5 Reasons to Wear Cruelty-Free Sunscreen Everyday
What are cruelty-free products?
Using products for our skin, hair, and cosmetics is part of a daily routine that we all know and love. You have your reliable “go-to” options that work for your needs to stay healthy, comfortable, and confident throughout the day. But, when you choose your lotions, makeup, and even your tinted mineral sunscreens to build into your beauty regime, do you take the cruelty-free route?
Cruelty-free products have been a long-time staple of the beauty market to allow users to receive the same efficacious results from their products without harming animals in the process. Before we target the many benefits of switching to cruelty-free, let’s take a look at what this trend means for you if you are considering switching.
PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) defines cruelty-free as a “product [that] was developed without any tests on animals.” This term is very closely associated with “vegan products” which means that “the product does not include any animal-derived ingredients.”
Though a cruelty-free and vegan skincare routine is optimal, cruelty-free can be a better option of the two since products and brands of this nature ensure that all options are made with fair and ethical practices so that you don’t have to have any bad karma on your conscience when you use your favourite tinted mineral sunscreen formulas.
Benefits of Cruelty-Free Sunscreen
Though there are hundreds, if not thousands, of cruelty-free products on the market, with the summer months fast approaching there is no better time to focus on using cruelty-free sunscreens including creams and moisturizers with an SPF 20 or higher as well as tinted mineral sunscreens. These are great 2-in-1 options to deliver a more natural-beauty look.
For many, there are sunscreen options that you tend to return to time and again, as they work effectively and don’t cause skin irritation. But wouldn’t it feel so much better to have an SPF that did the job, was environmentally friendly, didn’t rely on animals to produce, and was a healthier alternative to chemical-based sunblock?
Here are the 5 main reasons why you may want to consider choosing a cruelty-free sunscreen formula, making it part of your regular, daily skincare routine.
1.Unnecessary Animal Testing
The Humane Society defines animal testing as being done on “rabbits, mice, guinea pigs, and rats.” Though commonly thought of as household pets, these animals undergo many harmful testing procedures for the sake of cosmetic use in tinted mineral sunscreens, suntan lotions, etc.
One of the big benefits of using cruelty-free options in your makeup routine is to limit the number of unnecessary deaths, diseases, or other harmful effects that these animals go through for many of the beauty products you purchase and use on a daily basis.
2.Benefits of Cruelty-Free Sunscreen
Now that you know about how to lift some weight off of your conscience by switching to cruelty-free tinted mineral sunscreens, here are some factors that directly affect you when you make the switch.
Firstly, cruelty-free sunscreens are often found to be more organic, natural solutions to SPF products and cruelty-free makeup options. According to Seriously Fab, a blog site dedicated to helping consumers purchase the best beauty product brands out there defined why cruelty-free may be a better option:
“When you opt for products not tested on animals, you’re also ditching the bad chemicals like parabens, sulfates, and synthetic dyes. These cleaner cosmetics are better for your skin, which means less likelihood of breakouts, allergies, and inflammation. Companies that don’t want to harm animals, want to avoid hurting people too. Save the animals, and save your skin.”
Though cruelty-free items like creams, tinted mineral sunscreens, blushes, and other beauty items do reject the use of harmful chemicals, these formulators usually respect making their products organic, vegan, mineral-based, or plant-based, which means you can ditch the harmful additives that are typically found in traditional brands of SPF options.
3.Safe and Effective SPF
Many may wonder, “Do I have to sacrifice the effectiveness of a product when it is cruelty-free?” The answer? No, you don’t.
Just because a naturally derived product is made differently than sunscreens that use chemical ingredients does not mean that it does not work the same way and provide the same effect. On the contrary, many tinted mineral sunscreens, SPF sticks, and SPF lotions that are cruelty-free are just as effective or work better than your traditional brand of sunscreen. Often referred to as physical blockers (or mineral sunblocks), since they do the job of blocking ultraviolet rays from penetrating the skin.
For example, the LASPA SPF20 Fluid Matte Foundation is a great option if you are looking to trade in your current foundation for an option that is:
- Cruelty-free
- Vegan
- Plant-based
- Fragrance-free
- Broad Spectrum SPF20
- Clinically tested and hypoallergenic
- Comes in 3 shades (with a colour expansion for summer 2021)
This SPF tinted mineral sunscreen provides the benefit of a full-coverage, lightweight foundation. It helps even out skin tone and offers low-level Broad Spectrum daily sun protection that looks and delivers a sheer and natural no makeup look.
4.Environmental Impact
Another great benefit of cruelty-free SPF is how good it is for the environment. As Friendly Turtle, a site dedicated to helping consumers choose green beauty options has stated that:
“Animal testing laboratories produce considerable quantities of waste that can be damaging and hazardous to the environment. Vegan and cruelty-free brands do not practice animal testing and will often make use of more natural ingredients. So by making the switch to cruelty-free products, you would be saving your skin and the environment.”
Plus, aside from the waste produced by animal testing procedures, cruelty-free options are also eco-friendly due to the use of organic, natural ingredients that could leech into the environment, oceans, etc. causing destruction and ecosystems to become polluted over time.
LASPA’s mineral sunscreens are also reef-safe!
One great way to limit your impact is with LASPA products’ recyclable containers. Each of the tubes, sticks, and jars that LASPA produces is 100% recyclable to reduce environmental impacts and to prevent single-use plastics from entering landfills.
5.Feeling Good, Inside and Out
Using cruelty-free cosmetics could contribute to a great many things, including how it makes you feel about your beauty choices. But, the best thing about cruelty-free products is having a product that feels good on the outside, while invoking a positive feeling on the inside, too. A win-win!
As already stated, cruelty-free products usually have the benefit of being organic, natural, plant-based, and/or mineral-based. So, these products will not have damaging effects on the skin over time, cause skin irritations, or bring toxic chemicals into your body.
Alternatively, cruelty-free tinted mineral sunscreens, SPF moisturizers, and other sunscreen SPF options are purely natural while providing your skin with the best SPF level of protection to sun exposure.
Need proof? Here is a comprehensive list stating the major pros of mineral-based SPF from Mustela:
- Safe and effective ingredients
- Ideal for those with sensitive skin
- Offers immediate protection
- Naturally broad-spectrum (offers protection against both UVA and UVB rays)
- Lasts longer in direct UV light
Chemical-based sunscreens are what we all tend to gravitate towards purchasing at our local beauty stores before a day at the beach, before running errands, or for everyday use. But mineral-based SPFs, tinted mineral sunscreens and beyond, offer healthy benefits including being non-irritating to those that have sensitive skin, rosacea, and eczema.
Better Skin without Cruelty
Cruelty-free products are seen by the beauty industry as safe options and many brands that use these best, safe practices are heavily rewarded for their choice to do so. Though there are 5 main reasons to use cruelty-free products, there are many other benefits to consider by switching to more humane, cruelty-free mineral based sunscreens.
Using tinted SPF mineral sunscreens, SPF lotions and SPF moisturizers, and many more options available, can greatly improve and protect your skin, decrease your environmental impact, and save the lives of many animals.
Though many cosmetics currently used every day have a perfect contouring effect, provide protection from UV rays, and make eyelashes look great, there are other ways to get those same effects without having to compromise lives in the process or quality formulations.
LASPA Naturals skincare brand philosophy is to create natural and organic skin care products that offer safe choices for any skin type. LASPA only tests its mineral-suncare formulas on humans.
To learn more about the many benefits of using a cruelty-free mineral sunscreen, please sign up for LASPA’s weekly newsletter and receive special offers by joining the clean beauty journey.