Shoppers looking for vegetarian-friendly cosmetics will usually meet two different claims: vegan and cruelty-free. They answer different questions.
Ingredients versus testing
According to Earth911, vegan means a product contains no animal-derived ingredients, while cruelty-free means it was not tested on animals during development. Most vegan certifications also require cruelty-free status, but a cruelty-free product is not automatically vegan.
Common logos
The Vegan Society trademark, a sunflower growing from the letter V, covers products with no animal ingredients and no animal testing. Leaping Bunny certifies whole companies rather than single products, and its standard prohibits animal testing for cosmetic ingredients. PETA runs its own Beauty Without Bunnies programme, which Earth911 describes as requiring less documentation than Leaping Bunny.
Checking a brand
Some certified products do not display a logo, and unrelated rabbit symbols exist, so check the official certified-brand list rather than relying on packaging alone.
Sources: Earth911: vegan and cruelty-free certifications.
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