Vegan and cruelty-free answer two different questions. Vegan is about what is in the formula: no ingredients of animal origin. Cruelty-free is about how the product was developed: no testing on animals. Leaping Bunny and PETA-Approved are named certifications that stand behind the cruelty-free promise, each run by an organisation that checks the company rather than taking its word. At Ellie Jules, each of these appears with a product only when we hold evidence for it. Certified, never assumed.
What Vegan Means
A vegan beauty product contains no ingredients of animal origin. That rules out ingredients such as beeswax, lanolin, honey and carmine, all of which are common in make-up and skincare. Vegan is a statement about ingredients only. It says nothing about animal testing, which is why we never let one label stand in for the other.
On Ellie Jules, Vegan is shown as a claim: a plain label, without a link. We show it when the product data our supplier sends carries an explicit vegan flag, when a house has a verified record for its whole range, or when a recognised vegan mark is printed on the packaging. Payot's Source Adaptogen Moisturising Gel is a fresh gel moisturiser. Teaology's Hydrate Hyaluronic Infusion pairs a blue tea infusion with hyaluronic acid. Lierac's The Cleansing Foam is a gentle foam built around a prebiotics complex. Alma Secret's Round Midnight Eye Cream pairs retinal with bakuchiol, and carries Ecocert and Cruelty-free alongside Vegan.
- Source Adaptogen Moisturising Gel
- Hydrate Hyaluronic Infusion Face Serum
- The Cleansing Foam Prebiotics Complex Facial Cleanser
- Renewing Eye Cream Round Midnight Eye Cream
What Cruelty-Free Means
Cruelty-free means that neither the finished product nor its ingredients were tested on animals. Where we hold that information for a product but no named certification sits behind it, you will see Cruelty-free as a plain label.
Where a named certification does sit behind it, the certification takes its place. You will see Leaping Bunny or PETA-Approved rather than a certification and a general label saying the same thing twice. These are the two cruelty-free programmes we display.
Leaping Bunny: Certified by Cruelty Free International
Leaping Bunny is a certification programme run by Cruelty Free International. An approved company commits to no animal testing of its products or their ingredients, keeps a system for checking that its suppliers hold to the same standard, and agrees to independent audits. Because the commitment is made by the company, it covers the house's range rather than a single product.
We record Leaping Bunny for a house only where the certifier's public register confirms it for the whole house. A certified sub-range is not enough. With us, it appears as Leaping Bunny with a link reading Verified by Cruelty Free International, so you can check the register yourself. Benefit's Roller Lash Super-Curling & Lifting Mascara is designed to lift, curl and define. Aveda's Shampure Nurturing Shampoo gives a gentle, comforting cleanse with a soothing aromatic character. Maria Nila's True Soft Conditioner is a rich colour-care formula for brittle hair, and is also vegan. The Body Shop's Shea Sugar Body Scrub is a sugar-based scrub with shea butter for dry skin, and is also vegan.
- Roller Lash Super-Curling & Lifting Mascara
- Shampure Nurturing Shampoo
- True Soft Conditioner
- Shea Sugar Body Scrub
PETA-Approved: Beauty Without Bunnies
PETA's Beauty Without Bunnies programme lists companies that have signed PETA's statement of assurance, confirming that they and their suppliers do not conduct, commission or pay for tests on animals for their products or ingredients. Like Leaping Bunny, it is a commitment made by the company. With us, it appears as PETA-Approved with a link reading Verified by PETA, which opens the Beauty Without Bunnies programme.
Bare Minerals' Mineral Matte Loose Powder Foundation is a lightweight mineral powder for oily and combination skin, with a matte finish. Catrice's Ultra Last² Fixing Spray is a lightweight mist that helps make-up stay in place. Gosh's X-Ceptionnel Wear Foundation gives a light-reflecting finish. The Bare Minerals and Catrice pieces are also vegan.
Ecocert: An Independent Certification Body
Ecocert is an independent inspection and certification body. In beauty it certifies cosmetics against its published standards, checking both the formula and the way the product is made, rather than relying on the brand's own description. We show Ecocert where a house holds it across its whole range, or where the Ecocert mark is printed on the pack, with a link reading Verified by Ecocert.
Melvita's Orange Blossom Floral Water Toner is a light toner that refreshes and softens. Alma Secret's Calendula & Pomegranate Facial Toner is made for dry or mature skin. Melvita's Rosehip Replenishing Body Oil is a lightweight body oil built around rosehip seed oil.
- Orange Blossom Floral Water Toner
- Calendula & Pomegranate Facial Toner
- Rosehip Replenishing Body Oil
Why You Will Not See Paraben-Free or Sulfate-Free
Many beauty retailers label products paraben-free, sulfate-free or silicone-free. We do not, and the reason is European law. Regulation (EU) No 655/2013 sets the common criteria every cosmetic claim in the EU must meet, among them truthfulness, evidential support, honesty and fairness. The European Commission's guidance on applying those criteria says a cosmetic should not claim to be free from an ingredient the law permits, because such a claim suggests something is wrong with an ingredient that has been assessed and allowed.
Environmental claims are tightening too. Directive (EU) 2024/825, which applies from September 2026, restricts broad environmental claims that cannot be substantiated, and labels of that kind that are not based on a certification scheme or set by a public authority. So you will not find vague environmental wording on our products. If you prefer to avoid a particular ingredient, the full ingredient list on the pack is the reliable guide. Our standard is simple: claims we can prove, or claims we don't make.
How a Product Earns a Credential at Ellie Jules
A credential reaches a product from one of three sources. The first is an explicit flag in the product data our supplier sends; it must name the credential itself, so a tag that merely contains a word such as vegan does not count. The second is a house-wide record, taken from the certifier's public register or the house's official statement and kept with its source, which is checked and signed off before it applies to that house's products. The third is a named certification mark identified on the packaging; a generic leaf or a decorative symbol counts for nothing.
A credential is never inferred from a brand's reputation, from the product category or from the tone of a description. Where a certifier's own register contradicts a claim for a house, that claim is blocked for every product of that house, whatever its source. Only a fixed list of credentials can be displayed, and anything outside it is dropped rather than shown. Certifications carry a link to the body that issued them; claims such as Vegan and Cruelty-free appear as plain text. Both are words only, never logos.
A product without a label is not lesser for it. It may simply mean we do not yet hold evidence we would be willing to show you, and we would rather show nothing than something we cannot stand behind.
To read more about the principles behind these labels, see Conscious Luxury.
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