How to make a transition to cruelty free makeup

Oh boy, this is going to be a long one 🙂

Starting the New Year, we tend to set some goals and resolutions for ourselves for the upcoming months. It feels only natural while starting a new cycle, as we feel inspired to make New Year better than the previous one and make ourselves bloom in every imaginable way. In case some of you might be thinking of transitioning to cruelty free products, I wanted to share my advice and things I have learned along the way figuring out what are the cruelty free products, and what I feel comfortable using.

First of all, please do not confuse cruelty free status with vegan status. Cruelty free means that the product has not been tested on animals in the process of its production. Vegan product means that the product doesn’t contain animal products like dairy, carmine, bees wax etc. This can be confusing in the beginning while you are trying to find a path through the forest of information. Products can be vegan, but not cruelty free and vice versa. Not every cruelty free product is vegan. They are not synonyms.

Cruelty free tends to be a bigger trend lately. I see a number of you tubers that tend to care more and more about mindful consumerism and cruelty free products (those are the ones that I have been more drawn to follow in the last couple of years). There is an overwhelming amount of information online about the cruelty free status, but sometimes non-cruelty free status is something that is not very transparent. I can see that some companies tend to (intentionally or not) mislead the consumers by marketing themselves with catchy “clean” or “green” labels, but it doesn’t necessarily mean they are cruelty free.

The resources I personally trust the most are logical harmony, leaping bunny, cruelty free kitty, and ethical elephant. My favorite of all is logical harmony, because the creator of that website reached out to every brand stated on their page and have them answered a list of questions before labeling them as cruelty free or non-cruelty free. They also have a category for grey area brands and pending list for the brands from which they still waiting for the clear answers. I admire their thoroughness, so they are always my number one place to check when in doubt.

There are cruelty free brands that are owned by companies that are not cruelty free. That is the case for example with Becca and Toofaced, which are cruelty free, but they are owned by Estee Lauder company which is a non-cruelty free company, or Urban decay who is owned by L’Oreal. I personally do shop from cruelty free brands that have a parent company that is not cruelty free, as I see them as a somewhat separate entities and it sends a message that I support a cruelty free part. Maybe in time, I will be able to transition to solely brands that are completely under cruelty free umbrella (especially as I use up the products I currently have from them). However, I do not support any brand that sells products in mainland China, as their laws allow pre- and post-production testing on animals (that is why I don’t support Physicians Formula and First Aid beauty anymore)

Sometimes small or indie brands can’t be found on the cruelty free lists, as it takes a while to get a special official certification (like leaping bunny list requires). There seems to be a special certification process to get a leaping bunny stamp of approval, and not all cruelty free brands have the funds to allocate to undergo the process of certification, even if they are cruelty free otherwise. I know all of this can be a lot, but whatever you do, be prepared to make some honest mistakes along the way, but that is ok too. You are doing your best to learn and that is what matters.

It tends to get overwhelming to go cruelty free, vegan and clean, especially if you try to do it all at the same time. Remember that you are your own boss. I think that it is admirable to take any action toward cruelty free products and mindful and ethical consumerism (not claiming all cruelty free brands are ethical, but that is the story for another time).

My advice is to take baby steps and do it gradually. No one expects you to be perfect or never make mistakes. You are doing great just by taking an action! Here are some steps to think about:

Why am I going cruelty free in the first place? For me it was the next step after being a vegetarian for many years. Also, I have a dog (our precious puggle Moo) who is half beagle and beagles are the most commonly used dogs in the lab testing (as they tend to be very healthy). The idea of any dog (let alone mine) scared and cooped up in a cage while being tested with dye samples, squirted with who knows what, was breaking my heart and I have decided not to support any kind of animal testing or cruelty. Having a strong motivation, will facilitate your cruelty free journey. (Just look at that sweetheart! <3 )

Identifying cruelty free products in your collection: look into your own collection and see what products you already own. Among those that you have, you surely have products that are you favorite. Maybe you already have most of your favorites coming from cruelty free brands. If they are not you favorites for some reason, even better. That means that next time you are buying a new bronzer, blush or a mascara, you will already have some cruelty free awareness and maybe even a specific brand on your radar to shop from. I ended up not having too many non-cruelty free make up products, so I had a good idea of what to do with them. That leads me to the next point.

Deciding what to do with your non-cruelty products. You might have the urge to toss it all and start over fresh. You do you, no judgment here. The way I see it, you have already paid for those products, so just tossing them would be a waste (especially if it is a product that you like and trying to find a cruelty free replacement for while you are using it up). There might be some products that you really don’t like using or have been gently used, so they are candidates for passing them along to friends or family (after being sanitized, of course). I ended up panning some of the products that I loved and passing along those that were just swatched or gently used. It was a gradual process for me and I was happy with it.

Finding dupes for your absolute favorites while building your perfect collection. There are number of Pinterest posts, blog posts or you tube channels that tackle this issue. There is a huge number of people who have either bought or received, tested and compared the newest products, so you don’t have to. Take advantage of that. I end up researching a lot every time I decide to add something to my collection, and I do enjoy the process of research.

You are the boss of your budget and you decide what to buy and what makes sense to you. You don’t need all the new products just because some commercial is telling you so. Make smart choices for yourselves and don’t feel pressured along the way.

Know that you are making an impact with your cruelty free decisions. No matter how small it seems and how trivial the makeup topic might be, you are making a choice that will gradually make a change. I strongly believe that somewhere and somehow big companies will note the new trends of consumption and will take it into consideration, as they create new business plans. You money is your vote and it shows support to the brands you believe in. Companies will learn to follow where that money is coming from. Let’s show them together.

And don’t forget: You are doing great and just keep swimming! 🙂

XOXO Iva