Saving our animals and supporting your skin
It’s no secret we’re committed to supporting our planet and its future as best we can. We take pride in producing sustainable products and running an ethical business.
From working with a Woman’s Cooperative in the heart of Northern Ghana to ethically source our Grade A, Unrefined Shea Butter to offering 100% natural, 100% recyclable, and Vegan (where possible) products, we take our ethical credentials seriously.
As part of this, we believe that our products should be cruelty-free. That’s why we’re proud to say all our products are approved under the Cruelty Free International Leaping Bunny programme.
Who is Cruelty Free International?
Cruelty Free International are the world’s leading organisation working to create a world where nobody wants or believes we need to experiment on animals.
Established in 1898, Cruelty Free International was founded by formidable women’s rights campaigner Frances Power Cobbe. Cobbe sparked the movement after writing articles and attending public meetings as a reaction to witnessing animals suffering whilst travelling around Europe.
Since then, the charity’s work has included:
1. Investigations to expose the reality of animal suffering in laboratories
2. High profile legal challenges
3. Using scientific expertise to find alternatives to animal testing
4. Supporting cruelty-free companies and retailers
Some of their key achievements have included:
1. Put the issue of animal testing on the global agenda with the Forever Against Animal Testing petition, signed by eight million people.
2. Championed the European Union’s decision to ban cosmetics testing on animals.
3. Exposed the international supply of non-human primates for the research industry through their 1991 in-depth investigation of the trade in monkeys for research.
One of their major achievements is the 1996 launch of the Leaping Bunny programme.
What is the Leaping Bunny Programme?
The Leaping Bunny programme approves cruelty-free cosmetics, personal care and household products. Brands must meet rigorous criteria, which apply globally and extend over and above laws governing animal testing.
The Leaping Bunny Programme is the globally recognisable gold standard, designed to provide shoppers with the best assurance that the products they’re buying stand up to the gold standard for cruelty-free.
The Leaping Bunny Programme does not only apply to ingredients solely used in cosmetics but also applies to any kind of testing including worker safety and for the environment.
How does the Leaping Bunny Programme affect our products?
To ensure all of our products protect animals from a life of suffering and maintain their Leaping Bunny Approval, we follow Cruelty Free International’s criteria and the gold standard.
To achieve this, we’ve implemented the following:
1. Applied a fixed cut-off date, which is an immovable date after which we may conduct, commission or be party to animal tests for raw materials or ingredients anywhere in the world. This applies to our entire supply chain down to ingredient manufacturing and sourcing.<p>
2. We’ve set up a continuous monitoring system to ensure all our suppliers and manufacturers comply with Leaping Bunny criteria, and all products, raw materials and ingredients are checked for any new animal testing at least every 12 months.<p>
3. We’ve opened our monitoring system to regular independent audits (outside of Cruelty Free International) to check they continue to comply with their fixed cut-off date for all their products, including any new ones.
By buying any of our products, from our Shea Body Butter, Shea Hand Butter and Shea Foot Butter to our African Shea Black Soap, you’re committing to supporting Cruelty Free International’s work and stopping animals from spending their life suffering through experiments and tests.
Why is Leaping Bunny approval important?
Being part of the Leaping Bunny programme allows us to help you buy cruelty-free, ethical, and organic products assuredly and responsibly.
By being Leaping Bunny approved, we’re strengthening our commitment to helping end animal testing globally. With 80% of the world still allowing animals to be used in tests for cosmetics, countless rabbits, guinea pigs, hamsters, mice and rats die worldwide in routine testing; it doesn’t have to be this way and providing cruelty-free shea butter products is our contribution to changing that.
Cruelty Free International and the Leaping Bunny Programme receive no government funding and rely entirely on their supporter's generosity to help save millions of animals from a life of suffering in laboratories.
If you’d like to help support them, you can find out more here.
You can strengthen your commitment to helping end animal testing by purchasing our cruelty-free, 100% recyclable, and vegan products here.
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