rep. She told me there was glycerin in the hair color. So, now, I spent $100, trying something I thought was new and exciting, and now I feel so guilty and sad when I look at my hair. I love animals so much, and I can’t believe I bought animal fat and now, it’s part of my hair. I’m 
ed by it. I made an appointment with an organic salon to get my hair returned back to normal using peta endorsed products, but I can’t get that done for a week. I realize I’m not the one out there killing the animals, but everytime I think I’m being aware and doing my best, I find out I’m ignorant and do something stupid like buy hair product that has dead animal in it. I know this may seem like a small thing, but I’m sure you all understand, being a vegan can be so lonely and frustrating. Animals are sacred in my eyes, and now, I can’t even look at my own head in the mirror without wanting to cry. Someone who is more experienced in this, please send me some advice because I’m feeling really guilty right now.
It’s all right Nikki, you will get over of that in due time… Your appointment is fast approaching… The lesson, next time it is better to research first and ten go for it… 
Oh Nikki…try not to beat yourself up. (Easy to say when I do it to myself all the time!)
You are already doing so much more than most people in the world to protect animals from suffering. You deserve a round of applause!
Your story just goes to show how animals are used in ways we don’t even think about. This is a learning process and a journey. Celebrate your success and learn from your mistakes.
Bet your new organic hair colour will be much cooler than the other one!
the point of being vegan is intention not perfection. everyone makes a little mistake now and then. you cant beat yourself up over it. theres simply no point. fixing your hair or feeling remorse for dying it doesnt change anything. the only thing it accomplishes is to stress you out and cause you to spend more money. if you love animals and you have clearly spent a long time living a lifestyle that does its best not to contribute to their suffereing then you are fine. you need not worry about the little things are you are just going to drive yourself nuts. i have found my veganism to be a very peaceful thing. the other day i had to buy veggie burgers that had egg whites in them because i was stuck in the deep south where there were no vegan foods to be seen. did i beat myself up? no. i got to eat that day. i knew that as soon as i returned home i would be back in an animal product free zone again and would still be fighting for the cause.
what is the basic difference between a vegeatarian and a vegan. being gorn and brought up in a vegeatarian family in India, i never really encountered any such problem so i reall don’t have any idea about the difference between the two terms.
In most circles, a vegan is considered to be someone who doesn’t eat meat or any type of animal product. A vegetarian is considered to be someone who also doesn’t eat meat, but will eat dairy products and/or eggs. Someone who eats eggs and dairy products is considered to be an ovo-lacto vegetarian. That’s what I am. Some people even consider those who limit their eating of meat to chicken and fish as being vegetarian, but I totally disagree with that assessment. I hope that my answer helps you to understand what you wanted to know.