If you’re a fellow animal lover like me, I’m sure you’ll agree that animal testing on beauty products really should be a thing of the past. Some of the practices are just plain cruel. Sadly I don’t have the power to stop animal testing completely, but I can do my little bit by not supporting brands which do. Which is why I decided to make the switch, so I can now offer 100% cruelty free wedding hair & makeup services. In today’s post I’m going to tell you more about what that means, and my reasons why.
What does cruelty free actually mean?
When it comes to hair and makeup, offering a cruelty free service means that none of the products I use are tested on animals. Animal testing on cosmetics is actually illegal in the EU, however in order to sell in China brands have to pay to have their products tested on animals. China has one of the biggest beauty markets in the world, so many brands will forgo the ethics to cash in on the Chinese market. Sadly the term ‘cruelty free’ isn’t regulated, so some brands will claim they are cruelty free ‘except where required by law’, meaning they still test their products on animals to enter the Chinese market. Personally, I think this is quite misleading! But never fear, I’ve done lots of research so I can ensure your wedding hair & makeup is truly cruelty free!
How do I determine if a brand is cruelty free?
As cruelty free isn’t a regulated term, it’s not always straight forward working out which brands truly don’t take part in animal testing. To make it more confusing, there are ways around the animal testing laws in China, so it’s not as simple as checking if a brand sells in China. The animal testing laws don’t apply to Hong Kong or Taiwan (only mainland China), and brands that sell online only also don’t have to test on animals. The good news is that there are lots of resources, such as Cruelty Free Kitty, Ethical Elephant and the Leaping Bunny scheme which I rely on to tell me if a brand truly is cruelty free.
A little disclaimer from me, some of the brands I use are owned by parent companies who aren’t considered cruelty free. For example, L’oreal own NYX Cosmetics that I use in my kit. L’oreal and their products are tested on animals to sell in China. NYX Cosmetics as a brand however, do not sell in China and do not test on animals despite being owned by L’oreal. Some really passionate cruelty free beauty lovers also avoid parent companies that test on animals, which is also an option I looked into. Sadly I found it was too restrictive, and I would struggle to offer a professional level kit that can cater to all skin tones and hair types whilst doing this.
Does cruelty free and vegan mean the same thing?
In short, no cruelty free and vegan are not the same. Whilst cruelty free products aren’t tested on animals, they can still contain animal derived ingredients. Vegan products don’t contain any animal derived ingredients BUT sometimes they are still tested on animals (which is a bit of an oxymoron to me). Thankfully, there are lots of products out there that are both cruelty free AND vegan. Personally my kit is 100% cruelty free, but not completely vegan. I do however stock lots of vegan products, so if you’re after cruelty free AND vegan wedding hair and makeup I can still help.
So what brands do I actually use?
I use a whole host of brands in my kit, there are lots of cruelty free options on the market now and I couldn’t possibly list them all! But here are a few of my favourites –
- Charlotte Tilbury
- Illamasqua
- Living Proof
- Delilah
- Moroccanoil
- Fenty Beauty
- Beauty Pie
- Urban Decay
- Fudge
Ready to book your cruelty free wedding hair & makeup?
If you want to go cruelty free with your hair & makeup for your wedding day, I’ve got you covered! Whilst I am based in Essex, I travel throughout the UK and you can often find me in areas such as London, Kent, Suffolk & Norfolk helping my animal loving bride babes to shine! If you want to find out more about my services you can check those out here, or get in contact with me here.