Conscientious cosmetics: how to go cruelty-free on a budget

How to go cruelty free on a budget, Emily Davis tells us how…

I’m not a vegan – I’m not even a vegetarian! I simply don’t believe that animals should be subject to painful and cruel experiments for cosmetic purposes.

If going cruelty-free appeals to you, you don’t have to replace your whole toiletry collection immediately – that’s really not feasible for student budgets. Since we can’t all afford to buy everything from Lush either, here are a few student-budget friendly brand ideas!

Superdrug own brand shampoo and conditioner
I find that the tea-tree and apple set works really well for my slightly oily hair. A brilliant thing to know is that all of Superdrug’s own brand cosmetics are certified cruelty free! This is definitely a good back up plan if you find yourself stuck for brand ideas.

Soap and Glory ‘The Daily Smooth’ moisturiser
I am in love with Soap and Glory! It’s cruelty-free, smells great, has bad puns, and cute packaging. What’s not to like? Though, the moisturiser is probably my biggest expense, with a 500ml pump costing £10, the quality is so good and a bottle lasts for months and months.For guys, Bulldog is a great cruelty-free moisturising and shaving cream option!

Colab Dry Shampoo
This is available from Superdrug, at around £3.50 a can, and has been very well reviewed. It has different sub-brands depending on your hair type, and I’m planning on buying one as soon as my current can of Batiste runs out!

Barry M everything
Barry M is pretty well known for its nail varnish, but I’ve been using its liquid eyeliner, mascara, eye crayon, concealer and eyebrow pencil for the past 6 months and I love them. An added bonus: Barry M is cheaper than almost every other high street brand, with most individual products costing under £5.

Mitchum 48-hour antiperspirant
This is a tricky one. It’s fairly difficult to find antiperspirants that are definitely cruelty-free, but Mitchum seems to be the best of the mainstream brands. Mitchum itself doesn’t test on animals. However, its parent company receives ingredients from suppliers who might.

Lush ‘Jackie Oates’ foundation
We had to have one Lush product in here! The biggest cruelty-free campaigners in the commercial world, Lush specialises in natural, vegetarian/vegan and cruelty free cosmetics that are largely made by hand. Again, Lush tends to be on the slightly pricier side, but if there’s something worth investing in make-up-wise, it’s foundation!

Bear in mind that even if a company claims to not test on animals, their parent company, subsidiaries or suppliers might do. The only way to be sure that you’re buying cruelty free is to buy a ‘leaping bunny’ certified brand. Happy shopping!