Tell Me, What Is Cruelty-Free Vegan Beauty?

The beauty industry still has a long way to go. With all of the advances in plant-based ingredients and seeing as there should be no ethical reason to test any cosmetic on animals these practices should not exist today. Not only are animals not an ethical test subject, they are also unreliable and essentially ineffective as animals would not experience the same reactions that we would to a given product. However there are still many cosmetic companies that continue to test their products on animals. So what exactly is cruelty-free and vegan beauty, and what differentiates the two?

Cruelty-Free

When typically creating a product there is always a testing phase in order to determine the safety of the product for human use and this phase is conducted by many companies by testing on animals. Cruelty-free implies that there is no animal testing involved in the manifacture or development of a product. Cruelty-free can also suggest that no animal testing has occured with their company’s third parties or with any of their suppliers. It is also very important to note that the term ‘cruelty-free’ has no current regulation, so a company may use this term in order to suit their own needs and definition. There are still many countries that require testing on animals before relinquishing them for public consumption, so while a company may declare its practices to be cruelty-free, they may still be selling their products to a country that will test them on animals.

Vegan

It is very important to note the distinction between ‘cruelty-free’ and ‘vegan’. A product that is declared ‘vegan’ means that no ingredient in the product contains any part of an animal. So while a product may be cruelty-free, as in it is not tested on animals, it may not necessarily be vegan. There have been many incredible advances and new technologies for the practical use of plant-based ingredients in cosmetics, and we are also much less likely to experience adverse reactions to plant-based products.

At Étymologie not only are we dedicated to being kind to our planet, but as passionate animal lovers and advocates for animal welfare, we are also proudly PETA certified cruelty-free and vegan. We do not see any reason at all to test our products on or use any ingredients derived from animals, when there is an abundance of skincare technology and ingredients available to produce high-performance products that are 100% vegan. 

References:

https://www.crueltyfreeinternational.org/

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/02/26/style/why-you-should-care-about-vegan-beauty.html