In 2017 sales of vegan cosmetics shot up by 100%; veganism is extending beyond just our diet and fashion choices. We’re proud that all our products carry both The Vegan Society and Cruelty Free International accreditations, but we know there’s some confusion about what vegan and cruelty-free means and the difference between them. They’re often used interchangeably, but there is a difference. So, let us clear things up for you…
Vegan
Vegan beauty products don’t contain any animal ingredients. It’s common to find animal derived components like lanolin (wool wax) or shellac (a resin from the female lac bug) in toiletries and make-up, but vegan products will exclude all of these.
Cruelty-free
A product which is cruelty-free means that neither the product nor the ingredients or components have been tested on animals. This can be a bit of a minefield, as many companies don’t test the final product, but may well test some of the ingredients, so look for accreditation you recognise – like Cruelty Free Internationals’ leaping bunny or PETA.
All fairly straight-forward, but the confusion comes when we consider that a vegan product isn’t necessarily cruelty-free and visa versa. Vegan products can be tested on animals – although this is more likely to be true of ‘accidentally vegan’ products. And some cruelty-free products may contain animal derived ingredients (such as honey or beeswax).
Labels can be mind-boggling, and the sheer amount of information we’re faced with when we go shopping can be overwhelming. If you want to be 100% certain that absolutely no animals were harmed to make your toiletries, look for products that are both vegan and cruelty free.