Vegan and/or animal-free skincare or cosmetics. You hear and read more and more about it and we at SELF can only applaud that. Consumers are becoming increasingly aware of what they put on their face and body (and also eat, for example!), a step in the right direction! But, unfortunately, there are many brands that label themselves 'vegan' and/or 'cruelty free – not tested on animals' without actually having the right to do so. In this blog you will discover how you can know whether beauty products and/or cosmetics are vegan or not tested on animals.
NOT TESTED ON ANIMALS
There are so many companies that sell their products as 'not tested on animals' - but sometimes individual ingredients have been tested on animals. This cannot really be called animal-friendly. When you deal with vegan products, you have that certainty! Because vegan not only means: no animal ingredients, but also animal-friendly and not tested on animals!
HOW DO I KNOW IF MY PRODUCT IS VEGAN?
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Via the INCI list
Do you know anything about ingredients? Then you can analyze the ingredient list (also called the INCI list) of your products. This way you can check what is processed in your products.
2. Via certificates
There are many certificates that indicate whether products are cruelty-free and/or vegan. The same goes for natural products. The beauty world is choking with certificates. Unfortunately, many certificates are only a commercial story and it is important to recognize the right certificates.
One of the most rigorous and credible (no focus on the commercial story) is Leaping Bunny. An international certificate that a company only receives if they do not test on animals and do not have those tests carried out by third parties. If you want a Leaping Bunny certificate, you as a company must have yourself reassessed every year. The company is not allowed to purchase ingredients from suppliers who test on animals. As you can see, the conditions are very strict. Rightly so.
Leaping Bunny focuses on the animal-free story, so the products are not necessarily vegan. Please take this into account.
There are also several vegan certificates such as Vegan Society. If you see that certificate + Leaping Bunny on a product, it is assumed that the product is 100% vegan and not tested on animals.
EN SELF DAN? IS SELF VEGAN?
Self has no certificates. Isabelle does not support this because of the commercial point of view that is often behind it. But 100% vegan is a real, conscious choice at SELF . You can find our INCI lists with each product. Do you have questions about certain ingredients? Be sure to let us know and we will answer them as soon as possible!
“Our products are not tested on animals worldwide. Our ingredients are only purchased from recognized raw material suppliers in the Netherlands, they are ecocert labeled, no testing has been done. We do not sell in China as testing would then be required. We have often had requests for exports, but as long as this is necessary, we do not want to export to China. Our skincare is also 100% organic, no animal ingredients. ” – Team SELF
