You can find Amika’s products at Sephora, Walmart, and on Amazon.

Amika is Cruelty-Free

Amika 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 Amika to be Cruelty-Free.

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

In addition, I also emailed Amika to ask for more information about their animal testing policy. The following is a snippet of the response I received from them:

“We do not test our products, or our raw ingredients, or have a third party test our products or raw ingredients on animals. We have a verified animal testing-free supply chain. We do not sell our hair products in China or have plans to sell there in the future.”

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, and by any third parties.

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

Amika 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 Amika, not all of their products are vegan. But they have some products that are suitable for vegans.

How to know which of Amika products are vegan?

Amika clearly marks all of its vegan products on its website. See below for an example.

Additionally, the following is a screenshot of what’s currently stated on Amika’s official website about its vegan products:

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.

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 amika if their mica is ethically sourced without the use of child labor, but they never responded to any of my emails or messages.