It's a very common question that we get asked and it is widely assumed that cruelty free = vegan. WRONG!  Products can be cruelty free, but not vegan and they can be vegan, but not cruelty free....... confused?

We don't blame you!

Don't worry, we got you. Let's break it down.

Cruelty Free solely means that the brand does not conduct animal testing on it's products or ingredients, whether it be directly through the brand, the manufacturer or a third party as required by law (any brand that sells in mainland China).

These products can still contain ingredients from animals, like beeswax, carmine, honey, ect.

Cruelty free brands can also be owned by companies (parent companies) that do allow testing on animals. A good example of this is Urban Decay, they are a cruelty free brand, but their parent company, L'oreal, is not a cruelty free brand. 

Vegan is if the product contains no animal by products, like beeswax, honey, animal hair, ect. All brands, regardless of whether they are cruelty free or not can have vegan products in their range.

Some brands may have products that contain no animal products but won't list that product as vegan and that is due to the chance that it could have been cross contaminated by non vegan products in production. Most brands are quite open about which products they have that are suitable for vegans.

But what about brushes and lashes that contain animal hair I hear you ask? 

Brushes and lashes that contain animal hair are a bit of a grey area in regards to cruelty free status. Obviously animal hair brushes and lashes aren't vegan, but technically they can be listed as cruelty free as they aren't being tested on animals. (eg. Huda Beauty is a cruelty free brand, but they also sell mink eyelashes.) So this one comes down to the personal opinion of the consumer. Some people feel fine using animal hair brushes and lashes, some boycott the entire brand regardless of whether they are a cruelty free brand and others choose to still support the brand but don't buy the products with animal hair. Do what feels right to you.

*Through our own research on the fur industry, we have personally made the decision to not stock any brushes or lashes that contain animal hair, as we feel it isn't cruelty free. We respect everyones opinion in regards to animal hair and know that opinions differ, however ethically we didn't feel like we could call ourselves a cruelty free store if we chose to stock animal hair brushes and lashes.

So in conclusion....

Cruelty Free = no animal testing,

Vegan = no animal ingredients.