How to get started on your cruelty free journey
Whilst we've been trying to make cruelty-free horse care easier to find, switching your make-up and skincare to cruelty-free products can be a bit of a minefield.
So we decided to team up with fellow cruelty-free brand 'Freedm Street' and their lovely founder Chloe Worsman to get her top tips.
Over to you Chloe!
How to get started
My first tip to making the switch to cruelty free is...do not try and do it all at once! Do it as and when you are nearly finished with your non cruelty free products. Try not go through everything you have and pop those naughty products in the bin, it’s not good for the environment, or your purse!
By starting with one product, you can take your time to research it and find something you love just as much as it's tested alternative.
How to spot brands that test on animals
You will be surprised at how many products you have that are sadly not cruelty free.
Animal testing for cosmetics was banned in the EU in March 2013 (Following Brexit, the UK is still following EU regulations for this up to now). However, sadly there are still loopholes which means animal testing still happens with products sold in the EU & UK.
Here’s our definition of Cruelty Free:
- They DO NOT test on animals at any point during production of their products
- They DO NOT allow third parties to test their products on animals
- The ingredients they use from suppliers are NOT tested on animals
- They DO NOT allow countries to test on animals when required by law (For Example, Cosmetics sold in China are required by Law to be tested on animals)
- They are NOT owned by a company who isn't Cruelty Free-E.g The Body Shop was owned by L'Oréal who are not a Cruelty Free Company
This last one depends on preference for a lot of people, brands can still be cruelty free and owned by a non-cruelty free brand, this is called a parent company.
If you're not sure, we’re more than happy to help with this, feel free to drop us an email (hello@freedmstreet.co.uk) with brands you're considering switching to.
Brands to avoid
Here are some of the big brands to avoid, sadly there are 100’s (See below for who I’d recommend using as resources)
MAC, NARS, L'Oreal, Clinique, Avon, Rimmel, Maybelline, Batiste, Benefit, Carmex, Johnson & Johnson, Max Factor, Nivea, Herbal Essences, Tresemme, Unilever, Wellam GlamGlow, Oral B, Estee Lauder
How does Cruelty Free certification work?
Cruelty Free Logos can be a useful guide. The best logo to follow is Cruelty Free International ‘Leaping Bunny’. However, please note that they do support parent companies so a brand can still carry their logo, but have a parent company that isn’t Cruelty Free
E.g Garnier is now Leaping Bunny certified, but is owned by L'Oréal.
If a brand doesn’t have the leaping bunny (generally the smaller ones don’t), that can be ok, it doesn’t mean they test on animals. It’s the bigger brands you need to double check if they don’t carry the leaping bunny logo or if they have their version of the leaping bunny.
Batiste is a classic example of this: they did have a bunny on the back of their cans and also stated they didn’t test on animals, however they aren’t Cruelty Free as they sell in mainland China. There isn't currently any regulation to stop brands from claiming this.
How to find cruelty free brands
Google will be your best friend, but make sure you’re looking at trusted sources.
We recommend:
If you can’t find something about a brand you use, just drop the brand in question an email asking the question – make sure you expand on it, otherwise brands that aren’t cruelty free will jump around your question and make you think they are!
I am slightly biased, but Freedm Street is a great place to start, everything is 100% Cruelty Free and Vegan (no parent companies), so you can shop safe in the knowledge you’re buying products that haven’t been tested on animals. You can pick up a switch you want to make from our shop, you can subscribe to one of our subscription boxes & get new discoveries every couple of months, or you can build your own box, grabbing exactly the things you want to try!
Thank you so much for sharing your wisdom with us Chloe!
Chloe has also generously given us a 15% off discount code for Honest Riders customers to use on the Freedm Street website.
Use code: HREXC15 to shop their products and subscription boxes.
It's only valid til 31st March 2021 so don't hang around!
