A GUIDE TO CRUELTY FREE PRODUCTS

I can’t believe that animal testing is even still a thing! But sadly that is the reality of a lot of brands still, so the aim of this post is to help you discover ethical brands that are completely cruelty free that you can support.

We are all still learning and while putting together this list I even discovered some brands that I thought were cruelty free that are not, so I hope this is helpful in making some new beauty choices. The best way to put an end to animal testing is to boycott companies that are not cruelty free. There are so many amazing brands that are cruelty free now that we have lots of choices. Your choice is your voice 🙂

The label “cruelty-free” is unfortunately unregulated which can make it confusing for consumers to really know if a brand tests on animals or not. Many brands are technically cruelty free and will advertise that by labelling their product with a bunny but they will sell in countries where it is a legal requirement to test on animals and will abide by those countries legislations – therefore making them not truly cruelty free.

There are several layers to investigate before we can label a brand as truly 100% cruelty-free. There are 6 main factors that make a brand truly cruelty-free:

• No ingredient animal testing

• No product animal testing

• No third party animal testing

• Agreement with ingredient suppliers to not test on animals

• No required animal testing

• Parent company does not test on animals

Certified Cruelty Free Logo’s you can trust

These are the 3 main bunnies that you will see on most packaging that is certified cruelty free. If a brand has used a bunny other than the ones shown below, you may want to look into it a bit more and make sure that they are really cruelty free.

Leaping Bunny, PETA & CCF Rabbit

CHINESE LAW REQUIREMENTS

A company could meet all of the above cruelty-free credentials but sell their products in China, where it is required by law that products must be tested on animals before they are sold in their country. So any brand that is available for sale in China is not cruelty-free.

HOWEVER, China has recently amended their laws and it is no longer required by law unless it’s being sold in mainland China. I’ve shared an easy to follow infographic to explain the new laws below:

The easiest way to check if a brand is certified ‘cruelty-free’ is to check on Peta or Leaping Bunny. It is possible for a brand to be ‘cruelty-free’ without being listed on these websites, some brands simply haven’t put forward an application. If you are unsure, I recommend doing a bit of research on the brand yourself – Unfortunately some companies will say they don’t test on animals but their ingredients may still be tested so it’s always good to double check.

Companies that DO test on animals:

This is not nearly a complete list but i’ve tried to highlight some of the main brands that you may know that are currently still testing on animals.

• Almay

• Aquafresh

• Aunt Jackie’s

• Avon

• Bed Head

• Benefit

• Bobbi Brown

• Bvlgari

• Calvin Klein

• Cantu Beauty

• Clarins

• Clean & Clear

• Clearasil

• Colgate

• Dior

• Elie Saab

• Estee Lauder

• Head & Shoulders

• Jo Malone

• John Frieda

• Johnson & Johnson

• Kerastase

• L’occitane

• L’oreal

• Listerine

• MAC

• Maybelline

• Michael Kors

• NARS

• Neostrata

• Nivea

• Olay

• Pantene

• Revlon

• Sensodyne

• Skinceuticals

• Tresemme

• Vaseline

• Wella

• ZARA Fragrance

Companies that DON’T test on animals:

This is not a complete list either but a few of the main ones. I’ve broken these up into categories to make it easier for you to scroll through and find a brand. I’ve also included a few international brands which aren’t available in South Africa but if you’re ever travelling or like to order online then it’s good to know.

HAIR – These are mostly Curly hair brands but i’ve tried to include a few of the other brands as well 🙂

• As I Am

• Aussie

• Aveda

• Boucleme

• Briogeo

• Bumble and Bumble

• Carol’s Daughter

• Curlology

• Curl Smith

• DevaCurl

• Evo

• Function of Beauty

• Giovanni Cosmetics

• Hask

• Innersense

• Inoar

• Kevin Murphy

• Lush

• Moroccan Oil

• Not your Mother’s

• Noughty Haircare

• Olaplex

• Ouai

• Ouidad

• Paul Mitchell

• Pureology

• Ref Stockholm

• Shea Moisture

• The Body Shop

SKIN & BODY:

• Aesop

• Africology

• Charlotte Rhys

• Environ

• Esse

• Dermalogica

• Glossier

• Hey Gorgeous

• Lamelle

• Lush

• Nip + Fab

• Rain

• REN

• Salt of the Earth

• Skoon

• Stella McCartney

• The Body Shop

• The Ordinary

• Woolworths Beauty

MAKEUP:

• Bare Minerals

• Essence

• Inglot

• Kryolan

• Kylie Cosmetics

• L.A Girl

• Lush

• NYX

• Palladio

• Smashbox

• The Body Shop

• Too Faced

• Urban Decay

• Wet n Wild

• Woolworths Beauty

• Yardley London

You can also download the PETA Bunny Free App for Iphone & Android to easily search for products while shopping in store.

In the hope of educating more people about cruelty free brands, I thought i’d end off by sharing some facts that you may not know:

Each year, more than 100 million animals—including mice, rats, frogs, dogs, cats, rabbits, hamsters, guinea pigs, monkeys, fish, and birds—are killed in U.S. laboratories for biology lessons, medical training, curiosity-driven experimentation, and chemical, drug, food, and cosmetics testing.

Animals are deliberately sickened with toxic chemicals or infected with diseases, live in barren cages and are then killed when the experiment ends. Humans and animals are very different, so animal experiments often produce inaccurate or unusable results.

Twenty-two percent of all regulated animals used in labs are guinea pigs, by far the most used animal in research and testing, followed by rabbits (17%) and hamsters (11%).

Beagles are the dog breed most often used in animal testing, due to their size and passive nature. In the United States, as many as 65,000 beagles are used every year for medical, cosmetic, beauty, and other chemical tests. They are purpose bred and live their lives in cages undergoing experiments.