Try these gorgeous, cruelty-free beauty brands

If, like many pet lovers, your love for our furry, feathery friends is so great that it’s spilling out of your new, dog-petting, cat-cuddling, parrot-loving home office and into the streets you’re not allowed to walk in during lockdown, we have a way for you to do even more to care for creatures tame and wild. Would you believe that your beauty routine could promote animal welfare? It’s all about the consumer choices you make.

Yep, beauty products, being full of wonderful ingredients to bring out your inner glow, can come with a caveat. They may, at some point in their production, have involved animals. Choosing cruelty-free brands is one way to prevent animal cruelty.

First, let’s be clear on what cruelty-free means. After all, a blusher may not be tested on animals but could contain animal products.

The distinction is important because, as Refinery29 warns, “there are multiple labelling systems, along with a bevy of carefully-worded brand statements against animal testing that actually allow for the practice in some instances.”

“Cruelty-free makeup brands are companies who do not test their cosmetics or ingredients on animals,” cites Green Matters, “and do not outsource any animal testing to third parties.”

If a product has no animal ingredients, is not tested on animals AND is not sold in countries that require their own, local testing on animals, it is labelled “vegan”.

“For a cosmetic product to be vegetarian, it must not contain any animal part, but it can contain ingredients that are animal bi-products, or produced by an animal. For example, a beauty product that contains beeswax is vegetarian but not vegan.”, states Cruelty free Kitty Disclaimer (CFK).

Five designer beauty brands that do not use animal testing

1. Anastasia Beverly Hills
2. Becca
3. Urban Decay
4. Kjaer Weis
5. Smashbox

Some products from each of these brands are fully vegan, so please enquire with the brand or supplier for the latest info.

Five celeb beauty brands that do not practise animal testing

1. Kylie Jenner’s companies: Kylie Skin (fully vegan) and Kylie Cosmetics (most products are vegan)
2. Millie Bobby Brown’s company Florence by Mills (totally vegan)
3. Rhianna’s Fenty Beauty (some products are vegan)
4. Kim Kardashian’s KKW Beauty (some products are vegan) and KKW Fragrance (100 % vegan)
5. Drew Barrymore’s Flower Beauty (some products are vegan)

49 South African brands that do not test on our furry, feathery or scaly friends

1. African Extracts Rooibos – Vegetarian
2. African Indigenous
3. Africa Organics – Vegan, Natural, Certified Organic
4. Africology – Natural
5. Aloe Unique
6. Apostrophe Bath & Body – Vegan
7. Back 2 Nature – Natural, Vegan
8. Beaucience
9. Beautiful Earth – Natural
10. Bee Pure – Natural, Vegetarian
11. Biomedical Emporium
12. Bio Oil
13. Body Treats – Natural, Vegan
14. Charlotte Rhys – Vegan
15. Cherish Beauty – Natural, Vegetarian
16. Cherubs
17. Down to Earth – Natural/Organic, Vegan
18. Earthsap – Natural
19. Eco Diva – Natural/Organic, Vegetarian/Vegan
20. Eco Products – Natural/Organic, Vegan
21. Enchantrix – Natural/Organic
22. Environ
23. Esse – Natural/Organic, Vegan
24. Gaia Organics – Natural/Organic
25. Hey Gorgeous – Natural/Organic, Vegetarian/Vegan
26. InstrinsiCurly Me
27. Lamelle
28. Lula Fox
29. Lulu & Marula – Natural, Vegetarian
30. Natraloe – Organic, Vegan
31. Oh-Lief – Natural/Organic, Vegetarian
32. Oh So Heavenly – Vegetarian/Vegan
33. Optiphi
34. Pradiance – Natural/Organic, Vegan
35. Pure Beginnings – Natural/Organic, Vegan
36. Pure Simple – Natural, Vegan
37. Rain Africa – Natural, Vegetarian/Vegan
38. RégimA
39. Savane – Natural/Organic, Vegan
40. Simply Bee – Natural
41. Skin Creamery – Natural/Organic, Vegetarian
42. Skoon – Natural/Organic, Vegan/Vegetarian
43. SOiL – Natural/Organic, Vegan
44. Sorbet
45. TanLab – Vegan
46. Theranaka – Natural/Organic
47. Theravine
48. Victorian Garden – Natural/Organic
49. Woolworths Private Label & Earthfriendly products

Please remember that while products or brands may be cruelty-free, vegetarian or even vegan, their overarching companies may not be.

If you’re wanting to do your part to limit or eliminate animal cruelty in your beauty bag, it’s important to stay up to date on animal ethics, regulations and practises.

You might find this universal list useful. It divides companies into cruelty-free, brands with a parent company (that may not be) and ‘waiting’.