The lowdown on vegan & cruelty free cosmetics.

We hear a lot nowadays about "vegan" and "cruelty-free" makeup and cosmetics, and the terms are practically used interchangeably. While both "vegan" and "cruelty-free" share the connotation of being animal-friendly, they aren't the same at all.

Vegan Beauty Products

The term "vegan" refers to products that do not contain any animal by-products in their ingredients. This means that vegan cosmetics and vegan makeup products, by definition, should not contain things like:

• albumen, egg protein, and other derivatives from eggs
• ambergris
• bee products such as bee pollen, beeswax, honey, royal jelly
• carmine or carminic acid
• cerebrocides
• chitosan
• gelatin
• keratin
• lanolin
• linoleic acid
• milk proteins and whey
• polypeptides and polysorbates
• retinol
• silk or silk powder

"Vegan" is about what's IN the cosmetics, but not necessarily how the products are tested for safety.

Cruelty-Free Beauty Products

The term "cruelty-free" refers to the assurance that the products are not—and have not been—tested on animals. Sadly, many brands of cosmetics test the safety of their products by exposing animals to various cosmetic ingredients using methods like:

• rubbing chemicals onto shaved skin
• dripping chemicals into eyes
• force-feeding studies (over weeks or months)
• lethal dose tests (determining the dose that would cause death)

No pain relief is provided to test animals, and at the end of the tests, the animals are killed. Test animals may not fall under the protection of animal welfare legislation, especially if they are laboratory-bred. However, the legal definition of "cruelty-free" may not be consistent, so in some cases, a product can be legally labeled "cruelty-free" even if there has been some experimentation on animals along the line.

At Beysis, we are proud that all of our products are certified cruelty-free by Cruelty Free Australia. So, you can shop knowing that your choice to purchase our 100% cruelty-free nail polish and 100% cruelty-free lip gloss is making a positive impact toward creating a world that says no to animal testing.

So, there you have it; just because a brand is vegan doesn't automatically mean it is cruelty-free. The products themselves may not contain animal-derived ingredients but may have been tested on animals. Conversely, a cruelty-free brand might include animal-derived products.

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