Updated 3/1/2022
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.
For brands to be approved cruelty-free per the Free The Bunnies standard, they must abide by all of the following:
- The brand does not conduct animal testing on the product or the ingredients, at any point during production
- The brand does not outsource animal testing to a third party
- The brand’s ingredient suppliers do not test on animals
- The brand does not sell in markets that require pre-market animal testing or may be subject to post-market animal testing by law (ie. mainland China)
- The brand is not owned by a parent company that is not cruelty-free
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. To gain certified cruelty-free status by PETA, companies only need to obey Rules #1 through #3, even though any brand that sells in China is not 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 requires Rules #1 through #4 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 is the most strict and 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 Free The Bunnies approved, 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 Free The Bunnies standard, 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! <3 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.
XO, Stephanie
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Thank you for publishing this list! I can’t believe Americans are still dumb and cruel enough to continue testing on animals. I will no longer be going to Bath and Bodyworks, that’s for sure! Saw others on the list that I will no longer buy. Anybody who test on animals should be put in jail in my opinion, although that’s probably even too good for them
i was wondering about Gucci perfumes, carolina herrera perfumes and smashbox cosmetics? are any of them cruelty free?
Gucci perfumes are tested on animals
What about ZO Skin Health?
I do so much research and will continue, but your site is a breath of fresh air; thank you!!
hello!
could you tell me: docolor is a cruelty-free brand??
i found the question about it in their faq but i couldn`t see the answer. i couldn`t understand either if they sell their products in china. i`d like to buy some of them but still have doubts..
I’m seeing a lot more sites saying dove is a cruelty-free product than an animal testing brand. Are they now a cruelty-free brand in 2021
Dove is PETA certified cruelty-free, but they sell in markets that may require animal testing, and they are also owned by a non-cruelty-free parent company. So if you support the brand, the parent company that tests on animals will also be supported.
I don’t think Nivea is on this list, but it should be because they sell in China where animal testing is required by law.
I’m living in Ireland and we have several cosmetic companies producing products here. Could you research and add please where appropriate. There are probable many more but this is a start. Pestle and Mortor, Dublin Herbalist and Voya.
Hi there I’m not seeing anything mentioned on these lists about Yeves Rocher Or their cosmetics portfolio? I know that they are not cruelty free even though they do have some claims and products labeled as being vegan and cruelty free. Is there a reason for this?
They are listed on another post as not cruelty-free and I had not realized they weren’t included in the master list. They’ve been added and thank you for pointing this out!
Hi,
There is an issue I am curious about. When the product is vegan, is it cruelty-free? Or are vegan product and cruelty free product different issues?
Vegan does not mean cruelty-free and vice versa. I explain the difference between vegan and cruelty-free here: https://www.freethebunnies.com/cruelty-free-vs-vegan/
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Hello,
I see the “The Ordinary” brand here in (owned by Estee Lauder) your list but they actually are owned by a Canadian brand named Deciem and they have the Leaping Bunny stamp of approval – they claim to be cruelty free, here you can find out more: https://deciem.com/animals.
If you know anything else about Deciem, please let us know 🙂
Hi Anna! Estee Lauder has a 27% stake in the Deceim brand, so ultimately Estee Lauder does have some ownership over Deceim brands. I can make it more clear on the list but that’s why I associated Estee Lauder with The Ordinary. I hope that makes sense!
Hi Stephanie, not that it makes much difference to my choices but wanted to clarify, when you say ‘test’ do you mean in US ? To my knowledge, testing of products/ingredients in EU is banned so is selling products that have been tested In non eu counties
Hi Deborah,
When I say “test” it does not mean specifically in the U.S. It could be anywhere in the world. For example – all products sold in stores in China are subject to animal testing and are not cruelty-free, and many of the brands listed here are sold in China. I hope this helps clarify!
Yes it does thanks. Thanks for these lists btw, do you know btw if there’s a UK brand list that exists anywhere or links to UK supermarkets like the lists you have put together for Walmart etc? Just to mention, was just checking my CND (shellac) nail stuff and couldn’t believe it’s owned by Revlon! Can’t see it in here but guessing Revlon and all it’s brands (including now Elizabeth Arden) are All in this list? Debs
I think this website is a great initiative however I’d like to point out that Choose Cruelty Free (CCF) does not just abide by rules #1 and #2 and shouldn’t be lumped in with PETA and Leaping Bunnies. In fact, all of your rules listed above must be adhered to PLUS the company must have adhered to all of these requirements for a minimum of 5 years before they can be accredited by CCF.
Hi Ashleigh. This post was very outdated and has since been updated to meet the current standards of the cruelty-free organizations. Thank you for the feedback!
Hello! Your 2019 cruelty-free list and your not cruelty-free list both include Joico. Can you please clarify? Thank you for putting these lists together for all of us who love animals!
Hi Lisa! Joico is no longer 100% cruelty free since they were acquired by Shiseido, a company that tests on animals. It’s been removed from the 2019 CF lists. Thank you for pointing this out. My ultimate goal is to keep these lists as updated as possible, and I’m so glad they are helpful to you!
Hello!
What about BH Cosmetics? They say they are cruelty free and do have a bunny on the website also on instagram.
Is it true?
Yes, BH Cosmetics is 100% cruelty free since they are not owned by any parent company that tests. They are on the Cruelty-Free Brands List.
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Reblogged this on LIFE STORY'S FROM LINCOLN.
Thank you!! I’m happy you enjoyed it!