Finding cruelty-free brands can be so difficult because brands tend to give conflicting information. It all comes down to what level of cruelty-free you care about to determine whether or not to purchase a certain brand’s products.
THE CRUELTY-FREE STANDARD:
HOW BRANDS CAN GAIN CERTIFIED CRUELTY-FREE STATUS
There are three popular organizations that provide regulated cruelty-free certifications: PETA, Leaping Bunny, and Choose Cruelty-Free.
PETA: Rules 1 through 3 need to be followed, even though any brand that sells in China is not truly cruelty-free at this time. You can read more on that here. PETA is among the most confusing certification organizations and cause a lot of controversy in the cruelty-free community.
Leaping Bunny: Rules 1 through 4 need to be followed. However, most companies who are certified cruelty-free unfortunately have been acquired by a parent company who does test on animals. By supporting the certified brand, you are ultimately just supporting the parent company. This is how major beauty brands still gain profit by targeting the cruelty-free market. Their own brand is not cruelty-free, so they seek out brands that are certified cruelty-free and earn the profit they once lost to those cruelty-free companies or to simply gain more profit they never had before.
Choose Cruelty-Free: Brands must abide by all 5 rules for a number of years before gaining a certification. These different levels of expectation can additionally add confusion when shopping for 100% cruelty-free brands. A golden rule of thumb is if the brand is on a cruelty-free list here, it is safe to support as a cruelty-free consumer because it is truly 100% cruelty-free.
I have created a list below that includes all the major (and unfortunately, the most popular) beauty brands that ARE NOT 100% cruelty-free per the standard above, and the reason why. I hope this clears up which brands you should avoid.
Acuvue – Tests
Almay – Tests
Aveda – Owned by Estee Lauder (Tests)
Aveeno – Owned by Johnson & Johnson (Tests)
Avene – Sells in China
Aussie – Sells in China, owned by P&G (Tests)
Bath and Body Works – Sells in China. Read more about B&BW here.
BareMinerals – Owned by Shiseido (Tests)
BECCA Cosmetics – Owned by Estee Lauder (Tests)
Benefit Cosmetics – Sells in China
Biore – Tests
Biotherm – Owned by L’Oreal (Tests)
Bite Beauty – Owned by Kendo (Parent company LVMH is not cruelty-free)
Bobbi Brown – Sells in China, Owned by Estee Lauder (Tests)
Boots – Owned by Walgreens Boots Alliance (Tests)
Boscia (Sells in China)
Bumble and Bumble – Owned by Estee Lauder (Tests)
Burt’s Bees – Owned by Clorox (Tests)
Cargo – Owned by TPR Holdings (Tests)
Clairol – Tests
Clarins – Sells in China
Clean and Clear – Tests
Clinique – Owned by Estee Lauder (Tests) and sells in China
Covergirl – Owned by Coty (Tests) Read more about Covergirl’s Leaping Bunny Cert here.
Dermalogica – Owned by Unilever (Tests)
Diptyque – Sells in China
Dove – Sells in China, owned by Unilever (Tests) Read more about Dove’s PETA Cert here.
Dr. Brandt – Sells in China
Essie – Sells in China, Owned by L’Oreal (Tests)
Elemis – Sells in China, Owned by L’occitane (Tests)
Farmacy Beauty – Owned by P&G (Tests)
Fenty Beauty – Owned by LVMH (Tests)
First Aid Beauty – Owned by P&G (Tests)
Flesh – Owned by L’Oreal (Tests)
Freeman – Tests
Fresh – Sells in China, Owned by LVMH (Tests)
Hello Toothpaste – Owned by Colgate
Herbal Essences – Sells in China, Owned by P&G (Tests) Read more about Herbal Essences’s PETA Cert here.
Hourglass Cosmetics – Owned by Unilever (Tests)
It Cosmetics – Owned by L’Oreal (Tests)
Joico – Owned by Shiseido (Tests)
Kendo – Owned by LVMH (Tests)
Kylie Cosmetics – Owned by Coty (Tests)
Lancôme – Owned by L’Oreal (Tests)
Laura Mercier – Owned by Shiseido (Tests)
Love, Beauty, and Planet – Mixed responses about ingredient suppliers, owned by Unilever (Tests)
LVMH – Tests
M.A.C. Cosmetics – Owned by Estee Lauder (Tests)
Makeup Forever – Ingredients are tested prior to production and sells in China
Maybelline – Tests
Matrix – Owned by L’Oreal (Tests)
Murad – Owned by Unilever (Tests)
Nars – Owned by Shiseido (Tests)
Neutrogena – Tests
NYX Professional Makeup – Owned by L’Oreal (Tests)
Olay – Tests
Ole Henricksen – Owned by LVMH (Tests)
OPI Philosophy – Sells in China
Origins – Sells in China, owned by Estee Lauder (Tests)
Ouai – owned by P&G (tests)
Peter Thomas Roth – Sells in China
Physician’s Formula – Sells in China and owned by Markwin (Tests)
Pureology – Owned by L’Oreal (Tests)
Redken – Owned by L’Oreal (Tests)
Skinfood – Owned by Unilever (Tests)
Smashbox – Owned by Estee Lauder (Tests)
Shea Moisture – Owned By Sundial, owned by Unilever (Tests)
Skinfood – Sells in China
Sol De Janeiro – Owned by L’occitane (Tests)
Summer’s Eve – Tests, per FDA standards
Tarte – Owned by Kose (Tests)
Too Faced – Owned by Estee Lauder (Tests)
The Ordinary – Owned by Estee Lauder (Tests)
Urban Decay – Owned by L’Oreal (Tests)
Wet N Wild – Sells in China Read more about Wet N Wild’s PETA Cert here. Owned by Markwin (Tests)
Youth to the People – Owned by L’Oreal (Tests)
Yves Rocher – Tests
Boots: Boots, Botanics, Soap and Glory and No 7 are all cruelty-free brands. You can read more about their status here. However, Boots is owned by parent company Walgreens Boots Alliance, so none of these brands are on the 100% cruelty-free brands list.
Yves Rocher: A parent company that tests on animals and owns Yves Rocher, Arbonne, Petit Badeau, Stanhome, Dr. Pierre Ricaud, Daniel Jouvance, Kiotis, Flormar, Sabon, and ID parfums. Because of this, none of these brands are on the 100% cruelty-free brands list.
For a full list of 100% cruelty-free brands, follow this link here. There are so many great alternatives! If you have questions on any beauty products’ cruelty-free status, be sure to leave a question in the comments below.
Thank you for choosing cruelty-free. Also, be sure to follow us on Facebook, Instagram and Pinterest as well us subscribe to our newsletter for the latest cruelty-free beauty updates.
- Stephanie
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