Differences Between Cruelty-Free and Vegan Certification

Cruelty-free indicates that a product was not tested on animals; however, the product may still contain animal-derived ingredients (such as honey, beeswax or lanolin).

A vegan certificate indicates that a product contains no animal-derived ingredients; but on its own it may not guarantee that no animal testing was done.

The two concepts complement each other but are not the same. Brands with both ethical and ingredient sensitivity often obtain both certificates together.