Trusting your vegan and cruelty free hair & makeup artist

Something I’ve been seeing a lot recently that has been bothering me…non-cf/vegan hair and makeup artists putting themselves forward to brides asking for a vegan and/or cruelty free HMUA.

Firstly, a lot of the HMUA’s I know are all about community over competition, and are all in agreement that there are plenty of brides to share between all of us so we should support each other. If that’s the case, why are you not recommending the artists that you know are genuinely vegan and cruelty free for these jobs?

The reason it bothers me so much - yes the artist may have separate products for these clients, but have you got a good understanding of what is actually vegan? It can be quite confusing to work out what is what. Sometimes a product is labelled vegan but isn’t cruelty free.

Sometimes (actually, a lot of times), a brand states they are cruelty free but they sell in countries such as China, where products HAVE to be tested on animals.

A product might be cruelty free, but there might be an animal ingredient in it which means it wouldn’t be vegan, just that it hasn’t been tested on animals.

I know quite a few “cruelty free” artists using brands that are a grey area - the brand states themselves they are cruelty free but then aren’t certified and can’t answer questions to bloggers such as Logical Harmony, Ethical Elephant and Cruelty Free Kitty, to clarify that they really are cruelty free. Or these artists can’t quite give up that one product that is tested on animals. If I knew that and was their client, that would really bug me.

I spend a lot of time researching brands and if I see a product I like, I make 100% sure it is both vegan and cruelty free before I add it to my kit. I don’t want to shrug it off and act like it doesn’t matter to people, when clearly it does if that’s what they’re asking for.

I know a few amazing artists I can trust, so if I’m never available I can at least recommend these other artists to you. To all the lovely HMUA’s I know, let’s start acting on what we say and really support each other - if you don’t want to switch to cruelty free, start recommending the artists that actually are!