First of all, I've added 7 companies to my cruelty-free list, all of which have provided e-mail replies. This includes the luxury brand Koh Gen Do, available at Sephora, the popular hair care brand Moroccanoil, the natural company Dr. Alkaitis, the makeup brands Lorac and Charlotte Tilbury, the british skincare line Nip+Fab, and the currently trending ColourPop. I've also contacted ColourPop's supplier, Spatz Labs, which claims to be "a cruelty-free company".
EDIT: Moroccanoil started selling to mainland China since this article was published and is NOT cruelty-free.
In other good news, Jordana has followed its parent company Milani and has recently been certified by the Leaping Bunny! Milani and Jordana are currently both Leaping Bunny-certified and 100% cruelty-free.
Sadly, Crabtree & Evelyn have confirmed that they DO test on animals when required by law, without confirming nor denying if their products are sold in mainland China. Note that this company is still listed as part of PETA's caring consumer cruelty-free list, meaning that PETA's information is outdated. Crabtree & Evelyn has explicitely stated in my correspondence with them that they "do not submit [their] products for animal testing by third parties anywhere in the world except where required by local law."
I've been trying to get a hold of the Kat Von D brand, now owned by Kendo (which is a part of Sephora/LVMH) for a while, and Kendo finally got back to me. Unfortunately, the final reply I got is the following: "Our products are not tested on animals at any point in the process. By us or by third parties." I can't confirm that Kat Von D is a cruelty-free company based on this exchange, because they only addressed finished products. When asked if their ingredients are tested on animals and if their suppliers test on animals, they didn't provide any information. I'm going to keep you posted if I hear back from Kendo again, but for the time being the Kat Von D brand remains a grey area to me.
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Another one bites the dust!
I assumed that Crabtree & Evelyn was still cruelty-free, and was about to shop them, but now they’re off my “radar” until and unless they change their policy.
I hope that those companies who are choosing not to abandon their ethics will prosper exponentially as more consumers look to them to fill the “void” left by those rushing to enter the Chinese market.
That’s how it’s worked for me; I’m now totally ignoring MAC, and buying 100% of my eyeshadows and lipsticks from Makeup Geek, ColourPop, and Milani/Jordana.
Suzanne
I reached out to Moroccan Oil and yes they sell to Hong Kong and not mainland China. They are cruelty free
Thank you so much for all the research
I have a question regarding this statement above, “When asked if their ingredients are tested on animals…”
My question is, wouldn’t it stand to reason that most ingredients, at some point in the past, were tested on animals, how far back is acceptable. I’m not trying to be difficult, I’m seriously interested in the mindset and thought process of what makes a product cruelty free. Also, how far up the parent company does one go. I have seen people say they won’t support Beautylish because they sell non cruelty free brands yet in the next breath they are talking about products they got at Sephora.
I’m in agreement that at this point in our society we should have already given up the practice of testing on animals but most products we use in our daily lives were probably tested on animals at one point or another in the past, even if the company is presently cruelty free, where does one draw the line.
See you have Nip & Fab on your list, there is nothing at all that I can find stating there products are cruelty free. I have messaged then, what info do you have please?
Interesting info on Crabtree & Evelyn I love there products but if there selling in China then that’s another company I now won’t buy from. These companies just annoy me money over suffering, makes my blood boil
Hi Suzi! Thank you so much for creating this resource for us! I am so appreciative of the time and love you pour into it. I recently received an email from you listing Moroccanoil as cruelty free. Have they changed back? Hope so!
Thank you so so much for this important information. Now, I know which product to buy.
But don’t colourpop eyeshadows contain Carmine in them?
I use Urban Decay’s Perversion mascara which is great and I also like NO7 mascaras too, both of which are cruelty free c:
Im looking for a CF sesame seed or sunflower seed oil to use as a moisturizer/ aromatherapy. Does anyone know if NOW is CF?
Kat Von D are fixing their formulas and will soon be All Vegan and Cruetly Free 🙂
Is there a link to the correspondence with Colourpop?
Colourpop’s parent — Spatz Labs — has an R and D facility in China. Are you sure their products aren’t tested on animals?
Yes. They don’t sell in mainland China.
No news yet! At best, they’re cruelty-free and owned by a non-cruelty-free brand.
Kat Von D has answered this via Twitter “my company never has and never will test on animals.” she’s a huge animal advocate as well.
Sadly that really doesn’t mean much. I do like her, but that statement in itself doesn’t constitute proof. On the other hand, I know that Kendo and all their brands are now on PETA’s list. This is a good sign and I’ll be looking into it!
Aren’t Loracs ingredients tested on animals? In 2014 I read something about they couldn’t verify that their suppliers were cruelty-free? Is this still true?
They currently claim that their suppliers provide proof of no animal testing, or to use their words: “LORAC does not condone the testing of any cosmetic products on animals and asks all suppliers to support this point of view and all suppliers state that they do so.”
What they also say is that it’s impossible to verify that the suppliers of suppliers are cruelty-free, which applies to every cosmetics company.
Great post – thanks for updating! I was wondering if Nip + Fab mentioned anything about their ingredients or ingredient suppliers testing? Their website says they don’t test but didn’t say anything further. Thank you! – Hollie
http://www.holliemaem.blogspot.com
Here’s their reply: “Our products are not tested on animals. We have an agreement with our manufactures and third parties that no animal testing has been conducted. We don’t have any stockist for Nip+Fab in China.”
Excellent, glad to hear! I really like Nip+Fab so I’m happy they’re cruelty free! Thanks for replying x
For the last couple weeks I have been drooling over a lorac palette but was unsure whether it was cruelty free. Thats great to hear!!! I would love to know id stila is. I tried looking but get mixed answers 🙁
Stila definitely retails in mainland China, sadly!
ok milani is now on leaping bunny website but not 100% cruelty free accord to leaping bunny website
Milani is 100% cruelty-free according to the Leaping Bunny. It’s not owned by any other company.
mliani is not listed on leaping bunny website
Milani is Leaping Bunny-certified! Here’s the Leaping Bunny link.
That’s great! Are you planning on making a list with vegan/vegetarian brands as well by any chance?
aniqadreams.blogspot.com
I’m working on something! My big list has vegan brands marked though.
That’s great! I will check it out again, as I am currently looking for new brands 🙂
Really interesting to see Lorac up there thats a bit of a surprise. Koh Gen Do seem like a nice brand but their shade selection is lacking.
Lorac is a smaller company than it might seem! They don’t sell in China right now and I don’t see it happening either.
When I try clicking on the LORAC Correspondence link it says the page is unavailable 🙁 . Also do you know if Forever 21’s Love & Beauty line is truly cruelty free? I know they’re on PETA’s list, but I don’t trust that too much.
You’re right not to trust it! Forever 21 has stores all over China. There’s no real way of knowing if their cosmetics somehow bypass the animal testing law, but because they do sell cosmetics locally in mainland China, I won’t add them to my cruelty-free list.
I added Lorac’s response, thanks for pointing that out! Here you go!
So happy that Lorac and Colourpop have been added to your list, Suzi! I love products from those two brands. Now if only Kat Von D will confirm they do not test the final products and ingredients on animals…
I really wish they could confirm this, because I’m not buying their stupid liquid liner until then! Also, I received my ColourPop order just recently and I STILL haven’t touched anything because I’m waiting to take blog pics! Did you try their shadows or lippies?
I tried swatching their Liberty eyeshadow from a friend’s collection and it is intense! I’m still looking into which shades to order, but it’s so hard to choose because there are a lot of really attractive ones. 🙂
Exactly! When I was picking mine, I found that youtube had the best reviews/swatches. 🙂
Kat Von D’s brand is cruelty-free and vegan, she said so herself.
thank you for all of the extra time and effort you put into your research! I really appreciate it!
Thanks Maeve! 🙂
Woohoo! Happy to have read this post. More options always make me happy! Thanks for the update! 🙂
You’re very welcome! I might have a few more brands sold at Sephora to add next month, fingers crossed!