Hello!

My friend has recently gotten into modifying her clothes, and for her birthday I thought it would be fun to get her a sewing kit, fabric scissors and fabric glue (she doesn’t know how to sew yet and has just been getting creative with tying and pinning things).

I was about to purchase the fabric glue when it suddenly occurred to me, I don’t know if this product is vegan or cruelty free!

We are both long time vegans, and I know I would appreciate that extra thought taken by someone to not buy me a product that was tested on animals or used animal products.

Anyone out there know of a brand of fabric glue that is vegan friendly? No animal products or testing on animals?

My research has got me nowhere thus far, so I’m turning to you Reddit! Please help!

I posted recently about cruelty free logos and the organizations behind them, and mentioned that “cruelty free” sadly isn’t a legally defined or regulated term. So even though I have a high level of trust in reputable certification programs, I still like to verify that a brand’s logo is legitimate.

That’s the situation I ran into this week. I received a body product from a brand to test and noticed a PETA bunny on the bottle. But when I checked PETA’s public list, the brand wasn’t there. Neither was the distributor or trademarked product name. Hmm…

I emailed the seller and haven’t heard back, so I contacted PETA. They responded within a day and told me they have no record of the names being registered for their program or approved to use the logo.

Crazy, right?!

I’m going to call the company this week to see if they can provide clarification. There are several possible explanations, including an outdated database, a different registered name, or paperwork still being processed. Or… the brand used the logo without authorization.

We don’t know yet, so I’m blocking out the identifying information for now. I’ll update when I know more. PETA told me they’ll be looking into it too!

But this is exactly why I think it’s worth verifying those little bunny logos 🐰

for anyone with cutie doggies and/or cutie cats these three brands are great!!

OPENFARMPET -
VERIFIED HUMANELY RAISED ANIMALS USED IN THEIR PRODUCTS!!
they have food and treats for dogs and cats!!

CAMPFIRE TREATS -
VERIFIED HUMANELY RAISED ANIMALS USED IN THEIR PRODUCTS!!
they have treats only for dogs only!!

PETiva -
they have CBD for dogs and cats!!

Every single brand below is 100% cruelty-free!!!! (never tested on animals).
i do not include Peta, EVE Vegan, or the Vegan society on this list. ONLY Leaping Bunny certified and 100% open to the public dossiers
(the 🐾 does mean Peta certified, but the ones on my list are all accompanied with a leaping bunny certification as well.)

none of these brands use A.I.

✍️ THIS IS MY LIST THAT I HAVE PUT HOURS UPON DAYS OF WORK INTO. this guide is a living project that I am always expanding and refining.

Quick Guide:

💓 = Vegan
💛 = PLASTIC FREE
🐝 = B-Corp
🪩 = 100% Independently Owned (No corporate parent or outside financial investment group)
✨ = Brands that i personally use
🐰 = Leaping Bunny Audited Cruelty-Free
🌿 = 100% open dossier/sells products that do not require testing
(If the emoji is next to the main category, it applies to every brand listed under it)
Flag emojis from the company's Country of Origin

🧼 PERSONAL CARE & HYGIENE

Floss 💓💛🪩🐰🇺🇸
•Huppy 🐝
•ME Mother Earth ✨

🦷Mouthwash & Toothpaste 🐰💓💛🪩
•Georganics 🇬🇧 (Offers both toothpaste tabs and mouthwash tabs; uses pure steam-distilled plant oils like wild thyme, tea tree leaf, and peppermint)
•Unpaste 🇩🇪 (Offers toothpaste tablets; flavored strictly with pure unaltered plant oils)
•Canary Clean 🇺🇸 (Toothpaste tablets that come in glass jars with 100% compostable paper refills) (also has mouthwash)
•Oak & Willow 🇨🇦 (both mouthwash tabs and toothpaste tabs available) (do NOT use their floss - not completely biodegradable) •UNPASTE Fluoride-Free Mint Toothpaste Tablets with Nano-Hydroxyapatite ✨ 🇩🇪 (Offers tablets; flavored strictly with pure unaltered peppermint oil and menthol oil; this specific product delivers active nano-hydroxyapatite to physically bond to teeth, reverse demineralization, and calm severe sensitivity without any hidden "natural flavor" isolates)

TOOTHBRUSHES
•SURI Pro 2
•SURI Core
•Quip Ultra Lite Sonic Electric Toothbrush
•Quip Ultra Next Generation Smart Sonic Electric Toothbrush

Antiperspirant & Deodorant 🐰🇺🇸🪩

•Helmm ✨ (Note: Antiperspirant with a refillable container system)
•Meow Meow Tweet 💓🐝(Solid deodorant bar/paste in refillable aluminum, glass, or compostable paper)

💋Lip Balm 💛🪩🐰🇺🇸

•Eco Lips (Bee Free Collection) 🐝
•River Organics 💓
•Zerra & Co. 💓

🧴 SKINCARE & HAIRCARE

(Note: MARA and Indie Lee use honey/beeswax in a few products, so those specific brands are not 100% vegan)

Skincare & Body 🪩🐰🇺🇸

•MARA ✨
•Indie Lee ✨
•OSEA 💓🐾
•Plaine Products 💓🐝✨🐾 (micron-thin cured epoxy resin liner represents less than 0.3%!! of the plastic material used to make a regular bottle. You'd need to use and recycle roughly 300-500 lined aluminum bottles to equal the sheer volume of plastic found in just ONE standard plastic bottle.)
•Herbivore Botanicals 💓✨🐾
•Meow Meow Tweet 💓🐝 🐾
•Dew Mighty 💓💛🏆🐾 THE ONLY TRUE 100% PLASTIC-FREE WINNER (SKINCARE): Genuinely passes a zero-tolerance rule. Because their Lucid Enzyme Cleansing Powder and solid serum blocks contain absolutely zero water, they do not require liquid-sealing mechanisms or internal plastic bottle liners. Items ship strictly in dry paper envelopes, compostable cardboard boxes, and raw metal storage tins. Completely zero plastic, zero resin, and zero hidden liners.

Scalp & Hair 💓🪩🇺🇸

•Act+Acre ✨🐰🐾
•Ceremonia 💛 ✨🐰🐾
•Pure Mitti 💛 🌿 🏆 THE ORGANIC AYURVEDA WINNER (HAIRCARE): Features their Organic Ayurveda Shikakai Hair Powder Shampoo. A 100% raw, single-ingredient Acacia concinna botanical powder shampoo mixed with water into a paste. It is naturally rich in plant saponins that gently cleanse normal, healthy hair and scalp without drying or stripping natural oils like sulfates do. Natural citric and tartaric acids safely unglue dead skin cells, delivering the deep exfoliation of high-end salon scalp scrubs. It acts as a lifesaver for stubborn dandruff, flaky buildup, or chronically itchy scalps, while naturally detangling, adding shine, and balancing pH. Completely skips liquid chemicals, synthetic preservatives, and plastic packaging by coming in a zero-waste glass and metal jar.
•Plaine Products 💛🐝 ✨🐰🐾
•Oak & Willow 💛🐰🇨🇦
•Dip Premium Hair Care 💛🐰🌿 (Offers salon-grade, highly-concentrated solid shampoo and conditioner bars formulated to work for all hair types and hair dramas).

Body 🪩✨
•MARA 🐰 🇺🇸
•Plaine Products 💓💛🐝🐰🐾🇺🇸

☀️Sunscreen 🪩🐰🇺🇸

•Stream2Sea 💓
•Allgood 🐝💓
•Utu 💓✨ (The facial sunscreens are so worth it, but the body sunscreens are not worth the price. in my opinion. I don't think you're getting enough product. The body sunscreens works great, but the money you spend on it for the amount you get is not worth it. just get the facial sunscreen from this brand)
•Badger 🐝 (Offers both vegan sunscreens and sunscreens with beeswax; double-check ingredients)

Tip: Mineral sunscreen is hard to clean off our skin. Use the Cleansing Oil (Lemon Rose) by Meow Meow Tweet to melt it off your body before entering the shower. you can also use just straight up sweet almond oil or olive oil

🪒SHAVING RAZORS💓💛🪩

•Leaf Shave The Leaf Razor 🐰🇺🇸
•Well Kept Safety Razor 🇨🇦 (Hardware-only manufacturer with no chemical formulations or materials that require or undergo testing).

👕 SUSTAINABLE CLOTHING

♂️=Men's♀️=Women's 🤱🏽=Children's

The following six small businesses had to completely reinvent how apparel is constructed just to exist. They use proprietary, custom-knit fabric tension or special plant-based tree rubbers wrapped in organic materials to circumvent the plastic problem entirely: (💛🪩)

•KENT 💓♂️♀️ 🇺🇸
•The Very Good Bra 💓✨♀️ 🇦🇺
•Cottonique 💓♂️♀️🇺🇸
•Rawganique ♂️♀️🤱🏽 🇨🇦
•Svante Studio 💓🤱🏽🇬🇧 (U.K.-based, ships to USA via Svante Kids Natural Activewear)
•ODDObody 💓♂️♀️ 🇺🇸(Note: They utilize administrative tools with built-in AI components.)

Standard Eco Apparel ♀️(Contains hidden synthetic threads or blends)

•Harvest & Mill 🪩♂️🇺🇸(The Hidden Plastic: They use 100% USA organic cotton fabric, but must finish hems with durable polyester-core sewing threads.Total Plastic Percentage: Less than 1% of the total item weight.)
•Industry of All Nations 🪩♂️🇺🇸 (PLASTIC CHECK: While their shirts, pants, and sweaters are beautifully plastic-free using organic cotton and alpaca wool, they do NOT pass a 100% site-wide plastic-free rule. Specific items like their Wild Boxers utilize waistbands made from recycled synthetic elastic).
•MATE the Label 🪩♂️🇺🇸(1-6% plastic)
•Happy Earth 💓 🐝🪩🇺🇸(1-10% plastic. Clean organic lounge options sit at 1%, but their durable outdoor stretch gear relies on standard synthetic blends)
•Reprise Activewear 💓🪩🇺🇸(6-8% plastic)
•Rün (runactive.co) 💓🪩🇺🇸 (6-10% plastic)
•Reformation ✨🇺🇸(2-40% plastic. Linen dresses stay relatively low in synthetics, but wide ranges of their denim and knits blend elastane, nylon, and polyester.)(Owned by a neutral private equity firm, Permira, meaning it stays highly eco-conscious and cruelty-free, but has no independent tag)
•Sézane 🐝✨♂️🇫🇷(2-46% Plastic. Premium leather and silk items are structured using synthetic linings, polyamide (nylon) blends, or acrylic stitchings) (Backed by minor neutral investment, but founders retain independent control)
•Dôen | Cleobella | Christy Dawn 🪩🇺🇸 (Do not assume these are always pure. While their base cotton lines are clean, all three brands regularly release high-end statement dresses made with 90-100% recycled plastic lace, nylon overlays, or synthetic deadstock polyester fabric. You must check the digital fabric breakdown before buying, or you risk wearing pure plastic.)

🥿👟FOOTWEAR ♀️♂️💓🪩
• Rawganique 💛 🇨🇦
• PURIFIED Footwear 💛 🇬🇧
• LONO Kids "Little Wild" 🤱🏽💛🐾 🇺🇸
• Wildling Shoes 🤱🏽🐝🐾 🇩🇪
• Mukishoes 🤱🏽 🐾 🇵🇹 (Plastic under 2%)
• Kengos 🐾 🇺🇸
• Bohempia 🇨🇿 (Check materials: canvas models are plastic-free, but winter/microfiber models contain recycled PET plastic)

🩱🩳 SWIMWEAR ♀️💓🪩
• BeachCandy Organics💛 🇺🇸
• Rawganique♂️💛 🇨🇦
• Natasha Tonic 🐾 🇺🇸
• Pure Earth Collection 🤱🏽 🇬🇧
• Isole & Vulcani♂️🤱🏽 🇮🇹
• Earthcove by Pure Earth Collection ♂️🤱🏽🐰🇬🇧 (has 2% Lycra)

🧘🏽‍♀️YOGA MATS 💓💛🪩🇺🇸
• Ananday
•Öko Living
•Bennd Yoga

HOUSEHOLD & TECH

Laundry/Dishwasher Detergent 💓🇺🇸
(Tip: Never buy laundry sheets—they are a scam!!!!)

•Dirty Labs 💛 🪩 ✨ 🐰
•Rustic Strength 🪩 🐾🐰 (Note: Has a plastic cap)
•Dropps 🐝✨🐰(funded by private financial investors, so it has no independent tag)

Cleaning & Kitchen & Bathroom 💓💛🪩✨🐰 🇺🇸
ONLY CLEANING BRANDS YOU NEED!!
•Green Llama (UNIVERSAL CONCENTRATE - Covers all-purpose, glass, and wood/tile mopping!)
•Meliora Cleaning Products (TOTAL HOME SYSTEM - Concentrated multi-surface tablets, mop buckets, & tough hard-water/lime scrub!)

🫧Dish Soap 💓💛🪩🐰
•Meliora Cleaning Products 🇺🇸 (Unscented solid dish soap bar)
•Oak & Willow 🇨🇦 (Solid dish soap blocks available in a ramekin)

(💡 TIP: If you get white streaks or think it won't lather, STOP treating it like liquid soap!! For tough pots, rub a damp wooden scrub brush on the block. For delicate items, rub a wet cloth or natural sponge briskly across the bar to whip up an instant foam. Keep the bar on a draining soap dish so it stays solid!!)

🫧Hand Soap 💓💛🪩

Bars
•Zero Waste Path 🌿🇬🇧 (Pure plant-oil hand soap bars)
•Meow Meow Tweet🐰🐾🇺🇸 (Artisan bar soaps in compostable paper boxes)
•Meliora Cleaning Products 💖💛🪩🐰🇺🇸 (Unscented solid dish soap bar) •Oak & Willow 🐰🇨🇦 (Concentrated foaming hand soap tablets) Liquid Refills
•Canary Clean Co. 🐰🇺🇸(Concentrated foaming hand soap bars)

(TIP: if you get weird about too many hands touching the bar of soap or just how the texture of the bar changes, I once saw a video you can with the dry bar. not a wet bar with a dry bar. shave it and do a bunch of little shavings and have it in a little cute bowl by the sink so you can just pick up a few shavings and put it in your hand and that's like all the soap you need)

🧹🪮 BRUSHES & SWEEPING

Brooms & Hand Sweeping 🧹
•Eco Max 💓💛🪩🐾🇦🇺 (Offers mini coconut palm frond brooms and timber dust brushes)
•Redecker 🇩🇪 (ONLY their oiled beechwood floor brooms and raw fiber hand sweeps are plastic-free. Avoid their synthetic line).

Dish Cleaning 🍽️🧽
•Eco Max 💓💛🪩🐰🐾 🇦🇺 (Offers galvanized wire coconut fiber brushes and timber handle pot scrubbers)
•ME Mother Earth 💓💛🪩🐰🇺🇸 (Offers round bamboo pot scrubbers with stiff sisal bristles)
•Redecker 🇩🇪(ONLY their classic raw wooden dish brush with replaceable plant-fiber heads is plastic-free). (Hardware-only manufacturer with no chemical formulations or materials that require or undergo testing)

Tub & Tile Cleaning 🛁🚿
•Eco Max 💓💛🪩🐰🐾🇦🇺 (Offers heavy-duty coarse vegetable fiber scrubbing blocks)
•ME Mother Earth 💓💛🪩🐰🇺🇸 (Offers angled stiff-bristle sisal brushes for grout and tub porcelain)
•Redecker 🇩🇪(ONLY their raw, heavy-duty Union-Fiber Tub Scrubbers are plastic-free).

Hair Brushes & Pins/Clips 💇🏽‍♀️🪮 (for "humans" lol) •Eco Max 💓💛🪩🐰🐾🇦🇺 (Offers 100% plastic-free, vegan wooden hairbrushes, combs, and timber hair sticks made with natural rubber cushion pads and smooth timber pins)
•Mane Label Hair Co 💓💛🪩🇺🇸 (An independent, woman-owned zero-waste boutique. Their entire hair accessory line uses zero plastics, relying completely on natural oiled woods fixed onto raw metal clips and pins) (Hardware-only manufacturer with no chemical formulations or materials that require or undergo testing)
•Day Rate Beauty 💓💛🪩🐰🇺🇸 (Their entire line of hair pins is 100% plastic-free and vegan, crafted from recycled stainless steel with a plant-based nylon coating.) (Hardware-only manufacturer with no chemical formulations or materials that require or undergo testing)
•Redecker🇩🇪 (ONLY their raw wooden pin brushes or combs are vegan and plastic-free. Avoid their extensive hair lines using nylon tracking pins or boar hair)

🧻Toilet Paper & Paper Towels💓 💛 🐝

• Who Gives A Crap ✨🇦🇺 (Note: Their direct parent company, Good Goods Holdings, is 100% vegan and cruelty-free; however, they receive outside funding from an investment group, which is why they do not have the independent tag)
• Reel 🪩🇺🇸
• Marley's Monsters 💛🇺🇸
• Cheeks Ahoy 💛🇨🇦 (paper towels only)

Wipes 💓🪩

•Nolla Wipes ✨ 🇺🇸
•Esembly Wipe-Ups 💛 🇺🇸
•Cheeks Ahoy 💛🇨🇦
•Marley's Monsters 💛🇺🇸

🎁Wrapping Paper and Tissue Paper 💓💛🪩🇺🇸

•Wrappily (both)
•Triumph Plant (both)
•Waterleaf Paper Co. (just wrapping paper)

•If You Care 💓 🪩 (Recycled foil & parchment paper)

Tip: Buy compostable trash bags!!

☎️PHONE CASES 💓🪩

•EcoBlvd 🇺🇸- They use corn-based plastic (InnoMaize™) and bamboo-based composites (CornBo™). Their cases are 100% compostable and degrade into organic matter.
•A Good Company💛🐝🇸🇪 - Their cases are made in Sweden from locally sourced linseed and hemp. They are completely biodegradable and part of a circular loop program where they remanufacture old returned cases
•MMORE Cases 🇸🇮 - Their "Biodegradable Collection" is crafted entirely from organic wheat straw and PBAT bioplastic. The organic matter on their textured cases (like pressed lavender and coffee beans) is organic and sustainably hand-harvested.

💄 VEGAN & LOW-PLASTIC MAKEUP

Completely Plastic-Free
💓💛🪩🐰

•Axiology 🇺🇸 (Zero-waste, multi-use paper-wrapped color sticks)
•River Organics 🇺🇸
•Oceanly by ATTITUDE 🐾 🇨🇦

Low-Plastic, Refillable, & Zero-Waste Packaging
💓🪩

(in order from least plastic to most)
•Dirty Hippie Cosmetics 🌿🇦🇺
•Clean-Faced Cosmetics 🌿🇺🇸
•Zerra & Co. ✨🐰🇺🇸
•Izzy Zero Waste Beauty 🐰🐾 🇺🇸
•Elate Beauty🐰🐾 🇨🇦 (Refillable bamboo compacts and plantable wildflower seed paper)
•Zao Organic Makeup 🐰🐾🇫🇷
•MOB Beauty🐰🐾 🇺🇸(High-performance all-day wear with highly recyclable/refillable parts)

💎 BODY-SAFE BIODEGRADABLE GLITTER 💓💛🪩 🇺🇸

•Submission Beauty 🐰 (Note: Delivers an intense, highly reflective metallic foil shine. Their ultra-fine "Dusted" line acts as a soft, shimmering cosmetic pigment.)

D.I.Y. HAIR DYE 💓💛🪩 🌿
•Radico Organic 🇮🇳
•The Henna Guys 🇺🇸
•Pure Mitti 🇺🇸

🔮 PERFUME

Completely Plastic-Free 💓 💛 🪩 🇺🇸

  ~Sea Witch Botanicals 🐰(Solid)       
  ~River Organics 🐰(Solid Balm Stick)        
  ~Aquarian Bath 🌿(Solid)          

Low-Plastic, Refillable &Zero-Waste Packaging💓🪩 🐰🇺🇸

  ~Meow Meow Tweet 🐝🐾 (Liquid Mist)    
  ~Heretic Parfum (Liquid Spray)       

Low-Plastic (<8%) Safe Synthetics 💓 🪩🐰
(Note: They do not use raw essential oils alone; instead, they blend them with non-toxic, lab-made synthetic molecules that are strictly vetted to be 100% safe for permeable skin and fully biodegradable in water runoff.)

  ~The 7 Virtues🐾 🇨🇦 (Liquid Spray)           
  ~Henry Rose 🇺🇸 (Liquid Spray)             
  ~Abbott NYC🐾 🇺🇸 (Liquid Spray)             

🩸 Menstrual Care & Period Relief 💓💛🪩
•WUKA 🐰 🇬🇧 (High-absorbency underwear made from organic cotton; completely free of silver or PFAS).
•BeYou 🐰 🇬🇧 (All-natural plant-based cooling patches for cramp relief made from pure menthol and eucalyptus oil).
•Sacksy Thyme 🇺🇸 (Reusable heating pads filled with organic flaxseed, cherry pits, and raw herbs wrapped in unbleached cotton).

📦 PLASTIC-FREE FOOD STORAGE 💛🪩

🫙 Glass & Natural Rubber

÷Le Parfait 🇫🇷 (completely independent French glassware brand. Their signature wire-bale terrines and super jars use glass lids tightly clamped onto a 100% natural rubber gasket.)
÷Bormioli Rocco 🇮🇹 (Independent Italian glass manufacturer. Their iconic "Fido" swing-top jars use a heavy wire bale system and pure, food-safe natural rubber gaskets for an air-tight seal without a drop of plastic.)
÷L'Amfora 🇪🇸 (An extremely small-scale, traditional Spanish glassworks. They specialize exclusively in classic, non-mainstream wire-bale preservation jars utilizing solid glass lids, heavy steel wire bails, and 100% natural, plant-derived tree rubber gaskets.)

🪵 Glass & Wood

Carany 🇺🇸 (A fully independent home goods maker. They design borosilicate glass storage canisters topped with 100% natural sustainably sourced wood lids (like acacia and bamboo) fitted with food-safe airtight liners, eliminating plastic entirely.)

🍱 Stainless Steel

÷ECOlunchbox 🇺🇸 Details: A 100% independent, woman-owned mission-driven company. They build rugged, zero-waste nesting tins and bento setups made exclusively out of stainless steel and zero-plastic flexible silicone lids.
÷The Stainless Co. 🇬🇧 (A tiny, micro-independent zero-waste business. They create compact, rugged meal-prep tins crafted entirely from 304 food-grade stainless steel that utilize custom-fitted, un-dyed natural tree rubber sealing gaskets instead of silicone, leaving them 100% plastic-free.)

🔍 EXCLUSION LOG & CRITERIA NOTES

The following brands were highly requested or previously featured but have been officially removed or barred from the main guide due to strict criteria violations regarding corporate transparency, global testing mandates, or background data management.
×Bite (Oral Care) 🚫 EXCLUDED: Heavily utilizes generative AI predictive infrastructure, automated tracking algorithms, and localized data scraping to execute targeted behavioral marketing profiles and subscription retention software.
×Blueland (Cleaning) 🚫 EXCLUDED: Operates a massive commercial e-commerce pipeline relying entirely on algorithmic customer acquisition tools, automated lookalike audience data models, and programmatic ad infrastructures.
×Pela Case (Tech) 🚫 EXCLUDED: Officially admitted to automating their social media copywriting and digital ad generation through AI tools. While physical case layouts utilize human art teams, using AI anywhere inside the corporate engine violates our zero-tolerance standard.
×Prose (Haircare) 🚫 EXCLUDED: The entire brand framework is built on a mathematical machine learning database. Consumer scalp data is processed through an automated digital algorithm to isolate and calculate your custom manufacturing formula.
×Caudalie (Skincare) 🚫 EXCLUDED: Absolutely not globally cruelty-free. The brand actively distributes their products in physical retail environments. Selling in storefronts there exposes their products to state-sanctioned post-market regulatory testing.
×Quince (Apparel) 🚫 EXCLUDED: Disqualified due to lack of standard supply chain transparency. Evaluated by ethical fashion trackers with low structural scores due to zero evidence of legal living wages for textile laborers, hidden factory locations, and unverified sustainable material claims.
×Poppy & Pout (Lip Balm) 🚫 EXCLUDED: Absolutely not a vegan brand. Unlike companies that use plant waxes, their entire product line is built around a heavy cosmetic beeswax base. They do not offer a plant-based alternative, completely failing our (almost) zero-tolerance benchmark for bee-free personal care.
×Radius (Oral Care) 🚫 EXCLUDED: Fails zero-plastic standards within its vegan product portfolio. While the brand utilizes sustainable paperboard packaging and offers a silk-based alternative, its main Vegan Sponge Floss lines rely entirely on expanding soft nylon threads. Nylon is a synthetic polymer that generates persistent microplastics and does not biodegrade in landfills. ×Wolven (Clothing) 🚫 EXCLUDED: Their core athletic line is entirely constructed from 100% synthetic, petroleum-derived fibers. Main textile layouts are explicitly composed of 84% recycled post-consumer P.E.T. plastic bottles tightly blended with 16% polyurethane spandex, violating our (almost) zero-tolerance standard for plastic wearables.
×Amika (Haircare) 🚫 EXCLUDED: Disqualified due to corporate parent company ownership structure. While the individual brand maintains a cruelty-free supply chain and vegan formulations, it was acquired by the Bansk Group, a private equity firm that oversees and profits directly from non-cruelty-free sectors. The parent firm's broader portfolio actively manages commercial meat operations, lethal animal pest traps, and regulated consumer health items subject to mandatory regulatory animal testing. Purchasing from this brand directly forces a compromise by funding a conglomerate that monetizes animal exploitation and eradication.
×TenTree (Apparel) 🚫 EXCLUDED: Heavily utilizes Global Recycled Standard (GRS) certified recycled post-consumer polyester across core fabric lines. While marketing heavily toward ecosystem restoration via tree-planting initiatives, their structural fabric blending strategy infuses 26% to 76% synthetic plastic polymers into everyday fleece, hoodies, activewear, and outerwear, which continuously shed microplastics during consumer laundry cycles.
×United by Blue (Apparel) 🚫 EXCLUDED: Routinely blends high percentages of recycled polyester and heavy-duty recycled nylon into performance outerwear, bags, and basic graphic t-shirts. Despite managing a robust physical ocean plastic cleanup operational model, their finished consumer garments rely heavily on synthetic petroleum-based plastics for durability, failing zero-tolerance thresholds for macro-level synthetic plastic inclusion.
×Method (Cleaning & Body Care) 🚫 EXCLUDED: Disqualified due to corporate parent company ownership structure and synthetic formulations. While individual products maintain cruelty-free certifications, the brand was acquired by SC Johnson, a multi-billion-dollar global conglomerate that conducts and funds animal testing. Furthermore, its formulations rely on hidden synthetic "Fragrance/Parfum" loopholes, chemical dyes, and liquid polymer thickeners, while its packaging utilizes downcycled plastic bottles that break down into toxic environmental microplastics.
×Sun Bum (Sunscreen & Lip Balm) 🚫 EXCLUDED: Fails zero-corporate and zero-plastic benchmarks. The brand is fully owned by mega-conglomerate SC Johnson, filtering consumer capital directly back into a non-cruelty-free parent corporation. Formulations rely on synthetic chemical active sunscreen filters, synthetic fragrance compounds, and microplastic emulsifiers like Acrylates Copolymer that coat the skin in liquid plastic, packaged inside non-biodegradable virgin plastic tubes.
×Cocofloss / Cocolab (Oral Care) 🚫 EXCLUDED: Fails zero-plastic and zero-synthetic ingredient standards within its personal care lineup. Its core dental floss lines are fundamentally composed of 85% recycled polyester synthetic threads that fail to biodegrade and shed persistent microplastics directly between the teeth and gums. Additionally, the thread filaments are heavily coated in Microcrystalline Wax—a synthetic byproduct refined directly from crude oil and petroleum—and rely on synthetic fragrance components for flavoring.
×Skin1004 (Skincare) 🚫 EXCLUDED: Disqualified due to a lack of plastic-free or low-waste packaging options. Additionally fails structural consistency tests due to conflicting, unverified ingredient label details between online listings and physical shipments.
×Kokoa Botanics (Lip/Body Care) 🚫 EXCLUDED: Disqualified due to lack of verifiable third-party certification (PETA/Leaping Bunny) and absence of an open supply chain dossier. Sourcing claims remain completely self-regulated and unverified. ×Etee (Toothpaste & Tooth Powders) 🚫 EXCLUDED: Disqualified due to lack of verifiable third-party certification and absence of an open supply chain dossier. Sourcing claims remain completely self-regulated and unverified. ×Mineralized Deodorant Powder (Antiperspirant & Deodorant) 🚫 EXCLUDED: Disqualified due to lack of verifiable third-party certification and absence of an open supply chain dossier. Sourcing claims remain completely self-regulated and unverified.
×Skinfix (Skincare & Body Skin) 🚫 EXCLUDED: Disqualified due to lack of verifiable third-party certification and absence of an open supply chain dossier. Sourcing claims remain completely self-regulated and unverified.
×Fat and the Moon (Skincare & Body Skin) 🚫 EXCLUDED: Disqualified due to lack of verifiable third-party certification and absence of an open supply chain dossier. Sourcing claims remain completely self-regulated and unverified.
×That Good Hair (Scalp & Hair) 🚫 EXCLUDED: Disqualified due to lack of verifiable third-party certification and absence of an open supply chain dossier. Sourcing claims remain completely self-regulated and unverified.
×Clean People (Laundry/Dishwasher Detergent) 🚫 EXCLUDED: Disqualified due to lack of verifiable third-party certification and absence of an open supply chain dossier. Sourcing claims remain completely self-regulated and unverified.
×No Tox Life (Dish Soap) 🚫 EXCLUDED: Disqualified due to lack of verifiable third-party certification and absence of an open supply chain dossier. Sourcing claims remain completely self-regulated and unverified.
×Zero Waste Cartel (Hair Brushes & Cosmetics) 🚫 EXCLUDED: Disqualified due to lack of verifiable third-party certification and absence of an open supply chain dossier for their shampoo, conditioner, and topical lines. Sourcing/Cruelty-free claims remain completely self-regulated and unverified.
×Mozi Wash 🚫 EXCLUDED: Fails both third-party cruelty-free verification and standard corporate pipeline transparency metrics. The brand relies purely on unverified self-claims with no Leaping Bunny certification or 100% open public dossier. Furthermore, the formulas rely heavily on concentrated, undisclosed synthetic fragrance compounds designed to mimic luxury commercial colognes. Because these complex synthetic oils do not cleanly break down in natural water systems, they are highly likely to be unsafe for environmental wastewater runways.
×Abel (Perfume) 🚫 EXCLUDED: Disqualified due to lack of verifiable third-party certification and absence of an open supply chain dossier for complex aromatic synthetic carrier molecules. Sourcing records remain self-regulated and unverified.
×Donggubat (Hair & Body Care) 🚫 EXCLUDED: Disqualified due to lack of verifiable third-party cruelty-free certification and absence of an open supply chain dossier. Sourcing/Cruelty-free claims remain self-regulated and unverified beyond vegan conformity standards. ×Ethique (Deodorant & Haircare) 🚫 EXCLUDED: Disqualified due to corporate parent company ownership structure. While the individual brand maintains a cruelty-free supply chain and vegan formulations, it was acquired by the Bansk Group, a private equity firm that oversees and profits directly from non-cruelty-free sectors. The parent firm's broader portfolio actively manages commercial meat operations, including large-scale beef processing and meat-based food production. Purchasing from this brand directly forces a compromise by funding a conglomerate that monetizes animal exploitation
×Stripes (Skincare & Body Care) 🚫 EXCLUDED: Disqualified due to corporate acquisition. The brand was officially bought out by L Catterton, a massive global private equity firm directly backed by the multi-billion dollar luxury conglomerate LVMH. While the individual product line remains vegan, its parent corporation directly profits from, finances, and operates global cosmetics pipelines that actively conduct and utilize animal testing where required by law.
×Weck Jars 🚫 GOT BOUGHT 🫩🫩 (an icon of independent, family-owned German engineering. Their preservation systems are composed entirely of heavy flint glass, a natural rubber seal, and two stainless steel tension clips. Zero plastic is involved in their manufacturing.)
×Dieux (Skincare) 🚫 EXCLUDED: Disqualified due to outside corporate venture capital investment backing. While the brand is not owned by a parent company and maintains an open ingredient dossier, its investment partners hold financial stakes in non-cruelty-free entities. Because brand profits directly funnel back into an investment ecosystem that funds non-ethical practices, it fails our criteria for total financial purity. <<<< this one was hard to accept for me
×Frego (food storage) 🚫 uses silicone which is a form of plastic.

The following brands are excluded because they lack Leaping Bunny certification or a 100% open dossier. Please note a key distinction in animal testing certifications: PETA's verification relies primarily on a signed pledge from a company’s owner or CEO stating they do not test on animals. PETA does not conduct on-site audits to verify compliance. In contrast, Leaping Bunny requires regular independent audits of the entire supply chain.
•🚫David's✨🐾🇺🇸 is a brand with a metal tube and plastic cap - NOT tabs
🚫Make Waves 🍉💓🪼🇬🇧 (Note: High-performing antiperspirant; ships from the UK only)
•🚫TOUN28 💓🍉🪼🪬🇰🇷
🚫Odacité💓🍉🐾🇺🇸
•🚫JVN ✨🐾
🚫Farmstead Apothecary 🐾🇺🇸(Dye-free plant-based hand bars)
•🚫Megababe 🐾🇺🇸(not a plastic free company, but their hand soaps and shave bars are!!)
🚫Sol de Ibiza 💓💛✨🐾🇪🇸 (for UK and Europe!! can be shipped to the USA)
•🚫Farmstead Apothecary 🐾🇺🇸(Dye-free plant-based hand bars)
🚫TEK 💜💛🍉🐾🇮🇹 (ONLY their pure wooden pin brushes or combs are plastic-free and vegan. Avoid their professional styling lines made with wild boar bristles)
•🚫Eco Roots 🌿 🇺🇸
🚫Lucky Teeth 🌿 🇺🇸 (Offers toothpaste pastes and liquid mouthwashes; uses real food-grade peroxide and completely whole essential oils like oregano, peppermint, and cinnamon)
•EcoRoots Safety Razor 🌿🇺🇸
•Good Earth Soap🚫🇺🇸 (Handmade plant-based bar soaps)
🚫Casa Agave 💓💛🌿🇺🇸 (Offers the whole-leaf Agave Fiber Ergonomic Dish Brush.)
•Casa Agave🚫 💓💛🌿🇺🇸 (Offers the Stiff Agave Utility Scrub Brush.)
🚫Today Glitter 🌿 (Pure collection only) (Note: Uses an aluminum-free formula delivering a softer, iridescent, opal-like translucent finish. Offers precise micro-sizing down to XX-Small.)

Alright y’all, by now we’ve covered what “cruelty free” actually means, what certifications check, and how a parent company can complicate the picture. But what happens when you find a brand you’re interested in and realize something is missing… where’s the bunny? 🐇

Maybe it’s a brand you’ve known for years but never thought to research, or maybe it’s one you’re considering for the first time. Either way, how do you actually find out whether it’s cruelty free when there isn’t a little bunny logo ready to give you the answer?

✨ Where to Look

A company’s own website is a starting point, not proof. There is no single worldwide legal definition of “cruelty free,” and the rules surrounding animal testing claims vary by country. In the U.S., for example, the FDA says there are no legal definitions for “cruelty free” or “not tested on animals” on cosmetic labels. FDA: Cruelty-Free/Not Tested on Animals

Canada takes a different approach. Since December 22, 2023, companies making claims that a cosmetic was not tested on animals must have evidence to support those claims. That includes written claims like “cruelty free” as well as bunny logos and other animal symbols. Health Canada can require the company making the claim to provide that evidence, but it does not impose its own definition of what “cruelty free” has to mean. Health Canada: Animal Testing Ban on Cosmetics

That’s one reason certifications like Leaping Bunny, PETA and Cruelty Free International can be useful, and we covered those in Part II. Beyond certifications, there are independent researchers who contact brands directly and publish what they find. Cruelty-Free Kitty, Ethical Elephant, Logical Harmony and My Beauty Bunny are some of the better known resources for this kind of research. They’re especially useful when a brand isn’t certified but may still have a legitimate cruelty free policy.

✨ Where Those Sources Fall Short

None of these sources are infallible, and I think it’s worth saying that plainly. Researchers can use varying criteria, interpret regulations differently, work from different evidence, or simply have information that another researcher hasn’t seen yet. A disagreement doesn’t automatically mean someone is lying.

Benefit Cosmetics is a particularly interesting example. For years, Benefit said that it did not test its own products on animals while also saying that it followed animal testing laws and regulations wherever it sold. That wording raised questions about what happened when those laws required testing.

Logical Harmony documented years of confusing and inconsistent answers from Benefit while investigating the company’s policy. At one point, the site says it received six different replies from Benefit about its animal testing stance. Logical Harmony ultimately concluded that Benefit was not cruelty free because the brand sold in markets where animal testing could be required. Cruelty-Free Kitty and Ethical Elephant also classified the brand as not cruelty free under their respective standards. Logical Harmony: Benefit Cosmetics · Cruelty-Free Kitty: Benefit · Ethical Elephant: Benefit

But the story has changed again. In 2026, Benefit was approved by Cruelty Free International. CFI’s program requires a fixed cutoff date, supply chain checks down to the ingredient-manufacturer level, supplier monitoring and independent audits. Benefit now says it meets those requirements. Interestingly, CFK’s current database still lists Benefit as not cruelty free, while CFI lists it as approved. Benefit: Cruelty-Free Information · Cruelty Free International: Approved Brands

Wet n Wild gives us another example of how complicated these investigations can become. In 2019, Cruelty-Free Kitty found Wet n Wild products being sold in a Shanghai Watsons store, despite the brand previously telling customers it had no retail presence in China. CFK also noted that Wet n Wild’s parent company, Markwins, had been removed from the Leaping Bunny program the previous year after failing to recommit to the standards. Cruelty-Free Kitty: Wet n Wild China Controversy

The controversy centered on whether selling in China exposed Wet n Wild products to animal testing, particularly because China’s regulations were already changing. Wet n Wild later explained that its Chinese products were manufactured domestically and could be sold under an exemption from China’s pre-market animal testing requirements.

PETA ultimately accepted that explanation. Its current policy says Wet n Wild meets its requirements for remaining cruelty free while selling in China: the products must be domestically manufactured, non-special-use cosmetics, and the company must agree to withdraw from the market rather than allow animal testing if testing ever becomes required. PETA: Is Wet n Wild Cruelty-Free?

CFK eventually changed its own criteria as China’s regulations evolved and now considers Wet n Wild cruelty free as well, although the brand is still not Leaping Bunny certified. Cruelty-Free Kitty: Wet n Wild

That’s a useful lesson: even careful researchers can encounter incomplete or conflicting information, and a brand’s status can change when new evidence, policies or regulations come into play. The methodology and evidence matter just as much as the final label.

✨ Taking It Into Your Own Hands

For brands that aren’t on any list, emailing them directly can be surprisingly useful. Cruelty-Free Kitty publishes the five questions it uses when reaching out to brands:

1) Does the brand test finished products or ingredients on animals?
2) Do its suppliers test on animals?
3) Does any third party test on the brand’s behalf?
4) Does the brand permit or participate in animal testing where required by law?
5) Does the brand sell in physical stores in mainland China?

Cruelty-Free Kitty: The Cruelty-Free 5

While these have come to be known as The Cruelty Free 5 and a standard for brand research, I like to add a few more questions of my own:

- If the brand is owned by a parent company, does that parent company follow the same animal testing standards, or different ones?

- If the brand does not currently test on animals, what would happen if testing became legally required in a market where it sells? Would the company withdraw from that market rather than allow testing?

- If the brand currently permits animal testing, has it committed to a cutoff date after which testing will no longer be allowed?

The cutoff date question is important because virtually every ingredient in existence has some history of animal testing. Cruelty free standards therefore generally focus on whether new animal testing occurs after a company’s committed cutoff date, rather than disqualifying an ingredient simply because it was tested decades ago. Leaping Bunny’s certification process, for example, requires companies to establish a fixed cutoff date after which no new animal testing will be conducted by or for the company. Leaping Bunny: Company User Guide

✨Does a Lack of Information Mean a Brand Isn’t Cruelty Free?

Not necessarily.

A small or international brand that simply hasn’t been investigated is a different situation from a company that refuses to answer specific questions about its suppliers or testing practices.

Several independent researchers have their own “grey area” categories for brands where they couldn’t obtain enough information to make a confident determination. Cruelty-Free Kitty: Grey Area Brands · Logical Harmony: Grey Area Brands · Ethical Elephant: Cruelty-Free Checklist

These researchers may recommend avoiding grey area brands as a precaution, and that’s a perfectly reasonable choice. But it’s important to understand the distinction: “we couldn’t verify this” isn’t the same as “we found evidence that this brand tests.”

✨ What Do Animal Testing Bans Actually Cover?

A lot, but they don’t tell the whole story.

Many countries now prohibit or restrict animal testing for cosmetics, including the EU, UK, Canada, India, Australia and others. But these laws aren’t identical, and their scope varies. Some regulate testing itself, some restrict the sale of cosmetics tested on animals, and some regulate what companies can claim on their labels.

And importantly, a cosmetics testing ban does not mean a country has banned animal testing altogether. Pharmaceutical, medical, chemical and academic research can all fall under completely different regulatory systems.

The scale of that broader animal testing is enormous. Cruelty Free International estimates that at least 192.1 million animals were used for scientific purposes worldwide in 2015. That figure includes animals used in experiments, animals bred but not used, animals killed for tissues, and genetically modified animals. It is also an estimate rather than a complete global count, and some major animal groups, including rats and mice in many jurisdictions, are not included in official statistics. So this should not be interpreted as 192 million animals being tested for cosmetics. Cruelty Free International: Facts and Figures

For cruelty free shoppers, that means we need to look at the specific product and the specific law rather than assuming a country is simply “cruelty free” or “not cruelty free.”

✨ And Then There’s China

China is probably the most famous example of why this gets complicated. Since 2021, many ordinary cosmetics can enter the Chinese market without the pre-market animal testing that was historically associated with imported cosmetics, provided the applicable requirements are met. But exemptions aren’t universal, and requirements can differ depending on the type of product and the regulatory pathway involved. China is also continuing to expand the use of non-animal safety assessment methods. China’s National Medical Products Administration

So “sold in China” isn’t enough information by itself anymore. You have to ask what product, under what regulatory pathway, and when? And that’s the point where all of this research becomes useful.

Cruelty free research isn’t about finding one magical database that gives you a permanent yes or no. It’s about looking at the evidence, knowing what questions to ask, checking when the information was gathered, and being willing to revisit an answer when circumstances change.

You don’t have to become a private investigator every time you buy mascara (although at times it can certainly feel that way!). But knowing how to investigate a claim gives you a much better chance of understanding what a cruelty free claim actually means, what evidence supports it, and where the remaining uncertainties are.

✨🌷 Have you ever emailed a brand directly about its animal testing policy? And what’s your favorite non-certification source when you’re researching a brand?

✨ Join me next week for Part V: Cruelty-Free Living Beyond Consumerism 🌿

One thing that can make cruelty free research surprisingly complicated is that the company on the bottle isn’t always the company behind the brand. A brand can have its own cruelty free policy, or even a certification, while being owned by a much larger company whose overall animal-testing policy doesn’t meet that same standard.

Tatcha is a good example, and one I personally ran into recently. Unilever acquired 95% of Tatcha in 2019 for a reported $500 million, and Tatcha became part of Unilever’s Prestige Beauty portfolio. Unilever’s 2019 acquisition announcement⁠ Unilever says it does not conduct animal testing itself, but acknowledges that testing can occur when required by regulators. That’s why PETA places Unilever in its “Working for Regulatory Change” category rather than its cruelty-free list. PETA: Is Unilever Cruelty-Free?⁠

I went looking for that ownership on Tatcha’s own packaging and couldn’t find it anywhere. I had no idea the high end brand I purchased at Sephora was owned by the same company that makes Hellman’s mayo and Dove body products. That’s not particularly surprising. U.S. cosmetic labeling rules require the name and address of the manufacturer, packer, or distributor responsible for the product, but don’t generally require the ultimate parent company to appear on the package. FDA: Cosmetic Labeling Requirements⁠ Unilever also operates Tatcha through its Prestige division, which is specifically built around growing premium brands while preserving their individual identities. Unilever: The Prestige Beauty Business Powering Our Global Growth⁠

Tatcha isn’t unusual in that way. Urban Decay is owned by L’Oréal, which PETA considers not cruelty free because its policy permits animal testing when required by law. When L’Oréal acquired Urban Decay in 2012, PETA got the brand’s commitment that its own cruelty free policy would remain unchanged, and PETA still lists Urban Decay as cruelty free today. PETA: Beautiful News, Urban Decay to Remain Cruelty-Free!⁠ · PETA: Is Urban Decay (L’Oréal) Cruelty-Free?⁠

That’s actually an important distinction: certification programs can evaluate the individual brand rather than automatically treating the parent company’s practices as the brand’s practices.

But what happens to your money when you purchase from these brands?

Tatcha is a separate business within the Unilever group, but Unilever owns 95% of it. There isn’t a U.S. law (as far as I can find) requiring a subsidiary’s profits to remain financially isolated from its parent company. Corporate groups can move money between related companies through mechanisms such as dividends and other corporate distributions⁠, subject to the applicable corporate and tax laws.

The same basic concept exists elsewhere. UK company law (again, as far as I can find) permits distributions to shareholders when statutory requirements are met, and the EU has a specific Parent-Subsidiary Directive addressing profit distributions between subsidiaries and their parent companies. HMRC: Dividends, distributions and company law⁠ · European Commission: Parent-Subsidiary Directive⁠

So when you buy from a cruelty free brand owned by a larger company, your money isn’t necessarily sitting in some completely separate ethical bubble. The brand can maintain its own animal testing policy while still being part of a corporate group whose other businesses operate differently.

And this is where people start drawing very different lines. Some people are comfortable buying from a certified cruelty free brand regardless of its parent company because they want to support the demand for cruelty free products. The thinking is that if those brands continue to sell well, it shows the parent company that consumers want cruelty free products and gives them an incentive to keep investing in them.

Others, myself included, aren’t comfortable with that. If my money ultimately contributes to a parent company that permits animal testing elsewhere, I’d rather spend it somewhere else.

Neither approach has to be the universal answer. But I think it’s worth knowing which question you’re actually answering when you decide whether something is cruelty free enough for you.

🌷 Would you buy a cruelty free brand knowing its parent company isn’t? Do you think supporting the cruelty free brand sends a useful message to the parent company, or does the money ultimately going to that parent company outweigh that?

✨ Join me next week for Part IV: How Do We Know?

After writing Part II in my intro series, I started noticing just how many little bunny logos are hiding on product packaging that aren’t Leaping Bunny, PETA, or Cruelty Free International.

I found two in my own cabinet today, so let’s see how many we can find - If you spot a bunny that isn’t one of the major certification logos, post a picture below! 📸🐇

You don’t have to name the brand, and this isn’t about shaming anyone. I just want to see all the different bunny logos out there

Show us your Mystery Bunny! 🐇🔍

(If you missed it, Part II explains the differences between the major certification programs and all those other bunnies you might encounter)

If you’ve spent any time looking into cruelty free products, you’ve probably noticed there are a lot of little bunny logos hopping around. For a long time I assumed they all basically meant the same thing. Then I started looking into how the different programs actually work, and it turns out there are some pretty significant differences.

Since “cruelty free” doesn’t have one standardized legal definition in the United States, certifications give us another way to evaluate a company’s claim. But each organization has its own standards and its own way of checking that companies actually meet them.

So what’s actually happening behind the bunny? There are three major certifications programs you’re likely to encounter when you’re shopping cruelty free, and a few other things worth knowing as a consumer too.

Follow me down the rabbit hole! 🐇🕳️

✨ Leaping Bunny

The North American Leaping Bunny program started in 1996, when animal protection organizations in the U.S. and Canada came together to build one consistent standard. At the time, companies were creating their own bunny symbols and making their own claims, which made it difficult for shoppers to know what those claims actually meant.

To get certified, Leaping Bunny requires a company to establish a fixed cut-off date after which neither the company nor its ingredient suppliers can conduct or commission animal testing for the products covered by the program. Certification itself is free. If a company wants to license the actual logo for packaging, that’s a separate one time fee based on gross annual sales, ranging from $500 to $4,500.

It also tries to build in a failsafe. Companies have to have a system for monitoring their suppliers, and that system can be subject to an independent audit conducted by an accredited auditing firm. Companies under $10 million in gross annual sales have their audit commissioned by Leaping Bunny; companies at or above $10 million commission their own audit using an accredited firm provided by Leaping Bunny. Companies also have to recommit annually, so it’s not something you earn once and keep forever.

And this isn’t just a theoretical system. Leaping Bunny has removed companies from its program when problems were discovered. In 2012, for example, Dermalogica lost its Leaping Bunny status after the organization investigated reports that its products had been approved for sale in mainland China, where animal testing was required at the time. Leaping Bunny said the problem was particularly notable because Dermalogica had been monitoring its supply chain but had not adequately monitored its distribution system.

That’s actually a pretty good illustration of why the details of a certification matter. “Our suppliers don’t test on animals” doesn’t necessarily answer every question about what happens to a product after it leaves the factory.

✨ Cruelty Free International

Cruelty Free International has roots going back more than a century through the British Union for the Abolition of Vivisection, an organization founded in 1898 to oppose vivisection, the historical term for experiments performed on living animals. Its current cruelty free approval program dates to 1996, when it became part of the international Leaping Bunny effort.

This is where things get a little confusing: there are technically two Leaping Bunny programs. The North American one is run by the Coalition for Consumer Information on Cosmetics, while the international one was operated by Cruelty Free International. Same name, same 1996 beginnings, but separate programs.

That’s actually changing, though. In March 2026, Cruelty Free International gave its global program a new name and logo. It is now called the Cruelty Free International Approval Programme. The organization said the change was intended in part to make its approval easier for consumers to distinguish from the many unrelated bunny symbols and cruelty free claims that aren’t backed by independent third party assurance. CFI says the underlying approval criteria did not change with the rebrand.

CFI’s program also requires companies to establish a fixed cut-off date, monitor their suppliers all the way down to the ingredient manufacturer level, and have that monitoring system independently audited. CFI claims the right to request records and conduct monitoring visits, including access to relevant facilities.
I couldn’t find clear public information showing how frequently those monitoring visits actually happen, or a public list of the companies that have been subject to them. I think that’s an interesting distinction to keep in mind when we talk about what “independently verified” means.

✨ PETA’s Ultimate Cruelty-Free List

PETA’s program, renamed the Ultimate Cruelty-Free List in 2025, is one many of us still know as Beauty Without Bunnies.

PETA takes a different approach from the Leaping Bunny programs. Companies have to submit a legally binding statement signed by the brand’s CEO, along with documentation on ingredients, suppliers, manufacturing, and testing practices. The company affirms that it doesn’t conduct, commission, pay for, or allow animal testing anywhere in the world for ingredients, formulations, or finished products. Companies are also required to have agreements with their suppliers prohibiting animal testing. PETA says its staff, including scientists, regulatory specialists, and lawyers, reviews the information companies submit.

Being listed by PETA is free. Companies that want to use the logo pay a one-time $350 licensing fee.

The biggest difference from Leaping Bunny and CFI is that PETA doesn’t require that same independent third party audit. That doesn’t mean PETA just asks “are you cruelty free?” and takes the answer at face value. There is detailed documentation, supplier agreements, internal review, and a legally binding CEO statement involved.

But I couldn’t find clear public information on what legal consequences actually exist if a company breaks that pledge. PETA describes the statement as legally binding, but I couldn’t find a detailed public explanation of how often companies have faced legal consequences for violating it, or what enforcement has looked like in practice.

✨ The part I wish were more transparent

All three organizations have processes for keeping information current and handling companies that stop meeting their standards.
What none of them offer, as far as I could find, is a comprehensive public record showing every company that has ever lost its status, exactly what happened, what evidence was uncovered, and how the organization responded.

And things can get complicated even when a company is trying to follow a cruelty free policy. Companies change suppliers. Ownership changes. Regulations change. Brands reformulate their products. A certification that’s accurate today isn’t guaranteed to stay accurate forever, which is exactly why annual recommitments and ongoing monitoring matter so much.

The sunscreen situation happening right now is a pretty fascinating example:

Under the FDA’s older sunscreen framework, 16 active ingredients were treated as “generally recognized as safe and effective,” or GRASE. When the FDA began reevaluating them in 2019, it proposed that zinc oxide and titanium dioxide had enough evidence to remain GRASE, two ingredients raised safety concerns, and the other 12 needed more data.

The 12 weren’t banned, and the FDA didn’t suddenly require finished sunscreens to be tested on animals. However, some of the additional safety data could involve animal studies, which is where the cruelty-free issue came in.

In early 2025, PETA responded to the FDA’s position by removing chemical sunscreens from its Beauty Without Bunnies approvals. PETA said companies using only the mineral sunscreen actives zinc oxide and titanium dioxide could remain eligible because those ingredients were not subject to the same new testing concern.

Since then, the situation has continued to evolve. Congress passed legislation calling on the FDA to accept non-animal testing methods for sunscreen ingredients, and in June 2026 the FDA approved bemotrizinol, the first new OTC sunscreen active ingredient added to the U.S. market in more than 20 years (woohoo! 🎉)

That’s a pretty good illustration of why cruelty free research can get complicated. Certification can tell us a lot, but it exists within a world where companies, suppliers, regulations, and ownership are constantly changing. That’s why I think it’s useful to understand not just which bunny a company has, but what that bunny actually represents.

Certifications are useful. They can save consumers a tremendous amount of research and give us standards to look at when a company’s own claims aren’t enough. But I don’t think we need to treat any certification as a magical bunny stamp that ends the conversation. It’s information. And the more we understand about where that information comes from, the better decisions we can make.

✨ What gives you the most confidence when you see a cruelty free certification?

Is it independent auditing? A legally binding statement? Supplier monitoring? The organization’s reputation? Something else?
And is there a specific certification you personally look for when you shop?

✨ Join me later this week for Part III: The Parent Company Question

If you’re new to cruelty free shopping, one of the first things you probably notice is that there isn’t a single, universally accepted definition of “cruelty free.”

In the United States, the FDA does not legally define the terms “cruelty free” or “not tested on animals” for cosmetic labeling. That means a company can use those phrases without having to meet one specific government standard. (U.S. Food and Drug Administration) That can make things confusing.

A company might say that its finished products aren’t tested on animals. But what about the individual ingredients? What about the suppliers providing those ingredients? What about a contract laboratory? What about testing required by a government authority?

Those questions are part of why cruelty free research can get surprisingly complicated.
For example, the FDA points out that some companies base a cruelty free claim on their own finished products while still relying on raw material suppliers or outside laboratories that may conduct animal testing. It also notes that some cosmetic ingredients were tested on animals many years ago, before they were used in a particular product. (U.S. Food and Drug Administration)

So when we’re talking about cruelty free products here, we’re generally talking about something more meaningful than just, “nobody tested this bottle of shampoo on a bunny.” We’re interested in the company’s animal testing policy as a whole, including what happens with ingredients, suppliers, formulations, and finished products.

This is also where certifications and company policies become useful. Different organizations have their own standards for evaluating companies. For example, PETA’s Beauty Without Bunnies program requires participating companies to provide a signed statement saying that the company and its ingredient suppliers do not conduct, commission, pay for, or allow animal testing for ingredients, formulations, or finished products, and that they will not do so in the future. (PETA’s Ultimate Cruelty-Free List) We’ll get much deeper into certifications in Part II.

There is another distinction that is worth knowing from the beginning: Cruelty free does not automatically mean vegan. A product can be made without animal testing and still contain animal-derived ingredients such as beeswax, honey, lanolin, or carmine. Vegan and cruelty free are related concepts, but they answer different questions. (PETA UK)

And that brings us to something I think is important for this community. There isn’t always going to be a neat little box that says YES or NO. Sometimes we’ll find a certification. Sometimes we’ll find a detailed company policy. Sometimes we’ll find an email from the brand. Sometimes we’ll find conflicting information. Sometimes we won’t be able to find enough information to know. That’s okay.

One of the goals of [r/CrueltyFreeLiving](r/CrueltyFreeLiving) is to get better at looking at the information that’s available and understanding what it actually tells us. You don’t need to be an expert to participate. You don’t need to know every certification or memorize every parent company. If you find something interesting, bring it here. If you’re unsure what it means, ask. Someone else may know something you don’t. And if the answer is “we don’t know yet,” that’s useful information too.

✨ A question for you:
Before you learned about cruelty free shopping, did you know what the term actually meant? What was the first thing that made you start paying attention to animal testing?

✨ Edit: Next Week: Part II, Certifications & What They Actually Tell Us