What are Cruelty Free Cosmetics

Over the years, sensitivity to the health of the environment and animals has increased the ability to buy beauty products and cosmetics that respect them. For this reason in this period we often hear about cosmetics called: cruelty-free.

What exactly does Cruelty free mean?

This word translated literally means “without cruelty” and is a term we often find on the back of some beauty products, creams or cosmetics of various types.

With the term Cruelty free it is understood that the product was made without having made any animal experiment during the selection of components and ingredients.

With cruelty free cosmetics, you can be sure that no animal has ever been ill-treated or used to test cosmetic ingredients.

Why Not All Cosmetics Are Cruelty Free?

Today, by European law, no finished beauty or cosmetic product can be tested on animals. The reason why however not all cosmetics can be considered Cruelty free depends on the chemical components with which they are produced.

In fact, according to Community Directive 92/32 / EEC, any substance used in the cosmetic industry must be tested first on animal horses. Because of this law, many products bearing the words: Not tested on animals, they are not Cruelty free because their components have been first subjected to animals, hence used as true cavies.

So there is a substantial difference between Not tested on animals and Cruelty Free.

The first indicates that the finished product has not been tested on animals, but it does not give it certainty for its ingredients.

Cruelty Free products do not use any animal tested ingredients, so the finished product has been made to the utmost respect of all living things.

How are Cruelty Free Cosmetics made?

The creation of Cruelty Free cosmetics therefore provides for specific procedures and rules that allow cosmetics to boast this recognition.

The most famous are NATRUE and Leaping Bunny. I will speak in my blog.

To be assured that a cosmetician can boast this recognition, there are several Cruelty Free standards created by various associations around the world. Only companies that will comply with these standards will then be able to apply the term on their product.

Anyone who adheres to this standard undertakes to use ingredients that have been tested in the past and do not increase vivisection. Neither do animal experiments and tests. In fact, companies that choose to create Cruelty Free cosmetics use only substances within the Positive List.

Thanks to the Positive List, you can avoid animal tests and experiments. Today many people pay attention to this particular. As a result many companies have created whole lines of cruelty free cosmetics.

Why choose Cruelty free cosmetics?

Every year due to experiments on cosmetic ingredients, many rabbits, mice, cats, dogs and monkeys are habitually used throughout the world. Not only animals are often destined to die, but during the experiments they suffer atrocious both physically and emotionally.

In China and Japan animal tests are mandatory. Trademarks that are said to be cruelty free in Europe are not really sold in these countries.

For this reason many choose to use Cruelty free cosmetics, not to be complicit in the atrocities that are committed on animals. With these products you will have the complete assurance that no animal has had to suffer or die due to these experiments.

If you want to know how to recognize cruelty free cosmetics, I’ve talked about it here.