Cruelty free and natural cosmetics: key differences

Nowadays there are numerous types of cosmetics and makeup products according to their manufacturing process and their ingredients, so it is very interesting to learn to differentiate them and have a little more knowledge of what we are buying , do you know how to differentiate between a cruelty product free, vegan, bio or natural, for example?

We know that it is difficult to differentiate between these new trends, but don't worry, today at .com we are going to explain what each one consists of and their main differences.

We know that it is difficult to differentiate between these new trends, but don't worry, today at .com we are going to explain what each one consists of and their main differences.

In this article we will talk about:

Cruelty Free Cosmetics: The most human side of brands

Natural, ECO and BIO Cosmetics, what are they? what is the difference between them?

Vegan Cosmetics: Beyond Cruelty Free

We started!

Cruelty Free cosmetics. The most human side of brands.

The cruelty free cosmetics and the cruelty free makeup, as its name suggests (cruelty free), is based on the principle that no animal should be tortured throughout the entire manufacturing process of the product, nor are any tests made with them . Today we buy many products without falling into what is behind their creation, and the truth is that if consumers knew what many brands do (and most of them we will have products at home), surely a significant number of us we would think twice before using these brands again.

And no, testing with animals is not simply putting a little perfume on it to check if it produces allergies, irritations ... we are talking about poisoning, torture, and also, 70% of these experiments are practiced without anesthesia. To put yourself a bit in the situation with some examples, according to Anima Naturalis, to test hairspray, animals such as rabbits, guinea pigs or dogs are forced to inhale them until they reach coma. And like this much more.

But don't worry, there are many brands that do not tolerate this mistreatment of animals . How do you know what they are? Very easy, there are many associations that issue certificates to these brands if they meet a series of requirements such as:

• The ingredients of the product have not been tested on animals
• The final product is not tested with them, nor during its preparation.
• The brand does not sell in China, since in the Chinese market it is mandatory to test on animals

The most prominent associations are The Leaping Bunny, PETA and Cruelty Free Kitty. The most demanding is The Leaping Bunny, since in order for a brand to be a cruelty-free brand and show off its seal, in addition to signing a contract, it undergoes periodic internal audits.

It is also important to add that you have to be careful because many brands falsify these stamps so if we see that they have the logo on the packaging it would not hurt to make sure that they really respect the life of the animals by checking it on the website of these associations (no worry, we will provide you with the links to the lists to make it much easier for you).

And the opposite also happens: due to cost issues, many brands do not include the certificate in their packaging although they are cruelty free. From .com we recommend the list prepared by www.consumetico.org, which in addition to being able to see which ones are cruelty free, indicates the degree of animal respect they have (1 being the highest level and 3 the lowest), the list is as follows:

Alternatives to animal testing

Do you know that testing products with methods without animals is much more effective and safer, in addition to requiring much less time and is cheaper? Well yes, the new innovative techniques that do not test on animals have infinite advantages compared to testing with these , if you want to discover what they consist of, we will explain it to you:

The new processes are based on using human tissues and computer models in drug development and product testing. Instead of poisoning the eyes of animals, for example, researchers are now turning to growing cells on a membrane and electrically monitoring the results to see if they react negatively to toxicity.

As for costs and time, to give you an idea, we are going to compare it with an example. For cancer studies, testing in animals can take almost 8 years and cost around 350,000 euros, while tests using human tissue or other non-animal methods give results in a matter of days and cost between 170 and 3,500 euros. you think?

Natural, eco and bio cosmetics, what are they? what is the difference between them?

Products with the organic, natural, bio or vegan label are usually very similar and differ basically in the proportion of their ingredients and their origin, and especially in the entity that certifies it .

In Spain there are two main companies that are in charge of accrediting natural cosmetics: EcoCert and CosmeBio. Let's see them in depth:

EcoCert

EcoCert is the first international body to develop a standard for organic or natural cosmetics. Currently, they already work with more than 1000 companies in their certification processes.

To obtain the certificate of natural or organic cosmetics, companies have to adapt their product to the EcoCert requirements:

• Use of ingredients from renewable resources and transformed in a way that is respectful with the environment , checking the absence of transgenics, parabens, silicone, ingredients of animal origin ... as well as a biodegradable or recyclable packaging.
• The minimum percentage of natural ingredients and of organic origin that is necessary to achieve to obtain one of the two certifications that it issues ( in both cases, 95% of the ingredients used must be natural or of natural origin ):
• Organic Cosmetics Certificate : The most restrictive EcoCert certification. At least 95% of the plant ingredients in the product must come from organic farming, and 10% of the total ingredients must come from organic farming.
• Natural Cosmetics Certificate : The percentages are more permissive, requiring that at least 50% of the vegetable ingredients in the formula come from organic crops, and 5% of all ingredients must come from organic farming.
• In addition, EcoCert, requires companies that their brands must not test on animals , this body being one of the most demanding seals.

CosmeBio

Another association for the certification of organic cosmetics and makeup is CosmeBio. Although it is an association with less international presence than EcoCert, and they only work with French companies, CosmeBio certificates are still highly valued and recognized among consumers of natural cosmetics around the world.

In addition, CosmeBio products must meet a series of requirements that, like those of EcoCert, are quite demanding :

• 95% of the ingredients must be of natural origin and have been transformed through approved procedures.
• The 5% of the remaining ingredients must be those allowed by CosmeBio, which are very restrictive with the list of authorized materials
• At least 95% of the plant ingredients must be certified organic plant products
• A minimum of 10% of the total ingredients must have biological origin
• In no case should cosmetics contain ingredients derived from petroleum, synthetic oils or perfumes, or colorants that are not of natural origin.
• Cosmetics must not have been made from animal raw materials, except beeswax and lanonin.
• Products must not have been tested on animals.
• Containers and packaging must be biodegradable and recyclable.

The stamps that CosmeBio issues are called Bio and Eco

A product will be considered Bio Cosmetics if:

• 95% of its vegetable ingredients, at least, come from organic farming
• These products of organic origin must represent at least 5% of the ingredients of the final product.

On the other hand, the products may be called Eco Cosmetics or Ecological Cosmetics if:

• 50% or more of the plant ingredients in the product come from organic farming
• At least 5% of the total ingredients must come from organic farming.

As we can see, the differences between the different labels (organic, natural, eco cosmetics) are negligible, the main difference being the issuing entity of the certificates . In summary, CosmeBio's Bio Cosmetics would be the equivalent of EcoCert's Organic Cosmetics, which are the most demanding certificates, and CosmeBio's Organic Cosmetics corresponds to EcoCert's natural cosmetics.

Yes, we know that it generates a lot of confusion (and even more so when you realize that there are also many more associations), but do not worry because currently they are working on unifying all the stamps into one, since the requirements are practically identical .

Finally, we are going to see what vegan cosmetics consists of, which has several similarities with eco, bio or natural products and with cruelty free cosmetics but also has its differences.

Vegan cosmetics: Beyond cruelty free.

Vegan cosmetics is becoming more and more fashionable, but ... do you know what it consists of? Can you differentiate it from other types of cosmetics? We explain well what this new trend is based on below.

Vegan cosmetics follow a similar philosophy to cruelty free cosmetics: products which at no time during their manufacture have used animals as a test method. But they go further, they bet on beauty products made exclusively with plant products .

So what is the difference with the natural cosmetics that we have seen before? Very simple, in natural cosmetics 5% of the ingredients are allowed to be synthetic, and in addition, natural cosmetics if it allows products of animal origin such as beeswax, lanonin or hyaluronic acid, which are common ingredients in this kind of cosmetics . They are small differences but it is interesting to take them into account when deciding on some products or others based on our philosophy and the degree of commitment we decide to have with the environment.

What benefit do vegan products bring us?

Being totally natural products, when we buy vegan cosmetics we are betting on protection insurance for our skin , since there is nothing better to take care of it than the ingredients that nature provides us. In addition, they are ideal for all skin types, even sensitive and intolerant skin, which are the most prone to irritation due to the chemical agents of conventional cosmetics, in fact, it is sometimes the only solution for this type of skin.

With this post, we hope that you have learned what the cruelty free philosophy is and how to look for brands that support it and what natural, bio and eco cosmetics consist of and know how to differentiate them from vegan cosmetics and have a little more knowledge on this subject.

We hope that the topic has been useful to you and if you have any questions or suggestions, do not hesitate to ask us in the comments, we will be happy to assist you. If you liked it, do not hesitate to share it on your favorite social networks!

You can find a large variety of cruelty free and organic brands at. Take a look here!

See you in the next article!