As consumers grow more interested in ethics and sustainability, terms like vegan and cruelty-free have become powerful marketing points. Yet these two terms are sometimes wrongly used interchangeably, when they actually refer to two different things. Understanding the distinction is essential for any brand that wants to stay honest, transparent and free of misleading claims.
What Does Cruelty-Free Mean?
The term cruelty-free generally indicates that the product and its ingredients were not tested on animals at any stage of development. It is a claim about process and testing, not necessarily about the nature of the ingredients themselves. A cruelty-free product may therefore still contain animal-derived ingredients such as honey or beeswax.
What Does Vegan Mean?
The term vegan concerns the ingredients themselves: a vegan product contains no ingredients of animal origin, whether direct derivatives or by-products. But a vegan product is not automatically free of animal testing. That is why many brands combine both claims, since they complement each other.
The Overlap, in Brief
- Vegan and cruelty-free: no animal ingredients and no animal testing
- Cruelty-free but not vegan: not tested on animals, but contains ingredients such as honey or lanolin
- Vegan without a cruelty-free claim: no animal ingredients, with no assurance about testing
How to Back These Claims with Evidence
An unsupported claim can expose your brand to legal challenge and loss of consumer trust. To support your claims:
- Get a full ingredient list from your manufacturer with the origin of each ingredient
- Request declarations from raw-material suppliers regarding no animal testing and ingredient sources
- Consider certification from a recognized body that grants vegan or cruelty-free marks, which boosts credibility
- Keep a documented file supporting every claim you print on the package
Watch for Market Differences
The rules governing cosmetic claims vary between markets, and some place strict conditions on the use of terms like vegan or their associated symbols. Before launching your product in a given market, check the requirements of the relevant authority to ensure your claims are permitted and correctly worded.
Why Manufacturer Documentation Matters for Claim Substantiation
A brand can only stand behind a vegan or cruelty-free claim as firmly as the paperwork behind it. This is where the manufacturing partner plays a decisive role. A factory that tracks the origin of every raw material — plant oils, butters, waxes, active extracts — and keeps supplier declarations on file makes it far easier for a brand to assemble a credible claims dossier. Without this traceability, a brand is left trying to reconstruct sourcing information after formulas have already gone into production, which is slower, more error-prone, and harder to defend if a claim is ever questioned.
Ask your manufacturing partner whether they can provide, per product and per batch, a breakdown of ingredient origin, confirmation of which ingredients (if any) are animal-derived, and any supplier statements regarding animal testing. This information does not replace formal certification, but it is the foundation that any certification — or any confident, honest claim on packaging — is built on.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is your honey range vegan?
No. Honey, beeswax, and other bee-derived ingredients are animal products, so any formula containing them cannot be labeled vegan, regardless of how the honey is harvested. A honey-based cream can still be described as cruelty-free, natural, or ethically sourced — but the word vegan specifically refers to the absence of animal-derived ingredients, and honey does not meet that definition. Brands working with us on both a vegan line and a honey-based line should label each product according to what is actually true of that specific formula, rather than applying one blanket claim across an entire range.
Can you provide documentation to support our cruelty-free claims?
We can provide ingredient origin information and available supplier declarations for the raw materials used in your formulas, which forms a useful part of your claims file. That said, a full cruelty-free or vegan claim ultimately belongs to your brand, and it is worth building out your own substantiation file — combining our documentation with your own review of the finished-product testing history — before printing any claim on packaging.
Can one brand sell both vegan and non-vegan products?
Yes, and it is common in natural personal-care ranges that include both plant-based formulas and honey- or beeswax-based ones. The key is precision: label vegan claims only on the specific products that qualify, and describe the others accurately as natural, cruelty-free, or ethically sourced as applicable, so customers are never misled about what a given product actually contains.
At Assil Ouargane in Morocco, we rely on natural plant ingredients such as argan oil in many of our products, and we help brands document their ingredients to support their claims. We offer private-label manufacturing with full ingredient transparency. Contact us through our website to request a quote.