Contrarily to what it might seem like, there’s a wide selection of cruelty-free makeup brands at Sephora, and some are even certified by the Leaping Bunny.
Those that aren’t can be found on PETA, and I’ve personally verified their animal testing policies by e-mail to make sure they don’t test on animals at any point during production.
None of the companies below sell their products in China (where animal testing is required by law). If a company starts selling in China, I cross it off the list, which means it lost its cruelty-free status.
You’ll also find a handful of skincare brands, as well as some hair and nail polish brands. The reason why this list is so short is because I’m making sure to contact every company before adding it to the list.
As for companies that do test on animals, the list is long: Lancome, Yves Saint Laurent, Dior, Benefit, Estee Lauder, Clinique, the Sephora brand, Bobbi Brown, Givenchy, Make Up For Ever, Marc Jacobs Fragrances (not to be confused with Marc Jacobs Beauty), and more. Those are definitely not cruelty-free and they do test on animals, in most cases in China.
The list below is constantly updated. More brands will be added as I get in touch with the companies.
Click on your favorite brands to check out their new products. The links open in a new tab.
Cruelty-Free Makeup At Sephora
- Anastasia Beverly Hills
- Hourglass
- Too Faced • Acquired By Estee Lauder Nov. 2016
- Tarte • Acquired By Kose on March 17 2014
- Kat Von D
- Stila (newly cruelty-free!)
- Josie Maran
- Becca • Acquired By Estee Lauder Nov. 2016
- Bite Beauty
- Blinc
- Urban Decay • Acquired by L’Oreal on Nov. 26 2012
NARS• Owned By Shiseido | Soon to be sold in China- BareMinerals • Owned By Shiseido
- Buxom • Owned By Shiseido
- Cover FX
- Perfekt
- RMS Beauty
- Marc Jacobs Beauty
- Beautyblender
- Natasha Denona
- Besame
- Ciate
- Milk Makeup
- Ardency Inn
Cruelty-Free Skincare At Sephora
- Dr. Dennis Gross
- Lavanila
- Murad • Owned By Unilever
- REN • Owned By Unilever
- Tata Harper
- First Aid Beauty
- Sunday Riley
- Kate Somerville • Owned By Unilever
- TATCHA
- NUDE Skincare
- Omorovicza
- DERMADoctor
- Drunk Elephant
- Juice Beauty
- Ole Henriksen
- Herbivore Botanicals
Cruelty-Free Nails At Sephora
Cruelty-Free Hair Care At Sephora
Is The Sephora Brand Cruelty-Free?
The Sephora makeup brand itself is NOT cruelty-free. Sephora doesn’t test on animals except when required by law, and their products are being sold in China, where animal testing is required by law.
Nars, bareMinerals, Buxom: Owned By Shiseido
Shiseido is a company that still tests on animals, but they own 3 cruelty-free brands sold at Sephora: NARS, bareMinerals, and Buxom.
These 3 brands are cruelty-free themselves and are not sold in mainland China, where animal testing is mandatory for foreign cosmetics companies. There are pros and cons to supporting cruelty-free companies owned by a parent company that tests on animals, and supporting these companies is still a better choice than supporting brands that test on animals.
Further Reading
- Full List of Cruelty-Free Brands
- Cruelty-Free Drugstore Brands
- Ultimate Guide To Cruelty-Free Makeup
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Thank you for your information on cruelty-free!! I hope you don’t mind but I mentioned your blog in one of my youtube videos!! I want people to be aware that there are lots of great resources out on the internet that can help them go cruelty-free!! Thanks Becca
Thank you so much for the mention! 😀 Such a good idea to have a cruelty-free twist on your project pan!
Just thought i’d add:
-Buxom is owned by BareMinerals, so it should also have an *
-Sephora doesn’t carry The Balm or Dr. Hauschka any longer
-Dr. Dennis Gross also is cruelty free and vegan
Thanks! I was hoping Sephora might carry those brands again even though it’s not going to happen! I’m working on updating this whole page and adding newer brands. I added Dr. Dennis Gross, but not all their products are vegan.
Great post, I just wish Sephora in Luxembourg would stock more cruelty-free products than they do in other countries 🙂 I am just wondering if bare escentuals is really cruelty free as I’ve been told that some of their brushes are made with real animal hair 🙁 do you know if this true? And regarding brands like Urban Decay and NARS… do you think we can trust them? I feel like indirectly funding for animal testing as their parent company does the testing… would be great to hear your opinion as I am in two minds about it. My blog… Read more »
Yep, I agree about PETA. I personally choose to support cruelty-free brands if they’re owned by non-cruelty-free parent companies as long as the brands themselves are totally cruelty-free, as it’s the case with NARS and Urban Decay (I share my opinion in this post:)). You raise a really good point with the makeup brushes, and it’s true that cruelty-free companies sometimes carry brushes made from animal hair. They’re still cruelty-free as they don’t test on animals, but I personally don’t see the brushes themselves as literally “cruelty-free” (even though those companies claim that the hair is obtained “in a cruelty-free… Read more »
ecotools found in drugs store seem to be a good brand, right…? loll
Don’t u get sassy with me, it’s a perfectly adequate brand if you’re just starting out with makeup. And it’s cruelty-free. 😀
LOL. you seem very well educated on this so I just wanted to make sure =]], especially since i just bought them yesterday haha
Got it! I thought you were being sarcastic, haha.
lol sorry about that!
Great post. I’ve been doing some research on the Balm as I wanted to buy several of their products on cyber Monday and I learned that they sell to China. It’s my understanding that any cosmetics company selling products in China is required to consent to have those products tested. Therefore, it seems that any company selling to China cannot be cruelty free.
Thanks for letting me know; I’m definitely going to contact them again. This is the response I got from them last time: “Distributors of theBalm Cosmetics from all over the world do not test our products on animals.” It’s a shame if they started selling in China.
Just to update: theBalm told me they’re NOT sold in China, and I couldn’t find anything about them being sold in China myself either.
Hi there, I live in china, and the Balm does not sell in , china, it is in Hong Kong however, but brands in Hong Kong and Taiwan actually does not require animal testing, as animal testing is only required in Main Land China. the Balm does have an online store for Chinese customers, but it is shipped from Hong Kong as well, so there is nothing to be worried about. But I am not sure if the brand itself is crusty free or not, since I am not a big fan of them… Hope that answers your concern.
I’m so glad this list was made! Unfortunately everything I’ve seen about the Korres brand is that they do test on animals. I couldn’t find anything on their website and all other blogs say they aren’t cruelty free. Also, Soap & Glory is cruelty free, as well as their parent company! And Ole Henriksen.
Hi Grace, thanks for the feedback! Korres is cruelty-free as of recently, and they pulled out of China for animal testing reasons. You can take a look at the correspondence and links in that post if you want; it took some digging to get that info.
I’m glad to hear Korres is cruelty free! I was totally bummed when I got a free sample from Sephora that I loved and it said Johnson & Johnson on the back. I thought that I was going to have to stop buying their facial products!!
Hi Suzi! I just discovered your blog and love the fact that you feature cruelty-free products in here. I’d just like to add that I believe Kat Von D is also cruelty-free. I think she has a contract with a different production company and her products are only sold at Sephora. 🙂
I love your name! 🙂 I’m also fairly confident that Kat Von D is cruelty-free but I’ve been waiting for confirmation! Will add as soon as I know for sure.
Thanks Suzi! 🙂 I’ve made the conscious effort to buy cruelty-free makeup products as well. Not everything in my collection is cruelty-free because I wasn’t aware of how bad some brands are early on, but ever since learning about these things, I’ve chosen to go in this direction as much as I can. I love your blog because it allows those of us who refuse to support companies that test on animals to see that going cruelty-free doesn’t have to mean we’d have to limit ourselves as far as quality goes. I look forward to reading more posts from you.… Read more »
I’m so glad I can help you on your cruelty-free journey! Rock on! 🙂 I love your blog and I just added it to my feed!
Kat von D make up is also cruelty free! She said so on her twitter account when someone asked.
I’m still waiting for the company to confirm that their suppliers don’t test on animals. They addressed every point except this one. 🙁
Did they answer? I saw her products and I think they’re cool. I know she’s vegan, PETA posted a photo, I hope they answered. 🙂
She has posted before that her line is all cruelty free and almost all 100% vegan. I believe its only one of her lipsticks that are not vegan and contain a form of bees wax. She said she is reworking the formula. I love Kats products and that they are cruelty free! 🙂
KDV Update for those that are interested!
Does anyone know if the brand FRESH is cruelty free? I’ve had a hard time finding info on this brand. Sorry if anyone has asked about this already! Thanks!
Hi Kaeley! Unfortunately they’re not cruelty-free. They opened a store in Shanghai in 2013 and sell in China. They’re also owned by a company that isn’t cruelty-free (LVMH).
I was looking into this brand and was wondering the same thing. Thanks for clarifying.
I didn’t realize until I saw this post that Tarte was owned by an animal testing company. SO disappointing. I’ve had a hard time finding a great cruelty free mascara and thought I finally had with Tarte, but I’ll have to keep looking!!
If it’s volume you’re looking for, have you tried Too Faced’s Better Than Sex? 100% cruelty-free.
I second Suzi’s suggestion – Too Faced Better than Sex is literally the best mascara I’ve ever used. 🙂
BareMinerals is also owned by Shiseido company 😉
does anyone know if kat von d cosmetics are 100% cruelty free?
Kat Von D herself claims that her makeup is cruelty-free, but the company that actually makes it can’t back that up. They’re owned by Kendo/Sephora, which aren’t cruelty-free, too.
I went into sephora yesterday looking for a new foundation. My requests- cruelty free and medium coverage. The employee informed me the sephora brand was cruelty free!!
I’m so upset I purchased it ignorantly believing her!!!!!
What a horrible thing to lie about.
Shame on her
Definitely return it! Even if it’s open, they’ll accept it. It’s been my experience too that most Sephora employees don’t know which brands are cruelty-free.
They’re NOT sold in China. AmorePacific was removed for potential testing from suppliers.
I notice you don’t list Ole Henriksen anywhere. They claim to be cruelty free. Is it not true?
They’re a grey area brand on my list. They’re owned by Kendo (which also owns Kat Von D, Marc Jacobs, and Bite). I know they’re not sold in China at the moment, but I can’t vouch for their ingredients being 100% cruelty-free.
Don’t know if you are still updating this but Sephora carries a new skin care line, Ole Henrickson, that is great AND cruelty free 🙂
See my response.
I just went to Sephora and bought 2 Givenchy items (one lipstick and one foundation). I specifically asked the man helping me if they test on animals and he said no, they do NOT test on animals. After spending over $200 on products I feel very upset and deceived!!
Return them!! There’s so many better cruelty free brands available + givenchy contains ingredients that are not good!!
Thanks so much, that’s awesome to hear! 🙂
Hi! On the Marc Jacobs site it says very clearly everything is cruelty free. This is a newer brand only sold at Sephora and Marc Jacobs stores. So, is it cruelty free? It is listed on Paula’s site as being so.
They definitely sell in China, so sadly their cruelty-free claim isn’t fully accurate.
Why does PETA claim Stila is cruelty free but you do not? Very confused on this brand.
Stila is on PETA’s do-test list (link).
As a general rule though, PETA’s list isn’t always 100% reliable.
Is Kat von D cruelty free? I didn’t see it on the list but I thought it was.
PETA has Marc Jacobs Beauty listed as CF though.
Laura Mercier’s website states “We do not, nor have we ever, tested our products on animals. We also do not contract outside companies to test on animals for us.” Last accessed 26 of May 2015.
So how did LM come to be part of your list of companies that DO test on animals? Just curious because I currently use Laura Mercier.
They do test on animals “when required by law”, unfortunately.
Clinique actually doesn’t test on animals. They say so on their FAQ page. They may not be cruelty-free, but it’s misrepresentation to say they do test on animals just because they’re not cruelty-free. I think you need a separate list for brands that don’t test on animals but aren’t cruelty-free or at least only list brands to still test on animals.
They do test when required by law, unfortunately.
Hello,
Thanks for posting this! Glad to see there are so many compassionate people willing to steer clear from cruelty brands. One thing: Laura Mercier’s website says that they do not test on animals (not now, not ever). Check it out FAQ #17 here: https://www.lauramercier.com/faqs.html. You listed the brand as Not being cruelty-free. How did you come to this conclusion? Just wondering. Thanks again for post!
Very simply, they sell their products in China! And China requires mandatory animal testing. Technically they do not test on animals “unless required by law”.
Suzi, I sent into Laura Mercier the other day and they replied today with:
“Good morning and thank you for contacting us.
No, we do not sell our products in China.”
Thanks! I got the same response, but I’ll have to look into their policy.
Suzi, In light of the email correspondence to adrie182, do you plan to update your information, or at least further investigate it yourself? Until you do, I am finding it hard to give validity every time you say “they sell their products in China.” Thank you.
Amelia, I can assure I’m looking into it, but I haven’t heard anything official yet. It does look like Laura Mercier stopped selling in China, and I’m trying to look into the possible reasons.
I’m taking your comment into consideration and I’ll post about it very soon.
Sadly, this list isn’t long enough. I avoid any brand that isn’t cruelty free!
Kat Von D is owned by LVMH. It’s a sephora original brand. It cracks me up when people won’t buy Sephora brand stuff but they will buy Kat. Same pocket, people. Her boxes even say Sephora on the side.
I’m surprised to not see Jack Black on this list. Going to have to research that a little more.
Do you personally use products by brands that are owned by a company that aren’t cruelty free but the brand them self are?
Yes!
Marc Jacobs is sold in China in Sephora stores according to this list: http://www.sephora.cn/brand.html
It’s still unclear whether or not they’re cruelty-free for that reason. They’ve recently joined PETA (along with all Kendo brands) but PETA tends to be unreliable. I’ll look into it. 🙂
Marc Jacobs as a fragrance line isn’t cruelty free but the make up line is not sold in China.
I heard today that Estee Lauder is acquiring Perricone MD and Murad. =[
Also, according to my Coola brand rep, she thinks everything is vegan, gluten free, cruelty free and organic. She’s coming back with more info for me.
Where did you hear that? Are you in the inner circle?! I can’t find it anywhere on the internets.
Hahah, technically yes. I work in skincare at Sephora and work with the brand reps a lot. Google Murad Estee Lauder and there are a handful of articles talking about Estee weighing the pros and cons on the deal from June 4th. Until I see an official press release or talk to my rep, I will assume the deal hasn’t gone through, but it looks like they already bought Perricone and are picking up several new brands. Their last sweep was in December/January, when they acquired GlamGlow.
Estée Lauder has not acquired Murad nor Perricone. Murad was acquired by Unilever in September 2015, but continues to be cruelty free.
At the time of my comment, Dr. Murad had not cancelled the deal with Estee Lauder yet. Yes, he pulled out and went with Unilever instead (thank goodness). I’m glad he is still a cruelty free brand, I do wish his parent company was, though. I do understand why he sold though, and I hope not dealing with the retail side of things gives him more time to spend with his family and his clients.
Yeah, it totally makes sense and I don’t doubt that what you’ve heard is probably right. Estee Lauder is really going at it. :/
Hi does anyone know if Murad or Clinique are cruelty-free? I’ve been seeing on the Sephora website that Murad said some of their products were tested on humans and not animals. I’ve been really looking into cruelty-free makeup and skin products 🙂
Yes to Murad (though it belongs to Unilever now) and no to Clinique.
Hi,
Thank you for making this list ! But I think recently Marc Jacobs has become cruelty free.
http://www.peta2.com/blog/kat-von-d-beauty-cruelty-free/
http://www.marcjacobsbeauty.com/category/customer+service/faqs.do
Thanks for dropping by. They still sell fragrance in China! I’m trying to figure out the deets and I’ll have an update on MJ, KDV, and all Kendo brands soon!
I appreciate all the information! But china does NOT require animal testing anymore, so are these once cruelty free make up brands cruelty free again? any information would be appreciated! thanks!
Danielle: China still requires mandatory animal testing for all imported cosmetics, so sadly nothing had changed. The lift only applies to some domestic brands and products.
What about Kat Von D? Isn’t she vegan?
I’ve noticed within the last 6 months or more than Anastasia Beverly Hills and daughter have been taking business trips to Shanghai… So they may not be a cruelty free brand much longer
So you’ll be happy to know that yesterday I walked up to a client who was just staring down this list while looking around skincare. I was like, “Oh! Cruelty Free Kitty! Fear not, I’m here! What can I help you find?!” She is switching back to vegan and cruelty free products and had all of your lists printed off. =] She said she kept finding conflicting info online and I told her that I 100% trust your lists and updated hers (she had printed it off a few weeks ago so it still had Kate & Murad on it).
This is so awesome to hear, haha! Once again thank you so much, Beth! 😀
It happened again. =] I know it’s awesome to hear you’re making a difference so; another person was wondering around lost with your list in hand looking for the brands in the list. Yay!
Hell yes, thanks for letting me know! Cruelty-free revolution, slow but steady! 😀
Thank you for this great list! After reading it yesterday and feeling bummed because I just bought some Kat Von D eye products, I decided to google a bit. Now the Kat Von D topic might have been overdone now, but interestingly Paula Begoun’s list of companies that do/don’t test on animals has Kat’s products on the Don’t list and Sephora on the Do list. The site does mention that they’ve categorized companies who don’t test but are owned by companies that do test on the “Don’t” list (excuse the confusing sentence there!!). I also found this recent post: http://www.logicalharmony.net/kat-von-d-beauty-is-now-certified-as-cruelty-free-by-logical-harmony/
Thanks for your help xx
youtube.com/makeupforlunch
Thank you so much for this list. I really appreciate it and it makes it much easier for anyone not willing to put in the effort. Ths allowed me to try new brands wouldn’t have normally even thought to look at!
Awesome, glad to hear that! 😀
I was told that Illamasqua weren’t cruelty free, is that the case or have they recently made the jump to cruelty free?
Illamasqua is definitely cruelty-free.
Sadly Smashbox isn’t cruelty free anymore 🙁
FYI, I just saw Wen on the sephora, China website. I’m guessing the market was just too tempting 🙁 However, Ole Henriksen is not listed on that website 🙂
It isn’t the Wen haircare, it’s a brand that does tattoos and stickers.
Yess, thanks Eric!
Unfortunately they’re not cruelty-free. 🙁
Philosophy is also an awesome cruelty free company! And most of their products are vegan as well, the ones that are not are listed on the FAQ on their website 🙂
Philosophy do animal test as they sell in China.
They actually don’t sell in China directly.
How does it work when companies sell through Sephora then?
Bite is still on the Leaping Bunny’s list thus far. I’m also looking into brands owned by Kendo as they’re on PETA’s list and for some reason claim to be cruelty-free, so maybe there’s truth to that — but Marc Jacobs doesn’t deny selling fragrances in China. I’ll post my Kendo update soon! It’s a bit shady if you ask me.
Thank you so much for making this list! I just made a commitment to not buy cosmetics that are tested on animals, and am trying to figure out what is safe. Very sad to give up MAC.
Thought you might be interested in this and I was wondering your thoughts?
http://www.peta2.com/blog/kat-von-d-beauty-cruelty-free/
laura mercier is cruelty free, it states on their site, they also state some products are vegan, and some are not.
Hi, Bobbi Brownand MAC are both companies that are owned by Estee Lauder and they are not cruelty-free. They test on animals and they fund animal testing in China, in order to sell their products there. They are more interested in profit than morals. I believe you should update this blog as it is misleading. Thanks x
Hi Kinga! I don’t list either of these brands as cruelty-free anywhere.
I’ve read Josie Maran is mascarading as cruelty free. Please look into her further.
Do u have a list of cruelty free and vegan?
I don’t think many brands sold at Sephora are 100% vegan, but do check out my full list of cruelty-free brands for vegan ones. 🙂
Thank you for all the information! I’ve been trying to find out if Dr, Brand skincare is cruelty free. Do you know if they are?
They sell in China unfortunately, so they’re not cruelty-free.