As the world moves towards a lifestyle that encompasses a more caring attitude towards the environment and growing concern for plant-based eating, there is an increasing awareness of beauty products and their tendency to test on animals. Thankfully, numerous companies are moving towards cruelty-free approaches. Still, there are some grey areas about what constitutes a truly cruelty-free product.
According to the company’s website, DRMTLGY is cruelty-free. They state all of their products are developed and produced using methods without animal experimentation; this means that the brand doesn’t test its products on animals, but it doesn’t guarantee all products are 100% cruelty-free.
Because the term “cruelty-free” is not regulated, companies can claim this status without necessarily following all protocols considered 100% cruelty-free. Because there are no legal repercussions for making such statements, many companies will simply take a chance.
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Is DRMTLGY Truly Cruelty-Free?
DRMTLGY is a trusted cosmetic company that focuses on medical-grade skincare. Developed through a collaboration between a skincare entrepreneur and a medical doctor, the company aims to create products that are effective, safe, and based on science.
DRMTLGY states that its products are all developed and produced using methods that do not use animal experimentation. This statement means that the company does not test its actual products on animals.
However, it does not necessarily mean that every product is 100% cruelty-free, as this requires compliance with several stringent conditions. Completely cruelty-free products are usually checked out by third parties who take a deeper look into the company’s manufacturing methods, suppliers, and the regulations of the locations in which the products are sold.
DRMTLGY’s Instagram page states the following: “Safe and effective skincare, backed by science. Never tested on animals. Free of all the bad stuff”. This statement could be described as vague on the cruelty-free front. Simply because the products themselves are not tested on animals, it does not mean that every ingredient in the products has been certified as cruelty-free.
How Is “Cruelty-Free” Defined?
While the concept of a cruelty-free product is easily defined, there are, unfortunately, several grey areas for establishing a company’s true “cruelty-free” status. By definition, a cruelty-free product entails that it has been developed without any testing performed on animals whatsoever.
It’s important to note that cruelty-free products are different from Vegan products. To qualify as a vegan product, you must ensure that there are no animal by-products in the ingredients. While some would argue that a product cannot be truly “cruelty-free” if it contains animal by-products, a product is not required to be vegan to be cruelty-free.
To be certified as cruelty-free, every single ingredient incorporated into a product must be accompanied by documentation confirming that there was no animal testing involved with the ingredient.
At this point, the term “cruelty-free” is not fully regulated. As a result, companies can claim a cruelty-free status without any legal repercussions. Due to this, consumers rely on third-party sites such as Logical Harmony and Cruelty-Free Kitty.
These sites, amongst others, do thorough investigations into the companies claiming to be cruelty-free to determine if the claims are valid. Through thorough research and consultation with the cosmetic companies involved, lists are compiled of companies that can be trusted as 100% cruelty-free. These lists are made available to the general public to ensure they purchase completely cruelty-free products.
Cruelty-Free Kitty’s List
Cruelty-Free Kitty is an online authority on cruelty-free products. To determine the precise cruelty-free status, they seek to thoroughly investigate every cosmetics brand, new and old. Cruelty-Free Kitty has developed a stringent system called the Cruelty Free 5.
The above refers to the five stages during which animal testing could occur while developing a product. Brands are only considered cruelty-free once they can pass all five stages.
As taken from their website crueltyfreekitty, the following questions are asked of all brands to determine their “cruelty-free” status:
- “Does your brand test on animals for either finished products or ingredients?”
- “Do your suppliers test on animals? How do you ensure this?”
- “Do any third-parties test on animals on your behalf?”
- “Do you test on animals where required by law?”
- “In which countries are your products sold (excluding online sales)?”
To be considered cruelty-free, brands must have a negative answer to all of the above questions. They must also confirm that none of their products are sold in mainland China. The country has a law that stipulates all products must be tested on animals to be sold there. There is also a chance the finished products might be further tested on animals once they have reached stores.
DRMTLGY don’t appear on the Cruelty free kitty list of officially cruelty free brands, so according to the criteria above, aren’t cruelty free.
Logical Harmony’s Cruelty-Free List
Logical Harmony is another site that develops a list of guaranteed cruelty-free brands. Logical Harmony will list only brands certified as 100% cruelty-free. They also have lists showing brands to avoid, pending brands, and “grey area” brands.
Through their research, Logical Harmony asks several questions regarding the processing of products, the formulation, and the general distribution of products. Their goal is to ensure that the company does not engage in animal testing at any stage of its product development.
This process ensures no animal testing is involved in any ingredient that goes into the product or the finished product itself. The “Brands to Avoid” list shows companies that engage in animal testing themselves, through a third party, when required by law or use ingredients that have been tested on animals. If a brand does not state that they verify with their suppliers the cruelty-free nature of their ingredients, they will also be added to this list.
The “pending brands” list shows companies that Logical Harmony has reached out to regarding their stance on animal testing. Logical Harmony is either waiting to receive a response or waiting for the brand to complete the required documents. Logical Harmony’s “Grey Area” list shows brands that have given unclear responses regarding the cruelty-free status of their products. To determine their cruelty-free status, further information is required.
DRMTLGY don’t appear on the logical harmony list, so this either means they don’t meet the criteria, or that information hasn’t been provided yet.
Final thoughts
While DRMTLGY claims that they are cruelty-free, it does not necessarily mean that every product is completely cruelty-free. It also doesn’t mean that third parties supplying ingredients to the company abide by cruelty-free protocols. A cruelty-free product abides by several stringent conditions; a third party usually backs up such status.
DRMTLGY don’t test on animals in any way, but we can’t class them as fully cruelty free because we don’t know the source of all ingredients and the supply chain. If you want to purchase from a completely cruelty free brand then checking they meet the criteria set by Cruelty free kitty and Logical harmony would be a good indication of whether or not a brand is cruelty free. DRMTLGY don’t currently appear on their lists.
Drmtlgy don’t sell any products directly in mainland China, which would require them to test on animals, which they don’t directly do. However, we don’t know for sure whether any third party companies associated with the brand or suppliers, do any animal testing.
Although the brand sells mostly vegan skincare products, they also have a number of products that are non-vegan. Some class only Vegan products as being cruelty free but In our opinion non-vegan products can be cruelty free too, depending on how exactly the ingredients are produced and sourced.
We recently wrote about Drunk elephant, a skincare brand that are on the Cruelty free kitty list.
