Make the World a More Beautiful Place with Vegan and Cruelty-Free Makeup

What is Vegan and Cruelty-Free makeup?

First let's break it down into two categories, as vegan makeup and cruelty-free makeup have two different meanings, but they are not mutually exclusive. 

Vegan Makeup

This refers to the ingredients. This means that the makeup doesn't have any animal products or animal-derived ingredients in it.

Cruelty-Free Makeup

This refers to the testing process. This means that the makeup has not been tested on animals at all and was developed without any tests on animals.

The Ugly Side of Makeup: Animal Testing in Cosmetics

Some makeup brands and other companies test on animals to prove the safety of new ingredients. This means they are not cruelty-free, even if it was done for the safety of humans.

However, some studies show that different species respond differently when exposed to the same chemicals, which means that the results from animal tests may not even be relevant to humans. This means consumer safety through animal testing cannot be guaranteed!

Some of the tests being performed on animals by makeup brands and other companies include:

• Skin irritation tests where chemicals are rubbed onto the shaved skin of the animal.
• Eye irritation tests chemicals are dripped into the eyes of the animal.
• Force-feeding chemicals that last weeks to months look for signs of any illness, health hazards such as cancer or birth defects, and the lethal dose level.

All those tests are done without any pain relief. At the end of the tests, the animals are killed by strangling, neck-breaking, or decapitation!

Did I mention that the U.S. Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act does not require that animal tests be conducted to demonstrate that the cosmetics are safe?

Our Cruelty-Free Makeup Philosophy

“No Animal should be used for testing!” As the founder of Puzzle Makeup, this statement was very important for me.

I have always been an animal lover. I remember often driving my mom crazy by bringing home so many abandoned or injured animals. She knew how important it was to me and that the only way to handle it was to help them. So she did. When they got better we released them back into nature or found them a loving home. Now my two boys have joined the club and we are driving my husband crazy! He too knows there's only one way, so he helps. :)

When I decided to create a makeup brand, not only was it important for me to create packaging and products that are better for the environment, but it was also a no-brainer that I would not work with laboratories that do tests on animals. Do they really want me to believe that they nicely asked the animal “Hi, is it ok if we shave your hair or put some chemicals in your eyes or mouth?” and the animal just said, “Yes, sure that sounds lovely.” I’m sorry, but  WTF! 

Other Cruelty-Free Makeup Brands

It's so sad to know how hard it is to find an ethical company that actually cares about the animals and not just the money. Most of the biggest brands out there are still not or can’t be cruelty-free because they work with laboratories that test on animals or are sold in China. China still requires all imported cosmetics or other cosmetics to be tested on animals!

However, there are a few other cruelty-free makeup brands out there, including:

• 100%  pure cosmetics 
• Milk Makeup
• Honest

Vegan and Cruelty-Free Makeup for 2020 

As a consumer, or even as a makeup brand, we don’t have to be animal rights activists to know and understand that our future can be a better place for us and for the animals. If we all keep supporting the development of non-animal testing, discovering new, safer ways of testing the products, refusing to work with laboratories that do tests on animals, and we keep buying our makeup products from companies that are cruelty-free, then someday animal testing will be gone and become a thing of the past.

Together, we can do it!