You can find Badger’s cruelty-free products at Walmart and Amazon.

Badger is Cruelty-Free

Badger 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 Badger to be Cruelty-Free.

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.

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

How to know which of Badger products are vegan?

Badger has a specific Vegan product page showcasing all of their vegan skincare products. Also, Badger claims most of their products are vegan (see below statement.)

“Are your products Vegan?
Many of our products contain beeswax and our SPF 25 Sunscreen Lotions contain a whey derivative from dairy so those products are not vegan. We do have a number of vegan products including our pregnant belly oil, massage oils, body oils (including our baby oil), face oils, face cleansing oils, hair oils, pre-shave oil, after-shave face oil, men’s hair oil, and beard oil.“

Vegan Policies

Similar to ‘Cruelty-Free,’ there is no standard or legal definition for the label ‘Vegan.’ But it usually means no 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 Badger’s products made?

When I asked Badger where their products are manufactured, they told me:

“Badger products are made at our beautiful facility in Gilsum, New Hampshire. A tiny little town of less than a thousand residents in the southwestern corner of the state. Check out this blog post where you can take a virtual tour of Badger! — https://blog.badgerbalm.com/virtual-tour-of-badger/2017/”

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

“As part of our vendor qualification process, we require all of our suppliers to sign a “no child labor” statement that ensures we are not receiving any materials that have been sourced using these labor practices.”

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