A skincare line founded by two beauty influencers sounds like the ultimate millennial entrepreneurship dream. Enter Summer Fridays. This brand has a cute name and even cuter product packaging. Join us on a deep dive to see if it's cruelty-free and vegan.
Summer Fridays is cruelty-free. It doesn't conduct animal testing on its products, nor does it distribute its cosmetics where animal testing is required by law. Summer Fridays is also 100% vegan – it doesn't use any animal-derived ingredients.
US-based Marianna Hewitt and Lauren Ireland founded Summer Fridays in 2018.
After years of product testing, they still couldn't find skincare that had it all. They wanted products that were easy to use, clean, immediately satisfying, and pretty.
So the Instagram influencers decided to make them. To date, they've made an estimated $4.8 million of revenue, according to Yahoo Finance Australia.
Before deciding whether to buy, here's what you need to know about Summer Friday's current animal testing policies, vegan ranges, formulation, and sustainability.
Is Summer Fridays Cruelty-Free and Vegan?
Summer Fridays is 100% Cruelty-Free
It does not:
Summer Fridays are Leaping Bunny certified – the only internationally recognized certification that guarantees a brand is cruelty-free.
Our research shows that the brand is also independently owned as it has never been associated with animal testing.
This brings us to our next point:
Summer Fridays is Vegan
Jump for joy – this well-priced skincare brand is 100% vegan! It does not use any animal-derived ingredients in any of its products.
However, it's worth knowing that Summer Fridays is the exception and not the rule.
Most mainstream skincare brands are not 100% vegan. These are certain animal-derived ingredients to look out for in general:
If you're interested in which products are vegan or finding vegan brand alternatives – keep reading or click on this link: Summer Fridays vegan products.
Animal Testing Policy and History
Summer Fridays has always been committed to creating clean, effective, and beautiful cosmetics that are also cruelty-free. This has been Hewitt and Ireland’s intention since they founded the brand, and now they’ve got the accreditation to prove it.
Cruelty-Free Status in 2021
Here is a screenshot of Summer Friday's official certification from the Leaping Bunny website proving it's cruelty-free accredited.
Certification
Summer Fridays is Leaping Bunny certified.
While you might know PETA very well – it surprisingly doesn't hold the strictest cruelty-free regulations out there. It seems to only require a brand's written consent that abides by the PETA code of conduct.
Certification from Leaping Bunny is ideal because it holds rigorous standards and does regular audits to ensure they are upheld.
Leaping Bunny certification proves that:
If you see a bunny stamp on the back of your product bottle – that's an excellent sign. But don't be fooled by the image itself. A lot of brands are using fake logos to mislead consumers.
Do your homework and see which products are genuinely cruelty-free first. This article will help you: Which Cruelty-Free Logos Can You Trust?
Is Summer Fridays Sold Where Animal Testing is Required By Law?
Summer Fridays does not distribute any of its products to China or any country that requires animal testing on any cosmetics by law.
China has a shocking track record. It is the country with the most amount of animal testing globally, with over 20 million animals used per year.
However, if you live in China or are concerned about its cruel beauty policies, there are a couple of loopholes to be aware of. Here's how to find cruelty-free cosmetics in China: Are Cosmetics Made in China Cruelty-Free?
The Best Vegan Summer Friday Products
Summer Friday has a great range of vegan products that continues to expand. It prides itself in developing a product with you (the consumer) and the planet in mind.
To save you some time, here are some of its most popular skincare products:
For a complete list of Summer Fridays vegan products, you can find everything on their website.
Vegan Alternatives to Summer Fridays
Overall, Summer Fridays is an excellent option for vegans and provides vegan products that other brands haven't cared to try yet.
They have a clean track record and noteworthy transparency with their consumers. For a multi-million dollar brand – it's commendable.
It's 100% cruelty-free, vegan, and users claim it to be effective.
But if the brand is not easily accessible to you, or is out of your price range, here are some alternatives for you to try:
Is Summer Fridays Natural and Organic?
Summer Fridays does claim to use safe, simple, and clean ingredients. However, it does not market itself as natural or organic.
In saying that, it does have a pretty extensive list of "harmful" ingredients, it won't use. And it also produces all its products at a facility in Salt Lake City specializing in natural and organic beauty.
So what does Summer Friday use to make its products?
Clean vs. Natural Ingredients
The term "natural" is not regulated for cosmetics and skincare. In other words, it doesn't hold one specific meaning.
Usually, it means a product is free of certain more toxic synthetic ingredients, including parabens, phthalates, sulfates, and more. But people also interpret "natural" to mean ingredients of immediate plant origin.
For Summer Fridays, it means a bit of both.
Here's the thing: "natural" is not always good. Just because an ingredient is natural doesn't mean you should rub it on your skin. Poison ivy is natural – but we wouldn't recommend rolling in a field of that stuff!
Most products use a certain amount of synthetic ingredients in their formulas, and Summer Fridays is no exception, but it chooses to use better or clean synthetics.
If a synthetic ingredient is "clean," it is safe and non-toxic for us. Its purpose is to preserve the stability of a beauty formulation.
"For some products to be effective, you do have to have some [synthetic] ingredients in there, but they have to be the cleanest of options. There are definitely products that are amazing that have certain things [that are man-made], and people see a word and get afraid," says Lauren Gores in an exclusive interview with BeautyInc.
A few naturally-derived Summer Fridays uses to enhance its cosmetics include:
Does Summer Fridays Use Safe Ingredients?
According to Skin Safe, Summer Fridays has an 82-91% allergen-free ranking for each product – this is excellent.
All Summer Fridays products are free of parabens, sulfates, nickel, MCI/MI, and topical antibiotics. They're also almost entirely free of lanolin, coconut, dye, soy, gluten, propylene glycol, and topical antibiotics.
Reading the ingredient list is crucial because Summer Fridays is not 100% hypoallergenic or non-comedogenic, and they do not claim to be.
However, many of their products cater to these concerns, so make sure you buy what your skin needs.
It's also important to note that not all common allergens are harmful ingredients.
A typical example is lanolin, which has many benefits to your skin. Find out more here: Can Lanolin Be Cruelty-Free?
The EU/UK Have Stricter Ingredient Regulations
As a conscientious shopper, you must read up on any brand's ingredient list before you make a purchase – especially if you live within the United States.
This is because the FDA has only banned or restricted 11 harmful chemicals from cosmetics within the country. Europe, on the other hand, has banned 1,328!
Although Summer Fridays uses clean ingredients – you always need to check your labels!
Here are some of the ingredients you want to avoid with skincare:
Are Cruelty-Free Ingredients Safe?
If you're worried about how safe it is to use cosmetics that are not tested on animals – please relax and take a sigh of relief.
There is no reason why cruelty-free products shouldn't be just as safe, if not safer, than anything tested on an animal.
Not only is it easy to test ingredients without using animals altogether, but there are so many pre-approved ingredients you can use to make cosmetics that there really is no need.
If you're interested, here's more on the subject: Are Cruelty-Free Cosmetics Safe?
Is Summer Fridays Sustainable and Ethical?
Summer Fridays does not claim to be a highly sustainable and ethical company, and they don't market themselves as such.
That said, the skincare house:
It's no secret that the world has a huge waste problem, and cosmetic brands are only making it worse by using unsustainable packaging and harmful ingredients.
Some of the ways Summer Fridays could take stronger environmental accountability is by:
Final Thoughts
Summer Fridays is pretty impressive for a brand that is only four years old. We love that the products have been cruelty-free and vegan from the start AND Leaping Bunny certified.
If Summer Fridays start implementing various ethical and environmental factors it could become the ultimate skincare brand.
The fact that they are cruelty-free is a step towards a more sustainable future in cosmetics.
A transparent supply chain and being open to the public about its sustainability policies would go a long way. Summer Fridays might not be the best choice for social and environmental activists who go the extra mile.
If you want a support an independently female-owned brand and maybe get some of their dreamy products to grace your bathroom cabinets – keep telling them what you want to see!
The best thing about millennial-run brands is that they’re more likely to listen to you if you reach out. They know how important it is to shape products around your needs (instead of telling you what you need).
