The Switch to Cruelty-Free: Everything You Need to Know

Hello!

     I recently released a photo on my Instagram announcing my switch to cruelty-free makeup, skin care, hair care and body care. I got a lot of questions. What does this mean? Isn't finding cruelty-free makeup impossible? What does cruelty-free mean? I plan on answering all these questions and more in this post. Let's get started!  (note: I will be underlining more than I do in most posts so that you can skim the page and still gain the crucial information 😉)

What does cruelty-free even mean?

   There are a couple different ways that people will define cruelty-free products. The most common is a product made by a company that never tests on animals. Many companies will say things like "only where required by law." What this means is that they sell their products in mainland China and are therefore required by law to test the products on animals. They are not a cruelty free company. (By most definitions at least) Now this next part is where many people disagree. There are makeup and skincare companies like Tarte, Too Faced, Urban Decay, The Body Shop, Aveda, Nyx and many more that are owned by parent companies that test on animals. While the brands themselves never actually test on animals, the money from your purchases are going to fund companies that do. Some people choose to still buy from them and some people do not want their money to continue to fund animal testing. I will not be buying from "cruelty-free companies" that are owned by parent companies that do test on animals. The last division in cruelty-free is a little more obscure. Some will argue that using products that contain animal derived ingredients constitutes animal cruelty. I hope to make the switch to entirely vegan skin, hair and body care eventually, but at this point I will just be using traditionally cruelty free products unless otherwise stated. 

Why are you going cruelty-free?

    There are so many alternative options to testing on animals. I see no reason to continue an archaic and outdated practice, especially when there are problems with it (besides being unethical). Animals will not always react the same way that people do. Something that works fine with say a bunny or a rat will not always have the same results with humans. A better option would be to grow artificial human skin. Now that we can finally create synthetic skin that reacts like ours, why would we continue to test on animals which may have different results? It could be argued that this would be an expensive switch but there only needs to be testing for new ingredients. There are hundreds of thousands of ingredients that we know do not harm human skin, and there are millions of combinations of these same ingredients. It would be a very long time before we ran out of combinations.

How do you know that is a product is cruelty-free?

   There are two main organizations that you can find in the U.S. that certify that a product is cruelty-free. There is the PETA bunny as well as the Leaping Bunny logo. Now, some brands will try to trick you by displaying just a picture of a bunny that is not an official logo, so makeup sure to check that it is one of those two logos. Some companies can be cruelty-free without displaying the logo! It costs them money to use the cruelty-free logos, so the best way to find out if a company is cruelty-free is to look it up on either the PETA website or the Leaping Bunny website. Another invaluable resource is The Cruelty-Free Kitty, which is a website dedicated entirely to helping you identify cruelty-free brands. The Cruelty-Free Kitty  also shows you which brands are owned by parents companies which test. It is constantly updated and always working to display accurate info. The Cruelty-Free Kitty is truly a godsend. 

Courtesy of The Cruelty-Free Kitty (linked above) 

Aren't there not very many cruelty-free brands? 

   This is a commonly held misconception but there are actually tons of cruelty-free beauty brands ranging from drug-store to luxury! You can find cruelty-free brands at almost any beauty store including Sephora and Ulta. Just a few cruelty-free brands are:

• YesTo
• Alba Botanica
• e.l.f 
• Pacifica 
• Nip+Fab 
• 100% Pure 
• Kat Von D 
• Anastatia Beverly Hills
• Rodial 

How can we expect this change to express itself in the Makeup By Coco Cat blog and YouTube Channel?

    While I will still continue to use the products I currently own so that they do not go to waste, I will no longer be featuring non-cruelty free brands or products in my posts or videos. My blog and YouTube channel will be pretty much the same, but now cruelty-free! 💖

     I hope that you enjoyed this post and had your questions answered. Please feel free to ask any more questions in the comments section below or send me an email at Lovesliquidliner@gmail.com

Love,
Coco Cat

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