Vegan and Cruelty-Free: The Difference
If a product is vegan, it means it does not contain any animal ingredients. If a product is cruelty-free, it means it hasn't been tested on animals.
It's important to remember that these things are different; products can be vegan but still tested on animals, or not tested on animals but still contain animal ingredients. We only stock products that are both vegan and cruelty-free.
What animal ingredients are often used in non-vegan cosmetics?
There are many animal ingredients that are commonly found in non-vegan cosmetics, from ground-up fish scales in eyeshadows to animal fur/hair used for the bristles of makeup brushes. Sadly, obtaining these ingredients usually causes lots of pain or even death for the animals involved.
Some of the common ingredients are:
1. Carmine (crushed bugs) found in many products, such as lipstick and blusher, to give a red colour.
2. Animal hair/fur used for the bristles of makeup brushes and for false eyelashes.
3. Guanine (obtained from fish scales) found in many products such as shampoo and nail polish.
4. Squalene (extracted from shark livers) is often found in products such as lip balm, sunscreen, deodorant and moisturiser.
5. Lanolin (derived from sheep wool) is often found in lip and hair products.
(Source: PETA).
"I'd love to go vegan, but I love cheese too much."
You've probably heard someone say a sentence like this at some point or another, or perhaps you've said it yourself. It seems to be quite common for people to be put off veganism because of one food type, whether that's cheese, bacon, chocolate, or something else.
Our founder says: "if you like the thought of being vegan but there's a food item that you just don't think you could give up, my suggestion would be to try making vegan choices in all the other areas that you think you could manage. A fantastic place to start if you're just venturing out into the vegan world is with the beauty products and toiletries that you buy. I really do think it's the easiest part of being a vegan - who ever heard of someone missing their old non-vegan mascara because they craved the ingredients that were in it?!"