What’s the difference between vegan and cruelty free beauty?

What’s the difference between vegan and cruelty free beauty?

There can be a bit of confusion around “cruelty free” and “vegan”– both terms get used a lot. Do you know what each animal-loving term really means? Here is a quick understanding of what to look for when shopping vegan and cruelty free beauty.

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There can be a bit of confusion around “cruelty free” and “vegan”– both terms get used a lot. Do you know what each animal-loving term really means?


Here is a quick understanding of what to look for when shopping vegan and cruelty free beauty….


Cruelty Free Beauty

It's no secret that animal testing has been a part of the beauty industry since the beginning. With the advanced technology, science and just pure ethics for those beautiful fluffy creatures, there is actually no need for this type of practice amongst the industry-or any industry at that.


What does cruelty free beauty mean?


PETA simply describes “cruelty-free” as a product and its ingredients that “weren’t (or ever will be) tested on animals” in production.


This mission carries through the entire supply chain to be transparently cruelty-free. That means that not only has the final product NOT been tested on animals, each ingredient–nor formulations–have not been tested on these innocent animals as well.



Cruelty-free labeling on your beauty products can technically contain animal-derived ingredients such as keratin, beeswax, lanolin, collagen, carmine (a red pigment derived from beetles), and gelatin. This is when you want to also look for the term “vegan” in your beauty rituals.


Vegan beauty

What does vegan beauty mean?

Vegan means that the product contains zero animal-derived ingredients throughout the entire supply chain. Sometimes the processing of ingredients contains animal-based elements, so it is important to support brands that share your ethics on animal welfare and ones you coherently trust.


Look for credible logos from organizations that demand brands to become certified through a defined set of rules and regulations like PETA and Leaping Bunny.


cruelty free beautycruelty free


To learn about Elate’s stand on vegan and cruelty free beauty and our 5 Conscious Beauty Principles, click here.

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