The Ultimate Guide to Cruelty-Free and Vegan Makeup
Far from being just the next popular thing, cruelty-free and vegan are labels are slowly but surely overtaking the market and becoming a necessity in the beauty industry. A lot of brands that haven’t started with them are now embracing the labels and changing their products so they fit all the right standards, and consumers are seeking more responsibility and eco-conscious mindsets from all the companies.
And that’s what it’s all about – environmentally and animal-friendly products, but also mindfulness about the ingredients used and how they can interact with our body chemistry.
The difference between vegan and cruelty-free
Often used interchangeably, these two terms are actually very different. Cruelty-free products are products that have not been tested on animals in any capacity, either in the creation or the production phase. Some companies, like MAC, deliver to certain countries where animal testing is required by law, so the final phase does not comply with the standards, and as such isn’t completely cruelty-free.
The vegan label means that no animal by-products were used in the creation. For example, a lipstick containing beeswax could not be labeled vegan as it uses an ingredient that is directly derived from bees. Bear in mind that a product could be tested on animals without actually containing animal by-products, so the company could legally claim to be vegan even if they aren’t cruelty-free.
Benefits for the skin
In addition to not capturing animals, shaving their hides, testing a product, and the killing them periodically, vegan and cruelty-free brands are actually really good for our skin, not just our conscience. Due to the fact that they generally use fewer ingredients and that everything needs to follow very strict procedures, they are very good for sensitive skin. Similarly to organic products, this is where you want to turn to if you are sensitive and often find yourself having an allergic reaction to your makeup and cosmetics.
Which ingredients do these brands avoid?
From Kat Von D to ColourPop, the makeup brands that adhere to these standards are free of carmine (crushed beetles used to make red pigment), glycerin, lanolin, beeswax, lactic acid, elastin, collagen, and keratin. But it’s not just your eyeshadows and lipsticks that can be cruelty-free and vegan. Say it With Polish, for example, is a quality vegan nail polish from Australia that doesn’t contain the standard 5 nasty ingredients that most polishes used to have: formaldehyde, formaldehyde resin, toluene, DBP, and camphor. LVX, Flower Beauty, and Beauty Without Cruelty are also good options if you’re looking for some good vegan nail polish.
Makeup brushes are yet another thing to bear in mind – be sure to consider whether the brand uses animal or synthetic hair. Here you need to be very careful because some brands will claim their brushes are cruelty-free despite using animal fur to make them. That kind of thing is impossible. There are no ethical, humane ways to harvest hairs from animals to make those brushes, and don’t let this marketing gimmick fool you – the animals are kept in cages. While the process of hair harvesting may be painless to them, they are still imprisoned. For a good brand, go with Furless because their brushes are cruelty-free, vegan, and really well-made.
How to know which brands to trust?
If you want to make sure that the brand is truly cruelty-free and vegan, then you should trust only the companies that have actually been officially certified and bear the right seals on their label. The Leaping Bunny from CCIC & BUAV, Caring Consumer from PETA, and CCF Bunny from Choose Cruelty-Free (Australia-based) are all variations of a rabbit logo and those are the marks you want to look for on your products. If you want to know more about how these logos look, what others are there, and how legit they are, you can read about it here for an in-depth explanation.
Seeing as how all the big brands are jumping on the bandwagon and most countries are looking to outlaw animal testing, there is really no shortage of cruelty-free and vegan products going around. Try them, because not only are they made with more kindness, but with better ingredients as well.
