Cruelty-Free Cosmetics and Which Brands Are Cruelty-Free?

It is shocking that in the 21st century, animals are still being used to test an array of products including agricultural chemicals, warfare agents, and industrial cleaning agents. But animal-tested products can also find their way into our homes, particularly in the form of cosmetics and toiletries. So, how do we know which products are ethically tested for safety and efficacy and which are not? This is our guide on how to pick the best beauty products that have no ugly side.

How Common Is Animal Testing?

For hundreds of years, animals have been bred, deliberately harmed, and sacrificed in laboratories, despite there being compelling evidence that the practice should have been abandoned long ago. Testing on animals is neither necessary nor ethical, but it persists for a variety of reasons, some economic, some legal, but also because “we always have”. At least 14 million animals die in US labs each year and three million die in the UK. They suffer a wide variety of physical, psychological, and emotional torments that we will not traumatize you with here.

While campaigners work to end these cruel practices, we can each play our part by choosing cruelty-free cosmetic and toiletry products.

Is Cosmetic Testing on Animals Banned?

Forty-five countries have now banned the testing of cosmetic products on animals: all 27 member states of the European Union, as well as Australia, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Guatemala, Iceland, India, Israel, Mexico, New Zealand, Norway, South Korea, Switzerland, Taiwan, Turkey and the UK.

This is very positive but it is not the end of the story, because even if we live in a region where cosmetic testing on animals is banned, some of the best-known companies in our shops are still harming animals to test products that are for sale elsewhere in the world. Plus, the very same ingredients that are used in the cosmetics can still be tested on animals if they are also being used in non-cosmetic products.

Finding and supporting genuinely ethical companies has never been more important.

Millions of rabbits, rats, mice and other animals are harmed and killed for beauty products

How To Find Cruelty-Free Cosmetics

You might think it would be easy to read the packaging and know which products were tested on animals and which were not. But beware of any claims you might read! If the packaging says “against animal testing” that does not mean the company does not do it. If it says “this product was not tested on animals” it does not mean that the company did not test the ingredients individually on animals. And if it says “We do not test on animals” it may be that they pay someone else to do it. Those claims can be a minefield of misinformation.

However, there is a very helpful indicator we should look out for: the Leaping Bunny logo. This logo denotes that the product was created without animal testing, and thousands of products internationally carry it, so finding that leaping bunny is a great place to start.

However, this logo simply means the product was not tested on animals; it does not mean that the product was created without harming animals, and so one more check must be made to ensure the product is 100% cruelty-free.

Vegan Versus Cruelty-Free Cosmetics

When used in relation to cosmetics and toiletries, the term ‘cruelty-free’ tends only to refer to whether the product or its ingredients were tested on animals. But if your lipstick contains bits of ground-up dead salmon or your skin cream contains parts of a cow’s vertebra, the product cannot really be said to be cruelty-free. To be truly cruelty-free, the product needs to contain no ingredients from animals, and so ethical consumers look out for products that are both free from animal testing and vegan.

Animal Ingredients in Cosmetics

There are many animal-derived ingredients that may be used by the industry and these are just a few that we may inadvertently be putting on our bodies. If you think it reads like a horror movie, you are not alone.

  • Carmine or cochineal: ground-up insects that may be used to give red lipstick its color
  • Castoreum: a scent produced by beavers who are killed to obtain it
  • Collagen: taken from the skins of slaughtered animals
  • Elastin: taken from the vertebrae of cows
  • Gelatin: made by boiling up the bones and organs of animals
  • Guanine: taken from slaughtered fish to make nail polish shine
  • Lanolin: taken from the fleece of slaughtered sheep
  • Shellac: a secretion from insects where the animals are killed for its production
  • Silk: widely used in shampoos but is made by killing insects
  • Squalene: taken from the livers of sharks to make lip balms and moisturizers
  • Tallow: made from the fat of slaughtered sheep and cows to make soaps and moisturizers

To ensure your cosmetics and toiletries are fully cruelty-free it is therefore advisable to look for a vegan logo alongside the Leaping Bunny, or to research your brands online before buying to ensure that they adhere to your own compassionate and ethical beliefs.

Vegan and Cruelty-Free Cosmetic Brands

Thankfully, there are plenty of amazing vegan and fully cruelty-free brands to choose from. These are just a few of our favorites that you can use in confidence.

Vegan and Cruelty-Free Hair Care

  • Abba
  • Battle Green
  • Bleach London
  • Curlsmith
  • Fable & Mane
  • Herbatint
  • Naturtint
  • Olaplex
  • Pacifica
  • Sukin
  • The Wonder Seed
  • Virtue Labs

Vegan and Cruelty-Free Make Up

  • Barry M
  • Black Moon Cosmetics
  • Barefaced Beauty
  • BWC (Beauty Without Cruelty)
  • Dirty Hippie Cosmetics
  • Elf Cosmetics
  • Fairypants
  • Inika Organic
  • Love the Planet
  • MUA Cosmetics
  • Salt New York
  • The Body Shop

Vegan and Cruelty-Free Nail Polish

  • Base Coat
  • Candy x Paints
  • Color Club
  • Dazzle Dry
  • Jolie Vegan
  • Karma Organic
  • Madam Glam
  • Orly
  • Piggy Paint
  • Raw Nails
  • Sienna
  • Zao Organic Makeup

Vegan and Cruelty-Free Skin Care

  • Bioclarity
  • Birch Babe
  • Conscious Skincare
  • French Girl
  • Herbivore
  • Kopari
  • MuLondon
  • Nuria Beauty
  • Peach Not Plastic
  • R.E.M. Beauty
  • The Organic Skin Co
  • UpCircle Beauty

Vegan and Cruelty-Free Body Care

  • A’kin
  • African Botanics
  • BKind
  • Cocokind
  • Ellovi
  • Faith in Nature
  • Hempz
  • Little Barn Apothecary
  • Original Source
  • Oshun Organics
  • Saint Jane
  • Starface

For a complete list of all vegan and cruelty-free cosmetic and toiletry brands, visit Ethical Elephant.

Rats deserve a happy home, not to be harmed in labs

Ending Animal Testing

Buying from genuinely cruelty-free and vegan companies—for toiletries, cosmetics, and household products—is the most direct way we can have an impact on ending cruel animal tests.

But to really end the practice, we need to do two things: educate ourselves about the issue and press for legislative change. To do both these things, we would recommend finding out more from organizations that are dedicated to ending the suffering of animals inside laboratories. They include:

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