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Cruelty Free VS Vegan

This blog focuses on a cruelty free and vegan lifestyle. Specifically with beauty and household items. I think that it’s really important to let people know that there is a difference between cruelty free and vegan. The reason that both cruelty free and vegan products are featured on Logical Harmony is to make the content relatable to a broad spectrum of people. For some people, buying vegan products is going to be an easy transition. For others, going cruelty free is all that they can do. Even just swapping handful of your products for cruelty free or vegan versions is great! What each person is able to do is going to be different, and it’s important to take whatever steps you are comfortable with taking.

I urge you to take the Leaping Bunny Cruelty-Free Pledge. If someone can do their part to help by buying all cruelty free products, then it’s definitely a step in the right direction and worth supporting.

What defines cruelty free?

For a product to be cruelty free, there should be no form of animal testing at any point in the products creation. It’s common for companies to not test the final product on animals, but test it along the way or to use ingredients that have been tested on animals by a third-party. These products, no matter what the packaging says, are not cruelty free. If you aren’t sure about a product, it’s always a good idea to contact the company itself and ask flat-out if they test on animals in any way during the creation of the process. Most companies who do not test on animals and whose suppliers do not test will give you a prompt reply stating so. If you do not receive a reply, or if the reply gives you an unclear answer, then it’s best to not purchase products from this company just to be safe.

One of the easiest ways to spot a cruelty free product is to look for the official Leaping Bunny logo. As stated in their FAQ,

The Standard is short for the Corporate Standard of Compassion for Animals, a voluntary pledge that cosmetic, personal care, and/or household product companies make to clear animal testing from all stages of product development. The company’s ingredient suppliers make the same pledge and the result is a product guaranteed to be 100 percent free of new animal testing. All Leaping Bunny companies must be open to independent audits, and commitments are renewed on an annual basis.

Can a company be cruelty free and not have the Leaping Bunny Logo? It’s possible, though unless the company in question goes through their certification process, Leaping Bunny cannot guarantee that it is truly cruelty free. Joining the Leaping Bunny Program is free for companies. The only cost associated with the program comes with the optional licensing of the Leaping Bunny Logo. Adaptation of the logo is not required and fees are fed directly back into the program because they pay for the audits conducted on companies to verify compliance with the standard. Regardless, all Leaping Bunny certified companies are listed in the program’s Compassionate Shopping Guide, available as both a wallet-sized insert and as a free app for iPhones and Android phones. As always, when in doubt, contact the company with a clear and specific question. You can ask just about their process and also the process of any of their suppliers. A clear and specific response back is usually a good sign.

Products that are not tested on animals are not necessarily vegan. Commonly used ingredients include: honey, beeswax, lanolin, collagen, albumen, carmine, cholesterol, gelatin, etc. If you wish to avoid these ingredients, then buying vegan products would be a good course of action for you to take.

What defines vegan?

A product that is vegan is not only cruelty free, but also does not contain any animal ingredient or animal derived ingredients. This includes the listed items above – honey, beeswax, lanolin, collagen, albumen, carmine, cholesterol, and gelatin – as well as many others. People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) offers a very detailed and helpful Animal Ingredient Guide that can give you more details on what to avoid.

Whether an ingredient was derived from an animal is not always clear. Many companies remove the word “animal” from their ingredient labels in order to avoid putting off consumers and to increase profit margins. Animal ingredients are used not because they are better than vegetable-derived or synthetic ingredients but rather because they are generally cheaper. Today’s slaughterhouses must dispose of the byproducts of the slaughter of billions of animals every year and have found an easy and profitable solution in selling them to food and cosmetics manufacturers.

There are plenty of companies that PETA has endorsed as being both cruelty free and vegan (these are also often endorsed by Leaping Bunny as well). PETA offers a Cruelty-Free Shopping Guide of cruelty-free products. In this guide, it also notes which are vegan. However, just like with cruelty free items, it’s often wise to e-mail the company directly and ask. There are lots of beauty companies that are cruelty free and offer a mostly vegan selection of items. These companies are often more than happy to tell you exactly what items and shades are vegan. If they are unable to give you a clear answer, it’s best to avoid products by that company.

Logos To Look For

PETA Caring Consumer Cruelty Free and Vegan

The above logo’s are certifications offered to companies by Leaping Bunny and PETA’s Caring Consumer. Leaping Bunny and the Caring Consumer actually do in-depth checks on companies to ensure that they are cruelty free and/or vegan through the whole process. Just as stated by Leaping Bunny, it’s possible for cruelty free and vegan products to not have these logos.

Images : Leaping Bunny, PETA, Caring Consumer