Kari Gran

Last Updated: January 4, 2022

How Ethical Is Kari Gran?

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 Kari Gran’s ethics and initiatives.

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Ethical Analysis

Is Kari Gran cruelty-free, vegan, or sustainable? We’ve got the answers here! Read below for more details on Kari Gran’s policies.
Kari Gran is cruelty-free. None of Kari Gran’s ingredients, formulations, or finished products are tested on animals anywhere in the world.
Not all of Kari Gran’s products are vegan, but they have some vegan options.
Kari Gran is committed to sourcing organic, non-GMO, ‘earth-friendly’ suppliers and ethically sourced ingredients.

In addition, Kari Gran is committed to using less plastic packaging by weighing and recording the amount of plastic they’re sending in each order. Then in partnership with Plastic Bank, they collect the same amount of plastic pollution.
Kari Gran claims their mica is ethically sourced without child labor.
Kari Gran uses glass bottles and jars as they’re easier to recycle than plastic. They also chose not to offer single-use samples in plastic pouches, and instead, they provide trial kits in glass bottles and encourage reusing them for traveling. The company is also committed to recycling in and out of their office with their subscription to TerraCycle and a local recycling service that gives reusable items to people in need.

Kari Gran orders are shipped with recyclable brown Kraft paper or packing peanuts made of potatoes.

About Kari Gran

Kari Gran is a luxury natural, organic skincare, and mineral makeup brand.
COMPANY BASED IN: USA
PRODUCTS MADE IN: USA
PRODUCTS: Skincare, Makeup
CERTIFICATIONS: N/A

Kari Gran

This post may contain affiliate links that at no additional cost to you, I may earn a small commission.

You can find Kari Gran cruelty-free products at Credo Beauty, The Detox Market, and on Amazon.

Kari Gran is Cruelty-Free

Kari Gran has confirmed they do not test their products or ingredients on animals or ask others to test on their behalf. Their suppliers also do not test on animals, nor do they allow their products to be tested on animals when required by law. And finally, their products are not sold in stores in mainland China or any other country that may require animal testing.

By our standards, we would consider Kari Gran to be Cruelty-Free.

Below is a screenshot of Kari Gran’s official animal testing statement:

Kari Gran Cruelty-Free Claims

What About China’s Animal Testing Laws?

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

“Our products are not sold in mainland China.”

As of May 1, 2021, some imported ordinary cosmetics can be exempt from animal testing under certain conditions. However, for the most part, animal testing is still legally required for most imported cosmetics in 2022.

Cruelty-Free Policies

Note that 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.

Also, note that Cruelty-Free and Vegan don’t always mean the same thing.

Kari Gran is Not 100% Vegan

‘Vegan’ in cosmetics can refer to an entire brand that is 100% Vegan or a specific product is vegan.

In the case of Kari Gran, not all of their products are vegan. But they have some products that are suitable for vegans.

How to know which of Kari Gran’s products are vegan?

All of Kari Gran’s vegan products are clearly marked on their website.

The following is a screenshot of what’s currently stated on Kari Gran’s official website about its vegan products:

Kari Gran Vegan Claims

Vegan Policies

Similar to ‘Cruelty-Free,’ there is no standard or legal definition for the label ‘Vegan.’ But it’s usually used in the context to describe something that doesn’t contain any animal-derived ingredients or animal by-products.

Some common animal products used 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 it’s sometimes 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’ve chosen to use were from non-animal sources.

Where are Kari Gran’s products made?

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

“We make all our skincare products in Seattle. Our makeup is sourced from a lab in Portland, Oregon.”

Ethical Mica Mining Policy

Mica is a mineral that’s 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 Kari Gran if their mica is ethically sourced without the use of child labor and they responded by stating,

“I get asked quite often about the ingredient Mica and how we source it for our mineral cosmetic products.
Mica is one of the most widely used ingredients in the entire global beauty industry; any product that makes you shimmer, sparkle, or glow most likely contains Mica.

However, we’re aware the mining in the mica industry has raised concerns. Roughly 70% of mica produced in India comes from two areas in India, and too often children are employed in the mining.

That’s why we source our mica from a company that has a zero-tolerance policy toward child labor at all of their sites and also requires this commitment from their partners as well.

Yes, mica is an ingredient we use in some of our products, but rest assured we’ve done the work to make sure we’ve aligned ourselves with a partner who’s doing business the way we want to: ethically and responsibly. Ultimately, we all vote with our dollars, and for us, as a company, we want to support businesses who are doing the right thing.”


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

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What do you think

3 thoughts on “Kari Gran”

  1. Hello!
    I’m just wondering what “they do not test their FINISHED products on animals” means exactly? So, they test along the way before commiting to the end formulas? I’m just wondering if that was a deliberate choice of words relayed to you by a company trying to seem cruelty free but may not be, or if this was just nothing. Never can be too careful these days, I’d love to know if they are truly practicing compassionate business 🙂 Thanks for getting back to us!

    1. Hey Ali,
      I’m glad you asked this because this is actually a loophole some companies use.. some will claim that they don’t test their finished products on animals when in fact, the ingredients they use MAY have been tested on animals.

      In the case with Kari Gran, I asked them separately.. whether they test their finished products on animals? and they answered No. And then I also asked if they test any of their ingredients on animals? and they also answered No to this.

      So I summarized it in this post by saying “they do not test any of their finished products OR ingredients on animals”

      Hope that clears it up! Let me know if you have any other questions =)

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