Cruelty-Free Brands List

We verify each and every brand’s animal testing policy using our Cruelty-Free Checklist to ensure approved brands does not commission, conduct, or condone any form of animal testing on their products or ingredients, anywhere in the world.

This includes confirming all approved brands:

• do not test their products or ingredients on animals
• do not commission or allow a third party to test on their behalf
• have verified with their raw material suppliers they do not test on animals
• do not sell their products in-stores in mainland China where post- or pre-market animal testing may be required by law

At least once a week. We are always adding and removing brands as we see fit. We also keep up with which cruelty-free brands get acquired by a non-cruelty-free parent corporation, as well as, which brands are now 100% vegan or no longer 100% vegan.

Absolutely not. It is totally free of charge for brands to be listed. Just as long as they cooperate and answer all of our questions while meeting all the criteria in our Cruelty-Free Checklist.

Most of the brands listed can be found in the US, UK, Australia, and Canada.

If you don’t see a brand listed in our Cruelty-Free Brand Directory, check to see if they’re on our Brands that Do Test on Animals List, as well as, Brands with Unclear Policies List.

If you still don’t see them on any of our lists, feel free to reach out and we’ll look into the brand you’re requesting!

Brands that are noted as being 100% vegan in our cruelty-free brand directory means they don’t use any animal-derived ingredients or by-products across their entire product lines and that includes the use of animal hair to make their makeup brushes and/or lashes.

There is no standard definition for the label “cruelty-free” but we define the term as products that don’t involve the use of animals for testing the safety of cosmetics and ingredients.

By that definition, these brands don’t test on animals so we would classify them as cruelty-free. 

However, we understand the animal cruelty involved in obtaining carmine, animal hair products, and other animal-derived ingredients, but at this time, our definition of cruelty-free does not extend to the use of animal ingredients.

That’s where our “vegan” label comes into play when classifying brands that don’t test on animals, as well as, don’t use any animal-derived ingredients or products.

Yes, we make sure to ask whether brands are selling their products in China before we approve and list them in our Cruelty-Free Brand Directory.

Only cosmetics that are imported and sold in mainland China are required by law to be tested on animals. 

Cosmetics can be made in China and be cruelty-free, just as long as they are not sold in retail stores within China, then they are not required to test on animals.

Only cosmetics that are imported and sold in a physical retail store in mainland China (not including Hong Kong) are required to be tested on animals. 

All of the brands listed in our Cruelty-Free Directory do not sell their products in retail stores in China**

Some of the brands listed may be selling their products through cross-border e-commerce channels which do not require animal testing in China.

If that’s the case, they are selling direct-to-consumer where a Chinese customer can purchase products online, and then it gets shipped directly to them which does not require animal testing. 

**Exceptions for cruelty-free brands part of Leaping Bunny’s China Pilot Project.

Unfortunately, all of these brands sell their products in stores in mainland China. 

Although they claim their cosmetics are manufactured in China and no longer require animal tests — this only bypasses China’s pre-market animal testing requirements.

All cosmetics that are sold in stores in mainland China, whether domestically produced or imported, are still at risk of post-market animal testing which is often done without the company’s knowledge or consent.

Although these brands don’t test on animals, we understand some cruelty-free consumers choose not to support brands that are affiliated or owned by a corporation that continues to test on animals.

We also understand that some consumers don’t mind buying from these brands and would still consider them to be cruelty-free. 

There is no right or wrong way to be cruelty-free, so we list these brands in our Cruelty-Free Directory making sure to note which ones are owned by a non-CF parent corporation so that you can decide for yourself whether you want to buy or boycott these brands. 

Thanks for the suggestion! But we do not list or promote any MLM companies on our site.

Note: If you try to sell or promote your MLM products in the comments section of our site, it will be deleted.