What does it mean when a brand says they are vegan?

When it comes to food, we all pretty much know what vegan is. But when a beauty  brand says they are vegan, do you know exactly what that means? We agree it can be confusing, so to help shed some light we’ve looked at one of our fav brands, Gel Bottle to see what it means them….

Being vegan basically  means relying on products that don’t contain any by-products of animals and for Gel Bottle it is a very important part of their brand ethos. However, it’s worth noting it’s possible  for some beauty products to not contain animal ingredients, but still belong to a brand or product line that tests on animals elsewhere in the world.

In 2013, the EU banned the sale of cosmetics that were produced using animal testing on the complete product or on any individual ingredients. However, many cosmetic brands still sell products in global markets where current law requires all cosmetics to be tested on animals prior to sale and there are still many areas where animal testing is legal.

So, what does this boil down to?
Well basically if a brand sells to markets where animal testing is required, whilst the direct product you’re using hasn’t been tested on animals, profits from the sale may still be used to fund animal testing. Unfortunately, so many large cosmetic brands chose to sell to markets where animal testing is required – mainly because these markets can provide a massive consumer reach. But at The Gel Bottle being vegan and cruelty- free is a huge deal and part of their core company values. Because of this you won’t see them selling to any market that requires animal testing and why they go to huge levels of quality control  in the sourcing of ingredients from around the world. They want to ensure every element of their products is always certified cruelty-free.

You may ask, do nail products even contain animal by-products?
Good question. Whilst animal ingredients are not integral to nail polish products, you’d be surprised how often animal ingredients might pop up in some of our favourite nail care products. Keratin is one such ingredient, usually used to boost nail strength, but according to Peta it’s rarely vegan due to the fact it is commonly derived from animal ground-up horns, hooves, feathers, quills and hair. Honey is another ingredient that can often be found in nail care, popping up in cuticle oil, hand creams, exfoliants and moisturising treatments. It’s always worth double checking the ingredients to ensure your favourite beauty products don’t contain animal by-products. But don’t worry, with Gel Bottle we 100% know they never use an ingredient that is not vegan!

How can you check products are vegan AND cruelty-free?
If like us you are keen to check all your beauty products are Leaping Bunny certified (i.e. they are cruelty-free worldwide)  go to  Leaping Bunny  and you will see an A-Z of complaint companies and brands. You’ll see Gel Bottle on their shopping list!