Have you been seeing a lot of articles on how brutal and unnecessary animal testing in the cosmetics industry is? You’re willing to transition into a cruelty-free lifestyle but confused how to make the switch?
Don’t worry, I’ve got you covered. In today’s post, I’ve compiled a list of 10 easy and actionable tips to switch to cruelty-free beauty products.
I started transitioning to cruelty-free cosmetics at the start of 2019 and I’ve significantly reduced the amount of non-CF products I owned by slowly replacing them with cruelty-free ones. In this journey, I discovered so many amazing brands and realised cruelty-free beauty doesn’t have to be expensive!
So to help you guys, here are the 10 tips that will help you permanently switch to cruelty-free beauty products without overwhelming yourselves!
1. Don’t Throw Anything Away
As a conscious human being, you might feel like throwing away all the cosmetics that are tested on animals. But this is a horrible step! You’ve already invested your hard-earned money by buying those products and trashing them isn’t going to do anything positive. In fact, it’ll generate unnecessary waste and hurt the environment.
And if you still don’t want to use those products, consider donating them to women shelters or give them to friends or family who might enjoy using them.
2. One Empty, One Cruelty-Free Newbie
Throwing away all the non-cruelty-free makeup isn’t a good idea but slowly replacing your makeup and beauty products that are tested on animals is definitely an actionable tip.
Whenever you finish any non-cruelty-free product from your stash, switch it with a cruelty-free one by doing a quick research on the internet.
When I finished up my favourite Sebamed Cleansing Foam, I was desperately looking for another face cleanser that’d work as good, if not better, as the Sebamed one. And that’s when I came across the By Wishtrend Acid-Duo Cleanser which turned out to be even better!
Sebamed isn’t a cruelty-free brand while the Korean brand, By Wishtrend, is absolutely cruelty-free.
3. Follow The Bunnies
Once you start exploring the cruelty-free products, you’re bound to get confused! So it’s the best if you start looking for cruelty-free logos like Leaping Bunny logo, PETA’s cruelty-free logo, and the Choose Cruelty-Free logo.
Leaping Bunny logo is the gold standard in the cruelty-free community just like L-Ascorbic Acid is when it comes to Vitamin C! While Choose Cruelty-Free is an Australian organisation that only accredits cruelty-free brands with CF parent companies.
You can’t blindly follow Peta because it does accredit some brands that sell in China where animal testing is mandatory by law. Do your research!
But what if a brand that claims to be cruelty-free has no bunny logo?
- Companies have to pay an extra fee in order to be able to display the cruelty-free symbol on their product. And that’s why you’ll come across products that are certified by Leaping Bunny or PETA but don’t have the logo on their product.
- And if you can’t find the brands in these databases, there might be a chance that they’re unbothered or unaware about getting a certification. This happens especially in the case of smaller brands.
4. Follow Cruelty-Free Bloggers
Having the database of all the certified cruelty-free brands is amazing but as I mentioned earlier, there are still brands who haven’t been certified. Then how do you know about their cruelty-free status?
You can rely on some trustworthy cruelty-free bloggers who do the job on your behalf. Some of them are Tashina Combs from Logical Harmony and Suzana Rose from Cruelty-Free Kitty.
They have dedicated brand lists and have done SO much hard work to provide all the necessary information! I’d still recommend you to do your research, go through various sources because they’re humans with HUGE websites that contain tonnes of content and brand information. It might be possible that you come across an old, non-updated post while searching for your favourite cruelty-free brands!
5. Use Filters on Shopping Sites
Various shopping websites now have a cruelty-free filter which you can use to filter out all the products that are tested on animals. These can be very helpful but remember they’re not 100% correct.
If you’re from India, I’ve made two lists of cruelty-free brands available in the biggest e-commerce sites here – Nykaa & Sephora India. So even if the filters fail you, I got your back!
6. Support Local Brands
Most of the local brands don’t test on animals and neither do they hire any third party to do that. This is true especially with Indian brands since animal testing is banned in the country. These small brands source their ingredients ethically from local farmers and don’t sell in mainland China.
You’ll find similar brands in your country too, do look for them and they’re usually very responsive to customers so you can get all your queries answered in case of doubts.
7. Find Cruelty-Free Dupes
DUPES!! When you’re following the One Empty One Cruelty-Free Newbie concept, you might come across your favourite lipstick colour that just can’t let go. But with so many cruelty-free brands in the beauty community, you’re going to find a dupe for almost everything!
For me, Pinterest is the best source for finding dupes and you can also ping your favourite cruelty-free beauty blogger for the same!
From my personal experience, Colourpop has a dupe of everything!!
8. Don’t Get Overwhelmed
Once you start your cruelty-free journey and start your research, you’ll come across so many terms that are going to overwhelm you. It might be cruelty-free but not vegan or vice-versa. Or it might have palm oil! Or you’ll come across brands who blatantly lie about their animal testing policy.
All this can be very confusing and that’s why it’s important that you take small, gradual steps. Remember it’s a journey!
9. Ask for Cruelty-Free Brands as Gifts
If you’re a makeup or skincare lover, chances are your friends know that about you too! It’s obvious that you never hold back giving some revolutionary beauty trick to them.
If those friends and family like to give you beauty products as gifts during Holidays & Birthdays, kindly tell them that you’d prefer cosmetics that aren’t tested on animals. You can also give them a list of cruelty-free brands you like.
Who knows they might get inclined to switch their stash to cruelty-free too!? (In case that happens, feel free to share this list with them.)
10. Do Your Own Research
I’ve mentioned this too many times in this blog post – Do your research! But what does that even mean? If you’re not able to find the cruelty-free status of your favourite brand after going through different databases and blogs, take charge and mail the brands yourselves!
Ask them whether they test on animals or retail in mainland China! In this process, be polite even if you don’t get your answers.
These are all the tips and tricks that have helped me in transitioning to cruelty-free beauty. If you’re a cruelty-free consumer, please let me know of one tip that has genuinely helped to switch to a cruelty-free beauty!
Don’t forget to pin this post!
Shreeya says
I really admire your dedication to this girl! Each Nd every point is so practical and informative! ?❤️
Rifat Yaseen says
Thank you so much Shreeya!❤️️❤️️