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If you want your nail polish or manicure to last longer than a week without chipping, then I highly recommend giving vegan gel nail polish a try.
You can get gel nails done at the nail salon by a professional, or you can do them yourself at home. All you need is an LED or UV lamp, which you can find plenty on Amazon.
Gel polish (also known as soak-off gel polish) is a particular nail polish that hardens under the LED/UV lamp. You apply them just like regular nail polish but cure them under the lamp in between coats.
The only downside with gel polish is the removal process that requires you to soak your nails in acetone or nail polish remover for several minutes.
List of Vegan Gel Nail Polish Brands
Several of you have been asking for a list of cruelty-free and vegan gel nail polish brands, and I’m happy to have finally found some vegan gel polish for personal or professional use.
Below is a list of nail polish brands that don’t test on animals and offer vegan gel polish that doesn’t contain any animal-derived ingredients like guanine, pearl, or shellac.
2021 Update! I have now also included information about the brand’s ethical mica mining policy. There were several brands that unfortunately didn’t get back to me when I asked if their mica is ethically sourced without child or forced labor.
Dimension Nails Vegan Gel Nail Polish
Dimension Nails is an indie cruelty-free and vegan nail polish brand with a collection of over 100+ premium gel polish colors that are also 10-free. Dimension Nails’ gel polish claims to last weeks without losing shine, breaking, chipping, or smudging.
Additionally, Dimension Nails has confirmed their mica is ethically sourced without child or forced labor.
Manucurist Green Flash Gel Polish
Made in France, Manucurist has a line of vegan gel polish called Green Flash. It’s a 12-free formula, made with up to 84% plant-based ingredients, with color and shine lasting 10 days.
And Manucurist has confirmed their mica is ethically sourced without child or forced labor.
Triple O Polish – Gel Polish
Triple O Polish is a black-owned nail polish brand with a selection of cruelty-free and vegan gel polish. All of their gel colors last at least 14 days with proper application. Also, Triple O Polish confirmed their mica is ethically sourced without child or forced labor.
Londontown Gels
Londontown’s vegan gel colors are gel products are created for professional usage and require UV/LED curing. Comes in a super pigmented formula and a perfect coverage wide brush, with over 60+ colors to choose from.
Note: I reached out to Londontown to ask about their ethical mica mining policy but never heard back.
ColorClub Gel Nail Polish
ColorClub’s collection of soak-off gel polish are all vegan and cruelty-free. They have over a hundred colors to choose from and claim to last 2 weeks.
Note: I reached out to Color Club to ask about their ethical mica mining policy but never heard back.
ORLY – GELFX Nail Polish
Made in the USA, ORLY GELFX are vegan and claims to be chip-free with a brilliant shine up to 21 days. ORLY GELFX comes in almost 200 colors.
Note: I reached out to ORLY to ask about their ethical mica mining policy but never heard back.
Madam Glam Vegan Gel Polish
Madam Glam has one of the largest selections of vegan gel nail polish for personal and professional use. They’re fairly inexpensive compared to other soak-off gel polishes on the market. And they claim to be 5-free and last up to 4 weeks of perfect wear and shine.
Note: I reached out to Madam Glam to ask about their ethical mica mining policy but never heard back.
MoYou Premium Gel Polishes
Based in London, MoYou recently launched a collection of soak-off gel polish that is cruelty-free and vegan and claims to last up to 20 days of amazing, chip-free gel wear.
Note: I reached out to MoYou to ask about their ethical mica mining policy but never heard back.
Vegan Gel Polish Alternatives
Not a fan of regular gel polish but want a long-lasting and high-shine manicure? Try these vegan gel nail polish alternatives:
Picture Curable
Made in Australia, Picture Polish came out with an alternative to gel polish, a line of curable polish that cures quickly with an intense glossy color and long wear. They also claim removing curable polish is quick and easy. However, you will need to get one of their custom lamps in order to use their curable polish.
Kiara Sky
Kiara Sky has an extensive range of vegan gel polish, including a rainbow palette of 100+ soak-off gel nail polish colors, and reflective glitter gels, jelly tints, sheer gel nail polish, to cool color-changing effects.
All Kiara Sky’s gel polishes are full-coverage and chip-resistant. Color options range from vivid neon shades to minimalistic nude tones and come in a variety of finishes (including sheer, shimmer, glitter, matte glitter, neon, cream, and more).
Note: I reached out to Kiara Sky to ask about their ethical mica mining policy but never heard back.
Cruelty-Free Gel Nail Polish Brands (Maybe Vegan?)
I have confirmed the following brands don’t test on animals but I was unable to confirm whether their gel nail polishes are vegan and don’t contain any animal-derived ingredients or by-products:
Butter London – cruelty-free but their PURECURE Peel-Off Lacquer is not listed under their list of vegan-friendly products
China Glaze – they’ve told me before that all of their lacquers are vegan but it turns out they use carmine in some of their red shades. So I’m hesitant to call any of their products vegan with certainty.
18 thoughts on “Best Cruelty-Free and Vegan Gel Nail Polish”
Thanks for the information! Do you know if there are any dip powder brands that are cruelty and vegan?
Sorry I meant cruelty free and vegan
I think essence do them
Hey Tracey,
I just checked essence’s website and they have a gel-like nail polish but it doesn’t require a lamp or curing so it’s a great alternative for people who don’t want to use a lamp to cure their nails. I’d love to know how long they last though. Have you tried them before? =)
I have used these, if applied correctly they can last up to 4 weeks.
Thanks!!
Not sure where you get your info from but Orly for one is not Leaping Bunny certified?
I don’t recall suggesting ORLY was Leaping Bunny certified. I verify and reach out to each and every cruelty-free brand myself to ensure they don’t test on animals during any stage of product development and manufacturing.
It would be nice if all brands are Leaping Bunny certified but just because they’re not, doesn’t mean they aren’t cruelty-free. Leaping Bunny is a voluntary registration process.
If you only choose to support and buy from Leaping Bunny certified brands then you might like Dimension Nails, Madam Glam, and NCLA. These 3 gel nail polish brands are Leaping Bunny certified.
Yes but you did state that they are cruelty free. A lot of companies lie about their cruelty free status. They claim they are cruelty free because”this product has not been tested on animals” = but the raw ingredients have. “We do not test on animals” = but we pay others to do ok our behalf. Leaping bunny audit the companies to ensure that they are genuinely cruelty free. Peta allow companies to self certify. Which again to my mind is meaningless. Personally, I only regard a company as genuinely cruelty free if they are Leaping Bunny certified
Thanks for the Leaping Bunny recommendations tho!
Sorry,just read some of your other posts! If they are genuinely cruelty free, why do they not go for Leaping Bunny status as there’s only a (one-off) charge if they choose to use the logo.
I’m just suspicious of comapanies who claim to be cruelty free but who don’t get certificated. Why would they not opt to?
Hi Vicky
I’m looking for a cruelty free acetone. Can you help please?
Sarah
I thought I remember seeing the brand ONYX is CF, to be honest I kinda thought that was the only good brand actually 🙂 (I get it at Walmart)
Kiki London is also leaping bunny certified.
https://www.leapingbunny.org/content/orly
ORLY is 100% cruelty free.
Most ORLY products are also vegan except for the following:
Cuticle Therapy Crème – Lanolin
Gel FX Remover – Lanolin
Sugar Fix to Go – Beeswax
Nail Armor – Silk
Nailtrition – Hydrolyzed Keratin and Hydrolyzed Collagen
My entire family does nails (they are not vegan) we have been using Orly products since the beginning. A wonderful && notable brand. As a professional, it is difficult to find work where all of the products used are 100 percent vegan. I had to put my manicurist job on hold since I became vegan 2 years ago. I am an ethical vegan && my only regret was I wish I knew veganism sooner.
Thank you all including Vicky of course for your updates on gel polish. I would like to know about acetone remover for gel polish or regular nail polish? At least I will prefer cruelty free For & plus vegan if this possible…Could you help me on this? Also, This is hard to find vegan cruelty free gel nail polish on amazon Ca. The issue I have it’s to find different brand as Madame Glam here in Montreal. I have to purchase from us website but with the rates …oufff. Do you have any idea CA brands except orly, I do have already some colors from them. I love China Glaze also, easy to find on nail polishes Canada. Thanks Vicky for your amazing work! Cheers all
I hear ya, it is really hard finding cruelty-free and vegan gel polish in Canada! But nailpolishcanada.com does carry Color Club Gel, a couple of colors of ORLY GELFX, and China Glaze Gelaze. Just make sure you read the ingredients of China Glaze’s polish to make sure they’re vegan. But other than that, our options are really limited in Canada =(
I, unfortunately, don’t have any Canadian vegan gel nail polish brands in my brand directory but if you’re interested in regular nail polish, here are some Canadian vegan nail polish brands:
– BKIND
– la couleur couture
– Pure Anada
– Raw Nails
– Trust Fund Beauty
As for cruelty-free & vegan acetone remover for gel polish:
– Onyx Professional is cruelty-free (but note that they don’t explicitly say their products are vegan) https://www.onyxbrands.com/polish-removers-1
– ORLY Genius Remover https://orlybeauty.com/collections/manicure-essentials/products/genius-remover-16oz
– Londontown Prep & Remove Acetone Lacquer Remover https://www.londontownusa.com/collections/nail-care/products/prep-remove-acetone-lacquer-remover-8oz
– Manucurist Green Flash Gel Polish Remover https://us.manucurist.com/products/green-flash-gel-polish-remover
– Triple O Polish Gel Polish Remover Kit https://www.ooopolish.com/collections/nail-care-essentials/products/gel-polish-remover-kit
Hope that helps!
Thanks so much. This is really help me for my next purchase. What about nail glue? … this is seems to be a nightmare to find certified vegan & cruelty free. I do love Gems & rhinestones nail art but I check on amazon ca & nothing coming out for glue ….any advise on this, please let me know? Thanks again Vicky