Vegan does not automatically mean cruelty-free, and natural does not automatically mean better for your skin, they're separate claims that get bundled together in marketing far more often than they should be. A product can be fully vegan and still have been tested on animals somewhere in its supply chain, and a "natural" ingredient can irritate sensitive skin just as easily as a synthetic one. Below we go through five things people commonly assume about vegan and natural skincare, what the terms actually guarantee, and how we've approached them in our own cruelty-free soap range.
In this article
- Vegan vs cruelty-free vs natural: what each label actually guarantees
- Myth 1: Vegan and cruelty-free mean the same thing
- Myth 2: Natural ingredients are automatically safer
- Myth 3: Vegan skincare can't be as rich or moisturising
- Myth 4: A cruelty-free claim means the whole supply chain was checked
- Myth 5: Handmade and small-batch automatically means more ethical
- How we approach this in our soap range
- FAQ
Vegan vs Cruelty-Free vs Natural: What Each Label Actually Guarantees
| Label | What it means | What it doesn't guarantee |
|---|---|---|
| Vegan | No animal-derived ingredients (no beeswax, lanolin, carmine, collagen etc.) | Says nothing about animal testing |
| Cruelty-free | Neither the finished product nor its ingredients are tested on animals | Says nothing about whether ingredients are vegan |
| Natural | No legal or universal definition, brands set their own bar | Says nothing about safety, gentleness or effectiveness |
Myth 1: Vegan and Cruelty-Free Mean the Same Thing
The myth: if a product is labelled vegan, it must also be cruelty-free.
The truth: these are two completely separate claims. Vegan describes what's in the formula, no beeswax, lanolin, carmine, collagen or other animal-derived ingredients. Cruelty-free describes how it was tested, or rather, how it wasn't. A brand can formulate a fully vegan product and still sell it in a market that legally requires animal testing, or use a supplier further up the chain who tests. That's exactly why both words exist separately rather than as one term, and why we'd be cautious of any brand that treats them as interchangeable.
Myth 2: Natural Ingredients Are Automatically Safer
The myth: if an ingredient is natural or plant-derived, it can't irritate or harm skin.
The truth: poison ivy, certain citrus oils in direct sunlight, and several essential oils at high concentration are all entirely natural and all capable of causing real irritation or reactions. "Natural" describes an ingredient's origin, not its behaviour on skin. What actually determines whether something is gentle is the specific ingredient, its concentration, and how it's formulated alongside everything else in the product, which is a formulation question, not a marketing one.
Six handcrafted mini soaps, a low-risk way to find out how your skin responds to each blend.
Myth 3: Vegan Skincare Can't Be as Rich or Moisturising
The myth: without beeswax, lanolin or other animal-derived ingredients, a vegan bar or butter can't feel as nourishing or hold moisture as well.
The truth: plant-based alternatives do the same structural job perfectly well, they're just different molecules doing it. Mango and shea butters bring the same rich, occlusive quality that lanolin is prized for, candelilla and carnauba wax offer the same firming structure as beeswax, and plant oils like olive and peach kernel carry fatty acids that soften skin just as effectively. What actually determines how rich or moisturising a product feels is the specific formulation and ratio of ingredients, not whether an animal was involved at any point. A well-formulated vegan body butter and a well-formulated animal-derived one can land in exactly the same place, and a poorly formulated version of either can disappoint.
Myth 4: A Cruelty-Free Claim Means the Whole Supply Chain Was Checked
The myth: "cruelty-free" on a label means every raw ingredient, every supplier, and every step was independently verified.
The truth: the honest answer is that it depends entirely on whether the claim is self-declared or third-party certified. Certifications like Leaping Bunny involve an audit trail through the supply chain, which is a meaningfully higher bar than a brand simply stating "we don't test on animals" on its own website. Neither claim is dishonest by default, but they're not equivalent, and it's worth knowing which one you're looking at. We don't test our products or ingredients on animals, and we'd rather say that plainly than borrow the weight of a certification we haven't gone through the formal process for.
Myth 5: Handmade and Small-Batch Automatically Means More Ethical
The myth: if something is handmade in small batches, it's automatically greener or more ethical than something mass-produced.
The truth: scale on its own doesn't determine ethics either way. What actually matters is where ingredients are sourced, how much packaging is used, how much gets wasted, and how the people making it are treated, all of which can be done well or badly at any scale. What small-batch handmade production does reliably give you is freshness, since a soap made last month hasn't sat in a warehouse for a year, and it lets us adjust a recipe quickly if an ingredient's sourcing changes. We'd rather claim that specific, honest benefit than a vague "more ethical" one we can't fully back up.
How We Approach This in Our Soap Range
Our soap bars, including our Uplifting Turmeric & Carrot Soap, are cold-processed by hand in England from a base of shea butter, peach kernel oil and olive oil. Every bar is vegan, formulated without animal-derived ingredients, and we don't test on animals or use suppliers who do. We're not claiming a formal cruelty-free certification we don't hold, and we'd rather you know exactly what "vegan" and "cruelty-free" mean when we use them than assume they cover more ground than they do.
Shea butter, peach kernel oil and olive oil with real turmeric and carrot powder, vegan and cruelty-free.
For an outside look at how vague "clean" and "natural" labelling can be in UK skincare, The Good Shopping Guide has a useful breakdown of what "clean" skincare does and doesn't mean. If you'd like to see how we handle a specific natural ingredient claim in more depth, our piece on 5 turmeric soap myths, debunked goes through the same honest, evidence-first approach.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Ametrine skincare vegan?
Yes, our full range is formulated without animal-derived ingredients.
Is Ametrine skincare cruelty-free?
We don't test our products or ingredients on animals, and neither do our suppliers, though we don't currently hold a formal third-party cruelty-free certification.
Can vegan skincare really feel as rich as products with beeswax or lanolin?
Yes. Plant-based butters and waxes, like the mango butter and shea butter we use, do the same job structurally, so a well-formulated vegan product can feel just as nourishing.
Does natural mean an ingredient can't cause an allergic reaction?
No. Natural ingredients, including essential oils, can still trigger irritation or allergic reactions in some people. Patch testing a new product is always a sensible step, natural or not.
Can vegan skincare still be tested on animals?
Yes, unless the brand also makes a specific cruelty-free claim. The two labels answer different questions, so it's worth checking for both rather than assuming one implies the other.
See What Vegan, Cruelty-Free Actually Looks Like
Our best-selling Uplifting Turmeric & Carrot Soap is vegan and cruelty-free, handmade in small batches in England.
Shop Turmeric & Carrot Soap →Vegan, cruelty-free and handmade in England.
Has a "natural" or "clean" label ever led you to assume more about a product than it actually promised? We'd genuinely like to hear which claims you find most confusing, drop them in the comments.
