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You can find Consonant cruelty-free products at Sephora.
Consonant is Cruelty-Free
Consonant has confirmed they do not test their products or ingredients on animals or ask others to test on their behalf. Their suppliers also do not test on animals, nor do they allow their products to be tested on animals when required by law. And finally, their products are not sold in stores in mainland China or any other country that may require animal testing.
By our standards, we would consider Consonant to be Cruelty-Free.
“We absolutely do not test our products, or raw ingredients on animals. This also includes asking any third parties to test our products or ingredients on animals on our behalf.“
Cruelty-Free Policies
Note that there is no legal definition for the label ‘Cruelty-Free.’ It can mean different things to different people. But Cruelty-Free is generally used to imply no animal testing. More specifically, the ingredients, formulation, or finished product are not tested on animals at any stage of product development.
At ethical elephant, we always assess a company’s cruelty-free policy using our Cruelty-Free Checklist. This ensures no animal testing was performed by the brand itself, its suppliers, and by any third parties.
Also, note that Cruelty-Free and Vegan don’t always mean the same thing.
Consonant is Not 100% Vegan
‘Vegan’ in cosmetics can refer to an entire brand that is 100% Vegan or a specific product is vegan.
In the case of Consonant Skincare, not all of their products are vegan. But they have some products that are suitable for vegans.
How to know which of Consonant products are vegan?
All of Consonant’s vegan products are clearly marked on their website. They also told me,
“Although we have some vegan products, not all of them are. Specifically, we use an ingredient in our face creams, eye creams, and DHE Mask that is used as a preservative that is made from a by-product of dairy that is usually wasted. It is called lactoperoxidase.
Additionally, products with Beeswax would also not be vegan, specifically, hand creams, deodorant, lip conditioner and body lotions.”
Vegan Policies
Similar to ‘Cruelty-Free,’ there is no standard or legal definition for the label ‘Vegan.’ But it usually means no animal-derived ingredients or animal by-products.
Some common animal products used in cosmetics include carmine, lanolin, snail mucus, beeswax, honey, pearl or silk-derived ingredients, animal-based glycerin, keratin, and squalene.
There are plant-based and synthetic alternatives to animal-derived ingredients. But it’s sometimes difficult to know with certainty whether a product is vegan just by reading the ingredient list.
So it’s best to ask the company and manufacturers to ensure the ingredients they’ve chosen to use were from non-animal sources.
Where are Consonant’s products made?
Consonant Skincare states on its website,
“Where are Consonant products made?
We’re proudly Canadian. We’re based out of Toronto, Canada, and all of our skin and body care products are made in Canada.”
Ethical Mica Mining Policy
Mica is a mineral that’s used in cosmetics to add a shimmery effect. But the mining of natural mica has been linked to child labor and human rights violations.
Unless the company discloses its mica mining policy, we have no way of knowing whether its mica is ethically sourced without child or forced labor.
So I asked Consonant if their mica is ethically sourced without the use of child labor and they responded by stating,
“Thank you for your thoughtful question. We do use mica to tint The Perfect Sunscreen. Our Mica Bronze is produced in the USA. We recognize that child labor and exploitation is a very big concern in the mica mining industry and we have carefully selected our mica manufacturers to make sure their raw materials are obtained from companies that adhere to high ethical standards. Our manufacturers guarantee that no child labor is involved in their supply chain.“
I hope this article helped you to understand Consonant’s cruelty-free and vegan status and by choosing cruelty-free together, we can help end animal testing for cosmetics once and for all!
