Cruelty Free Cosmetics on the UK High Street

Intro: I'm against animal testing for cosmetic products. I'm happy to write a post explaining my view in more detail, but you can get the jist if you keep on reading.

(A quick summary: I like cosmetics as much as the next person but I love animals that bit more. I also see cosmetics as luxury products, we don't need them to survive, so I don't feel like I have the right to inflict harm on another living being to produce them. The best part? Thanks to science and other safe alternatives, I don't have too!)

The Leaping Bunny Logo is found
on all certificated cruelty
free products.

Looking for products that don't conduct animal testing can be confusing. The EU has a ban on cosmetic animal testing (which is AMAZING) but (and it's a big but), this doesn't apply to companies outside the EU. A finished product sold within the EU will not have been tested on animals or contain ingredients tested on animal since March 2013. However, multinational companies can currently still conduct animal testing outside the EU for sales in other markets. The money from your purchase in the EU, can be used to fuel this.

The Good News?

There are still lots of totally cruelty free cosmetics on the UK High Street. There are even more smaller online companies. (For a comprehensive list you can visit Go Cruelty Free.org)

If you're thinking of making the switch to cruelty free, the high street is probably the easiest place to start, so I've compiled a list of my favorite brands and products to get your everyday essentials covered.

Sainsbury's Hairspray and
Heat Protection

Here goes:

Deodorant and Toothpaste: Supermarket own brands (Morrisons, Sainsbury's and The Co-Operative ) and Superdrug own brand are the best. I personally tend to sway towards Superdrug toothpaste, they give me nice low prices and quality.

Lush is great for natural deodorants and their toothy tabs are amazing if you want to tick the Eco-friendly box at the same time.

The above supermarkets are also great for Hair Heat Protection and Hairspray (and on a slight cosmetic tangent, cruelty free cleaning products)

Shampoo and Conditioner:I like to switch and swap, but I normally stick to Lush, Paul Mitchell and Superdrug. Current favorites are Big, Karma Komba, Jungle, Super Skinny andCherry & Fig.

Left to Right: Big Shampoo (Lush), Super Skinny Daily
Shampoo (Paul Mitchell), Cherry & Fig Shampoo and Conditioner (Superdrug)
and Jungle Solid Conditioner (Lush)

Soap:Avalon Organics- which can be found in Superdrug (Avalon is also good for Shampoo, Conditioner, Body Lotion, that sort of thing.) Supermarket own brand soap can also be great.

La Maison De Senteurs Fleur
d'Orangier Perfume

Perfume: Marks and Spencer's Own Brands(my current one is La Maison De Senteurs: Fleur d'Orangier, but they don't seem to stock this in perfume form at the moment, other La Maisons scents should do the trick though) and Lush. If you want value for money and a little to go a long way (and let's face it, who doesn't?) give their solid perfumes a try.

Lush is also my go to for Spot Cream (Grease Lightning - I've reviewed this in full here), Face Wash/Cleanser (Ultrabland is my personal choice, but Angels on Bare Skin is very popular too) and Shower Gel (They're all amazing, I just pick the smell I happen to prefer at the time)

Moisturisers: The first place I head to is Lush. My favorites have to be the Charity Pot for a hand and body lotion, and the Helping Hands Hand Cream when my hands need that extra bit of TLC.

For a cheaper moisturising alternative I also really like Marks & Spencer's own brands, particularly their Body Butters.

Left to Right: Marks and Spencer's Body Butter (the
packaging has changed now, but the products still
great), Helping Hands, and Charity Pot.

Sun Cream: Marks and Spencer's, or super market own brands.

This list is by no means exhaustive, but it contains most of my favorite essentials. Feel free to ask if you want any other product recommendations, I'm also thinking of making a similar list for lesser known/ internet based brands, and another for makeup items. Let me know if either one is something you would like to see.

In the meantime, happy shopping! (Just keep an eye out for the leaping Bunny Logo J )