By Keeva Stratton
Since the Body Shop’s global campaign, which began in the early nineties, to make us all aware of the horrors of animal cruelty, we’ve become more conscious of the effect our beauty choices have on animals and the environment. The range of products that claim to be ‘cruelty free’ or ‘not tested on animals’ has increased dramatically (and with it, the positive brand association that comes with buying a product that shares our ethical values), but do we now assume that all of the products we buy with these labels are ethically in line with our own beliefs—and what does ‘cruelty free’ even really mean? Rescu. has done some investigating to help you better understand the impact of your beauty purchases.
Essentially, if a product is ‘cruelty free’, then the manufacturers of that product have not tested it on animals. This does not mean that the product is necessarily vegan—that it does not use animal products—nor does it guarantee that the suppliers of the ingredients for that product have not tested their ingredients on animals (either now or at some time in the past). But generally, if the ingredients have existed for some time, the testing would no longer be occurring, and cruelty free is often a good choice.
More straightforward in its meaning, ‘not tested on animals’ means that the manufacturer has done just that—not tested the product on animals. Again, it does not relate to whether the product contains animal products, or if another company had conducted testing for the ingredients; nor does it have any relevance as to whether the product is environmentally friendly, organic, or sustainably produced.
Having a product claim ‘natural ingredients’ can be the most confusing, and least assuring. It’s important to note that this does not absolve the product from having been tested on animals, nor does it guarantee the ingredients to be organic, or environmentally friendly. In the main, it’s a branding exercise to highlight the core ingredients as being from ‘natural’ rather than man-made sources. Read the package carefully whenever you see this claim.
Like organic food products, the confusion surrounding whether or not a beauty product has created harm in its production is largely due to a lack of clear regulation, particularly in the US. The good news is, more and more large cosmetics producers are recognising the public demand to keep our beauty products harm free. The European Union has even gone so far as to ban the testing of cosmetics on animals.
To be certain that your beauty products really do meet with your own ethical standards, the best thing to do is research before you buy. For a complete list of cruelty free products, visit: PETA.
