Where I stand on the Cruelty-Free Spectrum

After doing a lot of research and reading so many posts on Cruelty-Free Kitty and Logical Harmony I decided to start buying Cruelty-free only makeup. But there are a few levels to what cruelty-free means in the beauty community. So where do I stand?

So what is cruelty-free in the beauty community? There are some people who consider companies that do not directly test to be cruelty-free. So companies that do not test themselves but sell in China where out of country testing is required by law. Most CF consumers do not consider this cruelty-free however. Those companies are still paying for the tests done by the Chinese government.

The next level is A company does not test on animals and is not sold in China but their parent company does sell in China. This is probably the most popular level of CF. I know that most CF beauty bloggers and YouTubers hold this level.

The last level is A company does not test or sell in China and neither does their parent company or they do not have one. Do that is the most "restrictive" form of CF. It takes out so many brands. A ton of brands like Too Faced, Urban Decay, NYX, CoverGirl, Tarte and many more.

So what's my level? Personally, I buy brands that do not test or sell in China but may have a parent company that does. I think Kelly Gooch put it best in her video. My purchases are my vote. It sends a message to the parent companies that consumers care about cruelty-free and ethically made products.

Hopefully, as more and more of us start to purchase from CF only brands the big parent companies will see that and make themselves and all brands under their umbrella Cruelty-Free. And maybe the laws in China will change if more brands pull out like CoverGirl has.

I choose to buy these brands that have parent companies so when I rave about them online the big companies may take note and perhaps it can make a company change its ways. I don't want to write off the CF brands with parent companies because talking about them might be able to bring some change.

Still, even though I'll still be adding more Urban Decay, NYX Tarte and more to my collection I'm also really excited about the doors to indie brands that are opening now that I'm only buying CF. So many big names have been taken off my wishlist that I've started to adventure out into the indie market online and have been recommended so many cool brands since following CF beautubers. (Yes I watch a lot of Jenna Marbles.)

Are you a Cruelty-Free only buyer? Where are you on the CF spectrum? What CF indie brands should I check out?

Thanks so much for reading this post! I hope you enjoyed it! Please leave a like if you did, it's much appreciated!

Photo Credit: Photo taken by me with a Canon EOS Rebel T5 with an 18-55mm lens and edited by me in Photoshop.

**This post was not sponsored**