Vegan or Cruelty-Free Skincare: How to Tell the Difference?
Veganism and cruelty-free products have recently been on the rise in the world. However, some people may still have the misconception that vegan products and cruelty-free products are the same. In this article, we will cover a lot of questions like what exactly does cruelty-free mean, is cruelty-free and vegan same, and how do you know if a product is cruelty-free. This way, you will be able to learn the facts about veganism, and animal testing cosmetics, therefore, make more informed and ethical choices when it comes to accessing clean ingredients.
What is Veganism?
Although veganism is known only as a type of diet today, it is actually a whole lifestyle consisting of ethical choices. Vegans, unlike vegetarians, oppose all animal abuse, not just consuming meat products. They do not prefer products such as eggs and animal milk, and they generally use cosmetic products that do not test on animals, products made from faux leather, and plant waste.
What Does Cruelty-Free Mean?
Cruelty means behavior that causes physical or mental pain to others and makes them suffer, especially deliberately, according to Oxford Learner’s Dictionaries. Well, now you can easily guess what cruelty-free means. Cruelty-free cosmetics, don’t do animal testing as an ethical choice.
Since there is no law on this yet in many countries, there is no definitive way to prove that the product ingredients have not been tested on animals, although we can know that the final product has not been tested on animals. However, some organizations provide some kind of certification to brands about whether the products are completely cruelty-free or vegan, and in order for a product to carry the cruelty-free label, all ingredients of the product, including the final product, must not have been tested on animals and must not work with third parties that conduct animal testing.
Is Cruelty-Free Mean Vegan?
Here, the question may arise in minds whether cruelty-free and vegan products are the same. Unfortunately, no, they are not. Although cruelty-free products are products that have not been tested on animals, they may contain various animal products as ingredients.
Likewise, while a vegan product may contain no animal ingredients, it may contain animal-tested ingredients or may have itself been tested on animals. For this reason, it is important to shop by paying attention to what certifications the products have and which companies they work with.
How to Know If a Product is Cruelty-Free?
Brands can write many things such as vegan, vegetarian, or cruelty-free on the products themselves through packaging, unfortunately, there are no laws preventing this in many countries. However, some reliable organizations examine whether brands do animal testing, provide these brands with their own labels, and continue to review and register these brands at regular intervals. Below you can find the most reliable registrations and icons worldwide.
1. PETA — Beauty Without Bunnies
PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) is the world’s largest animal rights organization, with more than 9 million members worldwide. They organize many campaigns and trainings and provide one of the most reliable cruelty-free certificates in the world. With Beauty Without Bunnies campaign, they provide information about brands and if they are cruelty-free and vegan. They have 2 different certificates: PETA Cruelty-Free and PETA Cruelty-Free and Vegan. PETA Cruelty-Free states that the product is only cruelty-free, while PETA Cruelty-Free and Vegan states that the product is both cruelty-free and vegan.
2. CCIC — Leaping Bunny
It is another type of cruelty-free registration granted according to the standards established by the CCIC (Coalition for Consumer Information on Cosmetics) organization, which is a combination of eight national animal protection organizations. Unlike PETA, it has a presence not only in the United States but internationally. Leaping Bunny, like PETA, provides certification on the condition that all animal testing is prevented. That is, an end product itself, the company that owns the end product, and none of the other ingredients that make up the end product must have been tested on animals.
Lists and Guides to Check Before Purchase
PETA’s Official Website
One of the most reliable sources is PETA’s official website since they provide one of the most creditable cruelty-free certificates in the world. You can easily check the list through categories or keywords to figure out if a brand has a PETA Cruelty-Free Certificate and is vegan.
Leaping Bunny’s Official Website
Leaping Bunny, as we covered, is an international source to understand if a product is cruelty-free. They offer a wide range of brands on their website, including Canadian brands, and also they show if the brand has a parent company that has not verified their cruelty-free approach. Additionally, you can download their cruelty-free app to any smartphone for a better experience while researching a brand.
Cruelty-Free Kitty
You can check if a brand is cruelty-free and see the certifications they have with Cruelty-Free Kitty for not just PETA but also Leaping Bunny. They have also information on the brand that completely provides vegan products just like PETA’s official website. You can reach out to these brands’ websites to directly purchase products from them.
Ethical Elephant
Just like PETA’s official website and Cruelty-Free Kitty, Ethical Elephant also has information about whether a brand is cruelty-free and vegan, but you cannot see what certifications they have. Unlike other websites, If a brand has a parent company that tests on animals or where there is not enough information about whether they do animal testing, they also show the names of the parent companies along with these brands.
Final Words
With the development of technology, animal experimentation is now considered a primitive method. It is our duty to both the world and animals to at least choose our cosmetic products from brands that do not abuse animals. When I’m researching a brand, I usually look to see if it has a PETA certificate while shopping at the store, as it is a more well-known and more popular certification than Leaping Bunny, so it is also easy to understand whether the brand is vegan or not. But if you ask me, external resources like Cruelty-Free are also very useful. Especially when shopping online, instead of checking PETA first and then Leaping Bunny, I can find out which certification the brand has and whether it is vegan from the list created by Cruelty-Free Kitty. While you take care of your skin, don’t forget to take care of animals, too.
