Before we examine the five best media sources for cruelty-free beauty products, what is your definition of cruelty-free? Wikipedia states that cruelty-free is a label for products or activities that do not harm or kill animals anywhere in the world. Products tested on animals are not considered cruelty-free since these tests are often painful and cause the suffering and death of millions of animals every year. In 2002, California became the first state to prohibit testing cosmetics and personal care items on animals, when an alternative test is available. In 2007, New Jersey was the next state to ban animal testing followed by New York in 2014 and Virginia in 2018.
After combing through all of the best media sources for cruelty-free beauty, I have found the five best sources to help you navigate through the cruelty-free product world. I have broken my research down into five different categories. I focused on finding the best website, best blog, best YouTube channel, best Instagram, and best app providing cruelty-free product information.
“Animals” by Peter Zembol is licensed under CC BY-ND 2.0
Best Website: Leaping Bunny
Leaping Bunny works with companies to help make shopping for animal-friendly products easier and more trustworthy. Leaping Bunny was formed by eight national animal protection groups that banded together to form the Coalition for Consumer Information on Cosmetics (CCIC). The CCIC promotes a single comprehensive standard and an internationally recognized Leaping Bunny Logo, making it easy to identify cruelty-free products. Leaping Bunny has a standard by which they certify companies that apply for Leaping Bunny cruelty-free certification. Leaping Bunny provides an up to date list of all brands that they have certified as cruelty-free on their web site.
Best Blog: Logical Harmony
Logical Harmony is a blog by Tashina Combs. Tashina consistently uploads a mix of written and video content weekly regarding living an animal-friendly lifestyle. Per the site: Logical Harmony strives to make cruelty-free beauty easy.” Logical Harmony maintains an up to date list of cruelty-free brands and non-cruelty free brands as well as a list of pending brands and grey area brands as well. The blog states: Logical Harmony strives to bring you the best in beauty, lifestyle, fashion, health, and diet. The content focuses on vegan beauty and the promotion of a healthy and animal-friendly lifestyle.
“Baby bunnies 1” by giltay is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0
Best YouTube Channel: Kelly Gooch Cruelty-Free Beauty
Kelly Gooch posts videos testing cruelty-free products from makeup to cleaning products, to hair products. She uploads new videos twice a week. Kelly went cruelty-free in January of 2017, and she enjoys sharing everything about her journey with her audience. Kelly provides videos that provide a step by step process for anyone interested in becoming a cruelty-free consumer. Kelly consistently updates her audience with brands that are newly cruelty-free as well as brands that have fallen off the list.
Best Instagram
Cruelty-Free Kitty by Suzana Rose provides consistent updates on brands that are cruelty-free as well as updates on brands that are no longer on the list. Suzana’s reviews are uncensored and honest. Her Instagram profile keeps her followers up to date with cruelty-free news as well. Suzana links her posts to very informative blog articles with reviews and valuable information on cruelty-free products such as, “30 Makeup Brands That Still Test On Animals In 2020.”
“Miaow” by flicksmores is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0
Best App: Cruelty-Cutter
Cruelty-Cutter by the Beagle Freedom Project is a very convenient app. It lets you search, browse, and scan products while shopping to determine if they are cruelty-free or not. They offer a Cruelty-Free directory list by the company’s name, category name, and product name. The app also provides a company’s information with direct links to websites, Facebook, and Twitter accounts. The Cruelty-Cutter website states, “We are rigorous in evaluating these companies; we independently research their practices as well as directly request statements from them, and compare to other cruelty-free authorities when available.
In the end, if f you want to be 100% sure that your product is cruelty-free, the best way to find out is to contact the company directly yourself. It is always best to do your own thorough research to ensure that you are receiving correct information. Explore all of the information online and check your results against each other to determine what may or may not be correct. You will find the web sites and blogs that appeal to you, and in time, you will find the sites that you feel provide the most current and correct information. Be sure that you have fun researching and know that you are doing a good deed for the beautiful animals on this earth.
Taking this class has definitely changed my source of news. Due to spending such a significant amount of time researching my topic of interest, I have found several new blogs that I enjoy reading as well as several new YouTube influencers that I enjoy as well. I have found additional sources to use when trying to determine if a product is cruelty-free or not with a long list of sites that I can reference for cruelty-free companies.
I have also added several new media sources to my list that I found from taking this class, such as the Logical Harmony Blog, the Ethical Elephant Blog, and the Cruelty-Free Kitty Blog. I have found myself referencing the Cruelty-Cutter app every time that I go shopping. This app has made my research regarding cruelty-free products so much easier.
“Puppies!” by alasdair massie is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0
