Animal-free Beauty Regime

Cruelty-free and vegan cosmetics explained

What was once a fairly niche category is now dominating the global foodie and lifestyle arena, but vegan beauty is a trend that has been bubbling beneath the surface of the cosmetic industry for many years. It’s a movement recognised by large brands as they develop product lines focused on producing animal-friendly products. Lady Gaga has even got in on the act with her crueltyfree/vegan line Haus Laboratories launched in July 2019.

There’s one barrier for the cosmetic industry – and a large one – and that’s China. Believed to be the last country in the world to test on animals. Products are required to be tested before they are sold in bricks and mortar stores there. But as leading pro animal rights organisations like PETA continue to raise awareness, resulting in a growing number of people converting to veganenriched make-up, it’s debatable how long the practice of animal testing will hold up for.

Cruelty-free vs vegan

Often closely associated, these two well-used terms have a small difference. To opt for vegan-based make-up means that you are choosing to use a product that has no animal-derived ingredients. It’s similar to food, or your choice to not have leather in your home. Cruelty-free, on the other hand, means that the product was created and developed without being tested on animals at any stage.

Dissecting the ingredients

Cruelty-free and vegan make-up means that a large proportion of ingredients are omitted from make-up. That means added ingredients like beeswax, fish scales, carmine (made from crushed cochineal bugs), keratin and tallow, among many others, are not allowed, as many of them involve extracting hormones, oil and skin from mammals.