China Glaze

Last Updated: February 2, 2022

How Ethical Is China Glaze?

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 China Glaze's ethics and initiatives.

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Ethical Analysis

Is China Glaze cruelty-free, vegan, or sustainable? We’ve got the answers here! Read below for more details on China Glaze’s policies.
China Glaze is cruelty-free. None of China Glaze’s ingredients, formulations, or finished products are tested on animals anywhere in the world.
Not all of China Glaze’s products are vegan but they have some vegan options.
China Glaze does not claim or market itself as a sustainable company.
China Glaze claims their vendors do not have any child or slave labor. However, it’s not clear where their mica is mined or sourced from and how they trace or audit to ensure no child labor was involved in the mining of their mica. See their ethical mica mining policy here.
China Glaze packaging has some plastic components. I couldn’t find anything stating they’re working on reducing their use of virgin plastic in their product packaging.

About China Glaze

China Glaze is dedicated to providing the highest quality of globally rich, on-trend, innovative color lacquers and treatments.
COMPANY BASED IN: USA
PRODUCTS MADE IN: USA
PRODUCTS: Nails
CERTIFICATIONS: Leaping Bunny

China Glaze

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

You can find China Glaze cruelty-free products at Walmart, Sally Beauty, Ulta, and on Amazon.

China Glaze is Cruelty-Free

China Glaze 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 China Glaze to be Cruelty-Free.

Below is a snippet of the response I received from China Glaze:

Yes, China Glaze Nail Lacquers are 7-Free, Vegan, and Cruetly -Free! The term “7-Free” means that China Glaze polishes do not contain 3 common chemicals found in nail polish, Toluene, Dibutyl Phthalate (DBP), Formaldehyde. Also, they are made without 4 other chemicals Formaldehyde Resin, Camphor, TPHP, and Xylene. China Glaze polishes are FREE of these SEVEN chemicals.Our polishes are also gluten-free and paraben-free!We never test on animals.China Glaze is proudly made in America! 🇺🇸

In addition, the following is a screenshot of what’s currently stated on China Glaze’s website about its animal testing policy:

Is China Glaze Cruelty-Free?

What About China’s Animal Testing Laws?

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

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, and by any third parties.

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

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

In 2020, I emailed to ask China Glaze if all of their products are vegan and they had told me,

“Thank you for reaching out to China Glaze
Yes, our products are Vegan / Cruelty – free. Please let us know if you have any additional questions.”

However, in 2021, it was brought to my attention that some of China Glaze’s products list Carmine and Keratin as an ingredient. Therefore, I can no longer list China Glaze as being a 100% vegan brand as they claim. Instead, China Glaze is a brand that has some vegan options.

I would advise double-checking their ingredient lists before buying to ensure the shade and item are vegan.

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 China Glaze’s products made?

China Glaze states on its website, “🇺🇸 Made in the U.S.A.”


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 China Glaze if their mica is ethically sourced without the use of child labor and they responded by stating,

“All of our products and ingredients are cruelty free. Our vendors have provided a declaration of product compliance for each ingredient / product.

Our vendors do not have any child or slave labor. Our upper management has visited facilities and factories and can confirm this. Also, the documents we routinely require are GMP and ISO’s from the factories that are certified by a government agency, this also confirms the nonuse of child and slave labor. The Mica we use in different products is sourced from different vendors. If you would like to provide us with a specific list of products we can reach out to our vendors and request the origin of the Mica.”


I hope this article helped you to understand China Glaze’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 “China Glaze”

  1. In February 2021, I emailed China Glaze to ask if their shade “salsa” is vegan. They replied all their polishes are free of animal derived ingredients. I emailed back saying the ingredient list has carmine and keratin listed. Then they replied:

    “Thank you for your response.
    We are very sorry for the confusion. We have verified that the ingredients listed are correct. In short, you will most likely find these animal derived ingredients in our other red shades as well. Please let us know if you have any other questions.”

    So they are not fully vegan.

    1. Hi there,

      Thank you for letting me know. That’s incredibly frustrating that China Glaze made claims that their polishes are ‘Vegan’ when they’re NOT! =(

      Ughs. I’ve updated this post to reflect the new information provided and I’ll be sure to remove any mention that China Glaze is 100% vegan from my site. Thank you so much for letting me know and helping to keep this information as up-to-date and accurate as possible! =)

  2. I have also found that if you Google “Where is China Glaze nail polish made,” there is absolutely nowhere that tells where their polish is made. I have seen a couple of pages that show a tiny ‘Made in the USA’ stamp. If you Google exactly where in the USA is China Glaze nail polish made you come up with nothing. They consistently evade answering that question. I purchased a bottle of China Glaze polish before I started investigating. I will not wear it until I can confirm specifically where their product is made. This information should not be a big secret unless they have something to hide.

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