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You can find Hurraw Balm cruelty-free products at iHerb, Amazon, and The Detox Market.
Hurraw! Balm is Cruelty-Free
Hurraw! Balm 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 Hurraw! Balm to be Cruelty-Free.
Below is a screenshot of what’s currently stated on Hurraw! Balm’s website about its animal testing policy:
What About China’s Animal Testing Laws?
Hurraw! Balm has confirmed they do not sell their products in retail stores in mainland China; therefore, they are not required to test on animals.
As of May 1, 2021, some imported ordinary cosmetics can be exempt from animal testing under certain conditions. However, for the most part, animal testing is still legally required for most imported cosmetics in 2022.
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.
Hurraw! Balm is 100% Vegan
Hurraw! Balm has confirmed all of its products are vegan and don’t contain any animal-derived ingredients or by-products.
The following is a snippet of the email response I received from Hurraw! Balm when I asked if all of their products are vegan:
“Yes, all of our products are 100% vegan and contain ZERO animal ingredients and are not tested on animals.”
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 Hurraw! Balm’s products made?
I asked Hurraw! Balm where their products are manufactured and they told me:
“We manufacture our products in our facility in Whitefish, Montana. There are currently 8 of us here at Hurraw! Making and shipping fresh products daily :)”
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.
Thankfully, Hurraw! Balm states on its website,
“We use a synthetic mica in our Aura balms. In this case, synthetic means the “sparkles” are made in a laboratory from natural minerals vs. mined from the earth. Traceability, transparency, and safety is imperative when manufacturing cosmetics. Hurraw can trace our ingredients to the gram because we make it ourselves (no contract manufacturing).
Unfortunately, earth mined ingredients (micas, iron/tin oxides) are nearly impossible to track. Suppliers can rarely provide certificate of origin, proof of labor conditions, or documentation of what impurities they contain. We stubbornly refuse to use mined micas in our Aura balms due due to contamination, heavy metals, and hushed child labor practices.
Importantly, synthetic mica is third party tested to be free of antimony, arsenic, cadmium, lead, mercury, chromium, cobalt, and nickel. It is also safety tested for human use, i.e. the particles of shimmer are much too large to penetrate the skin and have been thoroughly tested for safe cosmetic use.“
I hope this article helped you to understand Hurraw! Balm’s cruelty-free and vegan status and by choosing cruelty-free together, we can help end animal testing for cosmetics once and for all!
