Vegan ≠ Cruelty-free
Many consumers confuse the terms vegan and cruelty-free, which leads them to 
believe that if products are free of all animal by-products (i.e. vegan) they must be cruelty-free. This isn’t the case.
The term ‘cruelty-free’ originates from the 1950’s and it is defined as ‘not tested on animals’. Cruelty-free relates to animal experimentation and whether or not a product and its ingredients have been animal-tested.
Vegan status relates to whether or not animal ingredients or derivatives are used.
Briefly, this worldwide campaign was started by a small group of women in the UK in the 1950s: it was called Beauty Without Cruelty. Their products were sold in Australia during the 1970s and attracted keen supporters. Australian animal welfare groups started their own campaigns informing Australians about the horrendous animal cruelty involved
In 1992, a group of enthusiastic Australian animal activists decided to reinvigorate Beauty Without Cruelty to suit the Australian public and renamed the campaign Choose Cruelty Free, which is the name of our organisation.
Whilst a finished product may be vegan, it and/or its ingredients may have been tested on animals and is therefore not cruelty-free. To be sure the brands you buy are vegan and cruelty-free check the Vegan Choose Cruelty Free List.