How To Shop For Cruelty-Free Beauty Products

Walking into a drugstore and seeing endless aisles of makeup can be overwhelming. Now try to narrow those products down into ones that don’t test on animals. While going cruelty-free seems like a huge lifestyle change, it only takes a few small steps to protest animal testing. Think about it — as consumers, the choices we make impact the lives of animals who are negatively altered by animal testing. We owe it to our furry friends to shop cruelty-free! Here are some ways to get started:

You don’t need to replace everything at once

Go through your makeup drawer and review your products. You might be surprised by how many items you have that are already cruelty-free (and sadly, how many are not). Look for the Leaping Bunny logo. If you are still unsure if a product is cruelty-free, give the company a Google search, or look them up on the Think Dirty app. Think Dirty will not only tell you what’s in your product, it will also provide cleaner options to choose from.

Don’t panic if the majority of your products are not cruelty-free. You don’t need to throw away all of your products. When you run out of the old products, transition into cruelty-free alternatives.

Know that vegan and cruelty-free are not the same thing

Often times, the words vegan and cruelty-free are used interchangeably. But, they are not the same thing. A product that is vegan does not contain any animal ingredients or animal-derived ingredients. It is possible that a product that is dubbed as vegan can also be tested on animals. For a product to be labeled as cruelty-free, there should be no form of animal testing in any stage of the production process. But again, a product can be cruelty-free but not vegan. Many companies are both vegan and cruelty-free, it is just a matter of finding them.

Use cruelty-free shopping guides as a resource

Logical Harmony has mobile lists and even printable PDF lists so that you know which products to add to your cart, and which ones to avoid. The website has lists of cruelty-free brands for high-end makeup stores like Sephora and Ulta. For all my Target lovers, there is also a list for you! For those of you who just want a good bargain, there is a list of drugstore brands as well. The lists are even updated weekly. It doesn’t get easier than that! But if you are in a rush at the grocery store, just give the brand you are looking at a quick online search to see if they are a cruelty-free or vegan company.

Have Go-To Brands

When you are in a rush, you don’t want to accidentally pick up a product that is not cruelty-free. Having go-to products that you know for sure are cruelty-free will save you time when you are in a hurry. Below are a few of my personal favorite cruelty-free brands.

Lush is a popular option for bath bombs, shampoos, conditioners, shower gels, face masks, lotions and more. The majority of their products are vegan as well.

E.L.F. is a cheap option for makeup and beauty products, but the formula in each product has a high-end quality to it. And they are 100% vegan! I recommend their makeup brushes, most of them are only $3.

NYX is one of my all-time favorite makeup brands. Again, the formula they use for each product matches the quality for pricer brands, but at a fraction of the cost. I use the BB Cream instead of foundation for a natural, yet put together look. It should be noted that NYX is cruelty-free but their parent company, L’Oreal, is not.

If you are looking to splurge, Too Faced is worth it. Not only do they have adorable packaging for all of their products, but their Born This Way concealer is life changing. My skin has never looked so radiant!

Happy shopping!