Is Essence Cruelty-Free & Vegan? (What You Need To Know!)

Essence is Europe’s #1 cosmetic brand offering fun, high-quality makeup products at an affordable price but is Essence cruelty-free and vegan?

Is Essence Cruelty-Free?

Yes, Essence is Cruelty-free! None of Essence’s ingredients, formulations, or finished products are tested on animals, anywhere in the world.

On essence’s website, they have a very impressive and thorough statement of their animal testing policy that also includes a comprehensive list of FAQs regarding their cruelty-free status.

I love it when a cruelty-free brand is so open and transparent about their animal testing policy like essence has done with their informative website!

Essence is included on our List of Cruelty-Free Brands.

You can find Essence products at Ulta, Amazon (US), Amazon (UK), CVS, and Shoppers Drug Mart.

Is Essence Vegan?

Not all of Essence‘s makeup products are vegan as some contain beeswax, carmine, and/or other animal products however Essence does offer some vegan products that do not contain animal-derived ingredients or by-products.

Please reference below for a list of Essence vegan products.

Which of Essence Products is Vegan?

Below is a list of Essence products that are suitable for vegans and do not contain any animal-derived ingredients or by-products.

You can also find out which of their products are vegan as they’re labelled accordingly on their website under each product description.

Face – Essence Vegan

Foundation

• soft touch mousse make-up

Powder

• brighten up! banana powder

Bronzer

• contouring duo palette
• pure NUDE highlighter
• sun club luminous bronzing powder
• sun club large bronzing powder
• sun club matt bronzing powder palette

Highligher

• get cheeky blush & highlighter palette
• glow to go highlighter palette
• go for the glow highlighter palette
• pure NUDE highlighter
• pure nude highlighter palette
• pure nude sunlighter palette

Blush

• get cheeky blush & highlighter palette
• matt touch blush
• satin touch blush
• the blush

Primer

• HD HYDRA primer spray
• instant matt make-up setting spray
• prime+ studio glow boosting + pore minimizing primer
• prime+ studio mattifying + pore minimizing primer
• prime+ studio redness correcting + pore minimizing primer

Sprays

• believe in magic sparkly body dust
• instant matt make-up setting spray
• keep it perfect! make-up fixing spray
• you better work! fixing spray

Eyes – Essence Vegan

Mascara

• get BIG! lashes volume curl mascara
• i love extreme volume mascara
• super curl volume eye-opening mascara
• the false lashes mascara dramatic volume unlimited
• the false lashes mascara extreme volume and curl
• volume booster lash primer

Eyeliner

• eyeliner pen
• eyeliner pen longlasting
• longlasting eye pencil
• melted chrome eyeliner
• smokey crystal ultra longlasting eye pencil
• superfine eyeliner pen
• superfine eyeliner pen waterproof

Eyeshadow

• Bonjour Montréal eyeshadow palette
• follow your heart eyeshadow palette
• G’ DAY SYDNEY eyeshadow palette
• Hello New York eyeshadow palette
• Hey L.A. eyeshadow palette
• melted chrome eyeshadow
• metal shock eyeshadow
• never give up your daydream eyeshadow palette

Brows

• lash brow gel mascara
• make me brow eyebrow gel mascara

Lips – Essence Vegan

• kiss the… lipstick
• lips go wow! plumping lipgloss
• Matt Matt Matt lipstick
• plumping nudes lipgloss
• this is nude lipstick
• ultra last instant colour lipstick
• velvet matte lipstick
• water kiss glossy lip color

Nails – Essence Vegan

• crystal power nail polish
• extreme last base coat
• extreme shine top coat
• out of space stories nail polish
• shine last & go! gel nail polish

This vegan product list is updated as frequently as possible, please be aware that formulations may have changed since the publication of this post. If you have new information to suggest one of the above products isn’t vegan, please email me at [email protected] to let me know.

Not Vegan – Essence

The following Essence products contain animal-derived ingredients or by-products and therefore are not suitable for vegans:

• #lashes of the day super volume mascara (contains beeswax) – not vegan
• AIR eyeshadow palette (contains carmine) – not vegan
• camouflage + healthy glow concealer (contains beeswax) – not vegan
• camouflage + matt concealer (contains beeswax) – not vegan
• colour boost mad about matte liquid lipstick (contains beeswax) – not vegan
• EARTH eyeshadow palette (contains carmine) – not vegan
• extreme lasting eye pencil – not vegan
• eye flirt party look eyeshadow palette (contains carmine) – not vegan
• eye got this rock look eyeshadow palette (contains carmine) – not vegan
• eyebrow designer – not vegan
• eyeliner pen waterproof – not vegan
• FIRE eyeshadow palette (contains carmine) – not vegan
• fresh & fit awake make up (contains beeswax) – not vegan
• fresh & fit awake primer (contains beeswax) – not vegan
• get BIG! lashes volume boost mascara (contains beeswax) – not vegan
• get BIG! lashes volume waterproof mascara (contains beeswax) – not vegan
• i love extreme crazy volume mascara (contains beeswax) – not vegan
• i love extreme volume mascara waterproof (contains beeswax) – not vegan
• i love stage eyeshadow base (contains beeswax) – not vegan
• kajal pencil – not vegan
• lash princess false lash effect mascara waterproof (contains beeswax) – not vegan
• lash princess false lash mascara (contains beeswax) – not vegan
• lash princess sculpted volume mascara (contains beeswax) – not vegan
• lash princess volume mascara (contains beeswax) – not vegan
• mosaic blush (contains carmine) – not vegan
• volume stylist 18h curl & hold mascara (contains beeswax) – not vegan
• Salut Paris eyeshadow palette (contains carmine) – not vegan
• spice up your life eyeshadow palette (contains carmine) – not vegan
• super precise eyeliner – not vegan
• superlast eyeliner deep black – not vegan
• superlast eyeliner matte black – not vegan
• superlast eyeliner waterproof – not vegan
• volume hero mascara waterproof (contains beeswax) – not vegan
• WATER eyeshadow palette (contains carmine) – not vegan
• what the fake! volumizing & lengthening mascara (contains beeswax) – not vegan
• you better work! length definition mascara (contains beeswax) – not vegan
• you better work! volume & curl mascara (contains beeswax) – not vegan

---

Is Essence Ethical?

Based in: Germany

Products made in: “90% of essence products are made in Europe with some items made in other countries based on specialty parts.”

Sustainability & Environmental Initiatives: Essence claims, “this is why our sustainability strategy serves as the basis for all economic, ecological and social matters we do. We strive for general waste reduction and the use of environmentally friendly, sustainable and recyclable materials in the production of our cosmetics. Waste prevention through re- or upcycling and zero waste is our major goal, and we are committed to achieving it! Since this is a complex challenge, we have joined the cross-industry dm Rezyklat Forum, an initiative in which trade and industry come together to work on keeping valuable packaging materials in the recycling cycle and to greatly expand the use of recycled materials.”

Eco-Friendly Packaging Initiatives: Nothing yet but claims, “in packaging we are constantly researching which sustainable materials are suitable for the packaging of our cosmetics and are increasingly focusing on offering more recycling options in their development.”

Giving Back Initiatives: Essence supports, donates, and works with several organizations that help children in hospitals, disadvantaged children, food banks, and other local social projects in their neighbourhood.

Ingredients and Formulations Claims: Some of their products have “Paraben-Free” and “Gluten-Free” labels on them under their product descriptions, but not all of them do. Essence states, “ingredients are rigorously monitored and analyzed for their environmental, health and social impact using a traffic light system. We have also implemented numerous measures to reduce CO2 emissions. Additionally, essence is part of various initiatives such as the Roundtable of Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) and the Responsible Mica Initiative (RMI).”

---

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

If you liked this cruelty-free resource, then please subscribe to our monthly newsletter for more resources and guides to living your BEST cruelty-free and vegan life! You can also find us on Instagram and Facebook.