We've received so many questions about Morphe's animal testing policy as the brand became more and more popular. If you're familiar with the youtube beauty community, you've definitely heard of Morphe (pictured above is Jaclyn Hill and her palette in collaboration with Morphe). They specialize in brushes and eyeshadow palettes at affordable prices.
Despite their popularity, Morphe's cruelty-free status has been surprsingly hard to get. We've reached out to them multiple times and haven't heard back... until now. They kindly answered all our questions, which you'll find below, and it turns out that Morphe is cruelty-free!
They have confirmed that they don't test finished products or ingredients on animals. They also stated that their suppliers don't test on animals, and no third parties test on animals on their behalf. They don't test on animals where required by law and their products aren't sold in China. They are a private company and they do not have a parent company at this time.
Keep reading for their policy and a Q&A.
At A Glance
- Finished products tested on animals: No
- Ingredients tested on animals: No
- Third party animal testing: No
- Tested on animals where required by law: No
- Sold in mainland China: No
- Certifications: None
- Parent company: None
- Parent company status: N/A
Email Correspondence
Morphe does not include an animal testing policy on their official website, so I reached out to them to find out if they are cruelty-free. This is the response I received.
Morphe absolutely does not use any of our products on animals for testing purposes and we do not condone the use of animals for cosmetic testing, this also includes companies we work with.
We do not market our products in other nations directly, our social media channels and associates tend to be the main source of our PR. We do work with distributors in various nations but we only allow these if they meet our terms and policy as they represent our products and public image.
We are our own private company and are not associated with any other company, organization or entity.
We offer both natural and vegan products between our various lines. Our brush sets include sets that are Natural Bristles and sets that are Synthetic Bristles. We have sets that are a mix of both as well, but in all cases we do indicate on our website which is which with full descriptions per brush.
Regarding our palettes and cosmetic products, You may view each product's individual list of ingredients on our website per product, please keep in mind that some ingredients that usually come from natural source, we actually have subbed them with synthetic versions, if you see a product you wish to get more information about, let us know.
To accommodate all our customer’s needs we do offer alternative vegan / synthetic brush sets on our website. Please search using keyword Vegan and Synthetic to see all these products.
To further state, all materials used in our manufacturing are gathered in a cruelty free manner, including those we receive from companies we work with. We hope this answers your questions regarding our process.
Q&A with Morphe
Since the email response was incomplete, I followed up with them with the following questions to confirm they are cruelty-free. Here are their answers, with my questions in bold.
1. Does your company test on animals, either for finished products or ingredients?
We absolutely do not use any of our products on animals for testing purposes and do not condone the use of animals for cosmetic testing.
2. Do your suppliers test on animals?
No our suppliers do not test on animals.
3. Does your company hire or allow third parties to test on animals on your behalf?
No our company doesn't hire or allow third parties to test on animals on our behalf.
4. Do you test on animals wherever the authorities require it by law?
Fortunately our brand isn't associated with regions that test on animals by law.
5. Are your products sold in stores in mainland China?
Here is a list of our international distributors, you will see we do not have any in China.
Are Morphe Products Vegan?
As mentioned in the email correspondence, Morphe makes both natural (animal hair) and vegan (synthetic) brushes. In addition to brushes, they also offer their own line of makeup products, some of which are vegan-friendly. Many of their makeup products are not vegan-friendly as they contain lanolin (sheep wool fat) or cera alba (beeswax).
Bottom Line
Morphe is cruelty-free, and has been added to our list of cruelty-free brands!
Which Brands Are Cruelty-Free?
Download our list of 600+ verified cruelty-free brands straight to your device. Bring it with you everywhere you go, and never worry about supporting animal testing again. Click here to download
This is a seriously confusing article and feels all over the shop. Been struggling to get a simple answer and unsure what’s recent info and what’s not. Maybe consider clearing this up, for now I’ll go off morphe’s info- cruelty free.
My question is if they use mica. It’s a mineral in most products but unless it’s synthetic it’s most likely dug out of dangerous mines by Indian children.
But if Morphe has natural hair brushes how can they be cruelty free?
One year on & Peta is saying the BADGERS used on the farm, (farmed badgers), are treated badly, & at the abattoir,(what are they doing there!) all the usual crap happens. There is a petition to sign.
https://www.peta.org/blog/companies-ban-badger-hair/ Morphe is not cruelty free when they use badger hair just saying
MORPHE IS NOT CRUELTY FREE!! all of their brushes (with the exception of one always sold out one) are all animal hair!!! Im actually surprised such a brand name is still so cruel being that vegan brushes are as good if not better since they do not shed and are easier to clean and maintain.
Then don’t buy the brushes with animal hair? Just get their synthetic ones. Also, cruelty free means not tested on animals. It has nothing to do with the ingredients they use. We both don’t know how they obtain the fur, so don’t act like you know.
Can I just hooray! Thank you so much for reaching out to Morhpe and getting the scoop on their animal-testing policy. I am sure I speak for everyone, when I say that this certainly puts my mind at ease. Morphe gives back in spades what other companies fail to do, and that is, MORE BANG FOR YOUR BUCK!
Morphe is not cruelty-free. They still sell brushes made out of badger hair. They trap the badgers in cages, strike them in their heads with poles or chair legs. They then continue to slit their throats or skin them alive. Morphe isn’t on the list of cruelty-free brands because they don’t deserve to be. Take a look at reliable sources like Peta, the ones who tell the truth and doesn’t sugarcoat animal abuse, instead of a biased account called “www.crueltyfreekitty.com”
I’m honestly asking this without trying to sound rude. If their brushes are made out of animal hair, how can they be cruelty free?
Although I am glad Morphie’s products are not tested on animals, how can you certify as cruelty free when they use animal hair. Do you know how they collect the hair of the animals? Is it cruelty free? Is there a way to confirmed how they collect the animals’ hair?
I would really like to know, because although they dont test on animals there is some other companies that use animal’s hair and the way is collected is using force and brutality which is not cruelty-free
Hi! Love your blog and just wanted to add that for people who are interested in their brushes, their brushes are made from badger fur (according to PETA)
The Jaclyn Hill pallettes are absolutely NOT vegan. They contain Carmine. Please don’t send vegans to purchase a non vegan product because you don’t have all the facts.
Can’t be cruelty free and contain Carmine
Hi, I was just checking their shipping to countries in Asia and China was included in the list. Isn´t that quite weird according to their statements above?
Are the beauty products made in China?
Their bristles are made of badger and squirrel hair, which they are clubbed over the head and throats slit for their hair… how is that cruelty free??? Its disgusting!! Just because they dont test on animals doesnt mean their ingredients arent supplied through heartless tactics. Please stop spreading their cruelty free status, its not true. Unless its vegan, its NOT cruelty free.
Is Jacklin hill morphe made in china a real one or a fake one ??
Is morphe eyeshadow made in china a real one or a fake one ?? N I do believe whatever is said above
If you go on their website you can ship to China and they make their products in China. Those products regardless still have to be tested. So morphe basically lied. Which honestly isn’t too surprising since the work constantly with Jaclyn Hill.
No, brands who manufacture their products in China don’t engage in any animal testing whatsoever. The animal testing laws only apply to products sold in China.
They didn’t lie, actually. Only if the products are SOLD in China, are they tested on animals. If they’re manufacture din China, it doesn’t mean tested on animals. Thankfully, they don’t sell in China. 🙂
Morphe claims to be cruelty-free and has no claim to China? Here is Jaclyn Hill’s video where she claims Morphe “ships from China to the US” please start the video at 30 and listen to 41-42. They are cruelty-free but have a warehouse in China where testing is the law and ships their product to the US? Doe no one else find that particularly …odd?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HYgSSIZGrlU
The majority of US brands have manufacturers or warehouses in China without selling in China. Products are only tested on animals in China if they’re sold there.
They aren’t cruelty-free at all. They use carmine in their shadows, including the new Jaclyn Hill vault collection.
I wouldn’t class them as cruelty free because of their natural hair brushes and lashes – mink shedding must be a by-product of the fur industry surely?! Zoos don’t have minks, no one brushes their pet mink to get hair. The only man-created place you find minks is fur farms
I would like to point out that Morphe is not cruelty free…unfortunately some of their brushes are made from Italian badgers…they lied about being cruelty free…
How can Morphe be cruelty free when the have brushes from animal fur?
Do they contain any ingredient derived from the pig?
Do they contain any pig by products?
Congratulations on finally getting this information!!! It has been so hard to get a response from them.
Side note: You may wish to change your questionnaire from “Sold in China” to reflect their most recent mandate regarding special use cosmetics and the exemptions from mandatory testing.
I’ve literally been stalking your website today. It’s been so useful! I found out about 85% of my skincare and makeup products are from brands that test on animals. I’m not going to throw anything away, but over the next couple of months I will definitely phase out of these brands and start buying cruelty free. Thank you for all the info!
I just received my Jaclyn Hill palette, but on the packaging it says made in China. Wouldn’t that mean they test on animals?
Only products sold in China must be tested, if they’re made in china and then distributed elsewhere, China’s laws do not apply ☺️
Yes, that’s correct. Thanks Lauren! 🙂
Hello! I’m still new to this cruelty free thing, but I don’t understand how Morphe is considered cruelty free when they still make natural hair brushes? Can someone explain? Thanks in advance!
cruelty-free is when the animals are brushed for their hair rather than any of the crueler methods. Vegan is when no animal hair is used (synthetic brushes). Some people disagree with this method of labeling, as they argue the conditions the animals are kept in are sometimes horrible and thus not cruelty-free; if this is your belief then you should look for synthetic brushes, not cruelty-free ones.
Just like mink eyelashes, the hairs are collected after they shed the hairs and are on the ground. Their products are cruelty free, they don’t claim to be vegan.
I’m super excited they finally confirmed it! I’m going to go to the Morphe Store tomorrow and see what the employees say
Mink are agressive animals though so they can’t just brush there hair whilst they shed their fur, they treat them horribley, so mink are not cruelty free, but I don’t know anything about badgers so I can tell say anything on them.
badger hair is collected after they are killed so not cruelty free same as mink and sable
my comment seems to have disappeared asking how they are cruelty free when they use sable and badger hair in there brushes
I was wondering the same thing…
That’s exactly what I wrote
how can they say they are cruelty free when they have sable and badger hair brushes
Exactly! That is what I came here to write. It doesn’t make sense!
I’ve looked into it a bit, and there really isn’t any cruelty-free way of getting the hair off a badger. Even if the badgers are just brushed, most of the badger hair comes from China where they are also being raised as meat. Although they aren’t in captivity for the sole purpose of removing their hair, they are still kept in terrible conditions, as most animals raised for meat are. Unless Morphe gets its animal products from some special cruelty-free badger farm, there is no way you could consider these brushes cruelty-free. If you are curious, this is my main source of information: https://www.liveabout.com/are-pure-badger-brushes-bad-2478121
Hey girl. Crueltry free menas that the products are not tested on animals. Don’t mean that they havent use any animal product. Its quiet stupid, but that is the meaning. So Morphe is crueltry free but not vegan.
cruelty free means with out cruelty … so if they are getting the hair whilst harming animals that’s not cruelty free.
Totally agree! I’ve been trying to find cheap vegan (cruelty free) brushes and honestly I was excited when I saw they had a synthetic line but now I’m thinking if I even want to support them…
I ordered from Morphe a while back and they gave a free gift for spending a certain amount. It was a lipgloss but it said made in China. Doesn’t that mean animal testing?
However I read elsewhere that a majority of morphe was bought by another company (not sure which); does this mean a reformulation of their makeup? Is the Jacklyn Hill palette cruelty free?
A company can decide to be cruelty free at any point but it doesn’t always mean that their products from before that point are. Where I choose to purchase will highly depend on these factors and in this specific case, the JH palette.
“Made in China” does not mean animal testing. “Sold in China” does, and Morphe isn’t sold in China.
That is incorrect, there are many cosmetic product categories sold in China that are not subject to mandatory animal testing. One such category is general use cosmetics that are made in china.
Have to made a clarify here only “sold in mainland China” does, if they sold in the special administrative region (politics issue) such as Hong Kong, Taiwan n Macau without set their step in mainland China (online does not count as) , animal testing does not require to sell in these country.
Luckily products that are made in china don’t have to be tested on animals only if they’re sold there whichever Morphe don’t! 🙂
Manufacturing in China does not require animal testing, SELLING in China does. Odd but that’s what it is.
Hello! I noticed this article but when I check the list of cruelty free brands Morphe is not on there. Is this brand actually not cruelty free?? Thank you for all that you do! I love your blog and am a frequent lurker!! 🙂
Yes I was wondering this as well.