Glossier

Last Updated: January 8, 2023

How Ethical Is Glossier?

Make a positive impact by supporting companies with the same values and ethics as what matters most to you. To navigate and find ethical brands, here’s a summary of Glossier’s ethics and initiatives.

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Ethical Analysis

Is Glossier cruelty-free, vegan, or sustainable? We’ve got the answers here! Read below for more details on Glossier’s policies.
Glossier is cruelty-free. None of Glossier’s ingredients, formulations, or finished products are tested on animals anywhere in the world.
Not all of Glossier’s products are vegan, but they have some vegan options.
Glossier claims they’re committed to limiting excess and wasteful packaging by offering a Limited Packaging option for orders placed on their website. Glossier had also discontinued a product that contained non-biodegradable glitter.
It’s not clear where Glossier’s mica is mined or sourced from and how they trace or audit to ensure no child or forced labor was involved.
Glossier’s products come in plastic packaging, but they offer a Limited Packaging option where customers can opt-out of the pink pouch and any packaging extras. Their shipping boxes are also made from 100% recycled content and no longer contain sticker sheets and unnecessary liners.

About Glossier

Glossier is creating the new beauty essentials: easy-to-use skincare and makeup that form the backbone to your routine.
COMPANY BASED IN: USA
PRODUCTS MADE IN: Won’t disclose
PRODUCTS: Makeup, Skincare, Bath & Body Care, Fragrances
CERTIFICATIONS: Leaping Bunny

Glossier

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Is Glossier Cruelty-Free?

🐰 Glossier is a cruelty-free brand. None of Glossier’s ingredients or products are tested on animals. Glossier has met all the criteria in our Cruelty-Free Checklist and is included in our Cruelty-Free Directory.

Does Glossier Test on Animals?

When asking, does Glossier test on animals? We must look beyond to ensure none of Glossier’s ingredients or suppliers test on animals. And they don’t sell in any country or under conditions that may require animal testing by law.

In our research, we discovered the following:

  • ✓ Glossier confirmed they do not test their products or ingredients on animals or ask others to test on their behalf.
  • ✓ Glossier confirmed all their ingredient suppliers do not test on animals
  • ✓ Glossier confirmed they do not allow or sell their products under conditions where animal testing is required by law

By meeting all of our Cruelty-Free Criteria, Glossier is a truly cruelty-free brand by our standards.

What is Glossier’s Animal Testing Policy?

Below is a screenshot of what’s currently stated on Glossier’s website about its animal testing policy:

What About China’s Animal Testing Laws?

Glossier has confirmed they do not sell their products in retail stores in mainland China; therefore, they are not required to test on animals.

With the current changes to China’s animal testing laws, some cosmetics sold in China can be exempt from animal testing under certain conditions. However, without meeting those conditions, animal testing is still legally required for most cosmetics sold in China in 2023.

Is Glossier Certified Cruelty-Free?

Glossier is certified cruelty-free by Leaping Bunny.

Cruelty-Free Policies 2023

Just because a brand claims it is ‘Cruelty-Free,’ doesn’t always mean that’s the case.

That’s because there is no legal definition for the label ‘Cruelty-Free.’ It can mean different things to different people. But Cruelty-Free is generally used to imply no animal testing. More specifically, the ingredients, formulation, or finished product are not tested on animals at any stage of product development.

At ethical elephant, we always assess a company’s cruelty-free policy using our Cruelty-Free Checklist. This ensures no animal testing was performed by the brand itself, its suppliers, or any third parties.

How We Assess Cruelty-Free Policies

Since 2015, the start of my blog, I’ve been emailing companies asking about their animal testing policies and cruelty-free commitments.

And based on the responses I receive from companies, I’ll research to find any supporting facts needed before concluding whether the brand should be classified as “Cruelty-Free,” “Animal-Tested,” or “Grey Area – Unclear Policies.”

☕️ Every week, I continue to reach out to new brands while trying my best to keep current brands updated. If you found any of my posts or guides helpful, consider Buying Me A Coffee! I would greatly appreciate it! ❤️

What about Vegan?

Just because something is called Cruelty-Free, doesn’t always mean it’s Vegan. And vice versa.

Cruelty-Free only refers to no animal testing, while Vegan means formulated without animal products.

Some brands are Cruelty-Free, but not Vegan.

And some are Vegan, but not Cruelty-Free.

Another important distinction to know is, Vegan in cosmetics can refer to an entire brand is 100% Vegan or a specific product is Vegan.

Is Glossier Vegan?

⭐️ Glossier is NOT an entirely vegan brand. But Glossier offers some vegan options that are free of animal products.

How to know which of Glossier’s products are vegan?

All of Glossier’s vegan products are clearly marked on their website. See below for an example.

Where to buy Glossier? Check out glossier.com and Amazon!

Vegan Policies

Similar to ‘Cruelty-Free,’ there is no standard or legal definition for the label ‘Vegan.’ But Vegan is generally used to mean formulated without animal-derived ingredients or animal by-products.

Some common animal products in cosmetics include carmine, lanolin, snail mucus, beeswax, honey, pearl or silk-derived ingredients, animal-based glycerin, keratin, and squalene.

There are plant-based and synthetic alternatives to animal-derived ingredients. But unless a brand explicitly labels its ingredients or product as Vegan, it’s often difficult to know with certainty whether a product is vegan just by reading the ingredient list.

So it’s best to ask the company and manufacturers to ensure the ingredients they chose were from non-animal sources.

Where are Glossier’s products made?

When I asked Glossier where their products are manufactured, they told me:

“We make our formulas all over the world. You can find this information listed on the packaging for each of our products.”

Ethical Mica Mining Policy

Mica is a mineral used in cosmetics to add a shimmery effect. But the mining of natural mica has been linked to child labor and human rights violations.

Unless the company discloses its mica mining policy, we have no way of knowing whether its mica is ethically sourced without child or forced labor.

So I asked Glossier if their mica is ethically sourced without the use of child labor and they responded by stating,

“Thanks for reaching out about the Mica in our formulas!

At Glossier, we carefully choose every single partner we work with: not only based on quality of service, but also based on the efforts and results that partner shows in working in an ethical way—from their sustainability approach to their employment policies and guidelines. You can read more about our supply chain standards here.”

Glossier claims they choose to work with ethical partners but did not specifically address where their mica is sourced from and how they audit or trace to ensure no child labor was involved in mining their mica.


I hope this article helped you to understand Glossier’s cruelty-free and vegan status and by choosing cruelty-free together, we can help end animal testing for cosmetics once and for all!

If you found this helpful, consider Buying Me a Coffee. So that I can continue to keep this site running and updated.

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What do you think

0 thoughts on “Glossier”

  1. Hi Vicky, thanks so much for this list! I thought all lidstar shades were non-vegan, good to find out that’s not true. Would you consider doing a vegan list for Buxom? I requested for a vegan list two times from them to no avail :\

  2. So I noticed that the glossier niteshine highliters are actually not vegan as they all containe squalane in them (in the ingredient list.)

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