
If you look hard enough on the shelves at any makeup counter in the UK, you are bound to come across two cruelty-free logos that appear time and time again. They are those of Peta (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) and Cruelty Free International (who pioneer the Leaping Bunny Logo).
Another common logo is Choose Cruelty Free, which is actually an Australian accreditor, but I have seen its’ logo pop up on quite a few products sold in the UK such as Sukin.
But can they be trusted? How much do these logos really tell us about a brand’s stance on animal testing?
Peta’s Cruelty Free Certification


Above, on the left, is Peta’ old cruelty free logo, on the right is their new, updated logo.
There has been a lot of controversy around Peta’s cruelty-free certification recently, mainly to do with their lax rules. As you can see from the following statement on their website, they don’t have any checks or assurances in place that brands are adhering to cruelty-free practises – all they have to do is sign a statement of assurance:
Peta has started certifying brands as cruelty-free, even when they sell in Mainland China (where animal testing is mandatory for most products). They have given vague statements about only selling those products which do not require animal testing, but haven’t given information as to what these are, or what other measures are in place to avoid animal testing (including post-market animal testing, which no products are excluded from).
Peta also certify brands as cruelty-free even when they are owned by parent companies that are not cruelty-free, such as Unilever and Proctor and Gamble. Some people are okay with this, and some aren’t – this is more of a personal decision rather than a black and white right or wrong.
What does cruelty free really mean?
Cruelty Free International’s Leaping Bunny Certification

Cruelty Free International’s Leaping Bunny Certification is widely regarded as the best certification a brand can get. This is because they have strict criteria for their certification:
To become Leaping Bunny approved, brands must:
As you can see, not only do Cruelty Free International have specific, transparent practises on how a brand can demonstrate their cruelty-free status, they also undertake independent audits to ensure they’re really doing what they say they’re doing.
Cruelty Free International also certify brands as cruelty free, even when they are owned by parent companies that cannot be approved. In each case, they helpfully state on their website whether a brand’s parent company has been approved or not.
Until recently, Cruelty Free International had a blanket rule on not certifying brands that sold in Mainland China. This is still the case for brands that do so of their own accord, but they have recently launched a pilot scheme to help their brands sell in China without animal testing. The scheme is well-regulated, and accounts for any possible occurrence of animal testing. Read about it from Cruelty Free International here. Read about it from their partnered regulatory body here.
10 Budget Cruelty Free Makeup Brands
Choose Cruelty Free’s Licensed Companies List

Like I said above, Choose Cruelty Free are based in Australia and mostly accredit Australian brands. Their logo does appear in the UK here and there, but it’s much less common. Nevertheless, here is their process for accreditation:
(It’s worth mentioning here that Peta and Cruelty Free International both charge a fee for their accreditation schemes, too.)
Choose Cruelty Free say that their contracts are ‘legally binding’, but they don’t say how they enforce them. It doesn’t say anywhere on their website that they carry out independent audits like Cruelty Free International, so it relies on the word of the brand and their supplier (as opposed to Peta, who just rely on the word of the brand).
Although they’re more lax than Cruelty Free International in this sense, they are more strict in what they ask for. Firstly, they don’t accredit brands unless their parent company is also cruelty free (whereas Peta and Cruelty Free International do will). They also have requirements on ingredients:
– Derived from an animal killed specifically for the extraction of that ingredient;
– Forcibly extracted from a live animal in a manner that occasioned pain or discomfort;
As you can see, they don’t currently specifically require a brand to be vegan or vegetarian, but they are minimising cruelty to animals wherever possible.
They also announced last month that they will require their brands to be 100% vegetarian by 2021. They’re eliminating all ‘blood products’, which is the term they have coined to describe products that “may contain an ingredient that is derived from an animal in such a way that results in the death of that animal either directly or indirectly, or is an ingredient obtained from slaughter house by-products“.
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