Is Bare Minerals Cruelty-Free?

🐰 bareMinerals is a *cruelty-free brand. None of bareMinerals’ ingredients or products are tested on animals. bareMinerals has met all the criteria in our Cruelty-Free Checklist and is included in our Cruelty-Free Directory.

2023 Update! It appears that bareMinerals no longer sells makeup brushes made with pony or goat hair. As a result, I’m adding bareMinerals back to our Cruelty-Free Brand Directory!

bareMinerals’ Animal Testing Policy

When asking, does Bare Minerals test on animals? We must look beyond to ensure none of bareMinerals’ ingredients or suppliers test on animals. And they don’t sell in any country or under conditions that may require animal testing by law.

In our research, we discovered the following:

• ✓ bareMinerals confirmed they do not test their products or ingredients on animals or ask others to test on their behalf.
• ✓ bareMinerals confirmed all their ingredient suppliers do not test on animals
• ✓ bareMinerals confirmed they do not allow or sell their products under conditions where animal testing is required by law

By meeting all of our Cruelty-Free Criteria, bareMinerals is a *cruelty-free brand by our standards.

*bareMinerals is owned by Shiseido, a corporation that is NOT cruelty-free because they allow some of their other brands to test on animals.

The decision is yours whether you want to support or boycott cruelty-free brands owned by a parent company that is not cruelty-free. There is no ‘right’ or ‘wrong’ answer to this. Do what you’re comfortable with. I just thought it was important to disclose that Shiseido owns bareMinerals.

What is Bare Minerals’ Animal Testing Policy?

Below is a screenshot of what’s currently stated on bareMinerals’ website about its animal testing policy:

Is bareMinerals Sold in China?

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

“we do not have any retailers in China, and that we do not ship to China.”

With the current changes to China’s animal testing laws, some cosmetics sold in China can be exempt from animal testing under certain conditions. However, without meeting those conditions, animal testing is still legally required for most cosmetics sold in China in 2023.

Is bareMinerals Certified Cruelty-Free?

bareMinerals is certified cruelty-free by PETA, but not certified by Leaping Bunny.

Cruelty-Free Policies 2023

Just because a brand claims it is ‘Cruelty-Free,’ doesn’t always mean that’s the case.

That’s because 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, or any third parties.

How We Assess Cruelty-Free Policies

Since 2015, the start of my blog, I’ve been emailing companies asking about their animal testing policies and cruelty-free commitments.

And based on the responses I receive from companies, I’ll research to find any supporting facts needed before concluding whether the brand should be classified as “Cruelty-Free,” “Animal-Tested,” or “Grey Area – Unclear Policies.”

☕️ Every week, I continue to reach out to new brands while trying my best to keep current brands updated. If you found any of my posts or guides helpful, consider Buying Me A Coffee! I would greatly appreciate it! ❤️

What about Vegan?

Just because something is called Cruelty-Free, doesn’t always mean it’s Vegan. And vice versa.

Cruelty-Free only refers to no animal testing, while Vegan means formulated without animal products.

Some brands are Cruelty-Free, but not Vegan.

And some are Vegan, but not Cruelty-Free.

Another important distinction to know is, Vegan in cosmetics can refer to an entire brand is 100% Vegan or a specific product is Vegan.

Is bareMinerals Vegan?

⭐️ bareMinerals is NOT an entirely vegan brand. But bareMinerals offers some vegan options that are free of animal products.

How to know which of bareMinerals’ products are vegan?

All of bareMinerals’s vegan products are clearly marked on their website. See below for an example.

Where to buy bareMinerals? Check out Sephora, Ulta, Nordstrom, and Target!

Vegan Policies

Similar to ‘Cruelty-Free,’ there is no standard or legal definition for the label ‘Vegan.’ But Vegan is generally used to mean formulated without animal-derived ingredients or animal by-products.

Some common animal products 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 unless a brand explicitly labels its ingredients or product as Vegan, it’s often 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 chose were from non-animal sources.

Where are bareMinerals‘ products made?

I asked bareMinerals where their products are manufactured and they told me:

“I am pleased to inform you that all of our products are manufactured in the United States and contain natural ingredients.”

Ethical Mica Mining Policy

Mica is a mineral 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 bareMinerals if their mica is ethically sourced without the use of child labor and they responded by stating,

“We understand your concerns regarding the ingredients used in our products. The exact source of the ingredients we use in our products is proprietary information however, as part of our quality control, we only use raw materials from reputable and socially accountable suppliers who share our strict views on health and safety requirements. The bareMinerals Code of Conduct promotes and expects lawful, ethical and honest behavior by our suppliers around the world. We prohibit suppliers from using child labor and encourage their compliance with all labor, health and safety requirements.”

bareMinerals claims all of their materials are sourced from socially accountable suppliers and their Code of Conduct prohibits suppliers from using child labor. But bareMinerals did not specifically address where their mica is sourced from and how they audit or trace to ensure no child labor was involved in mining their mica.

I hope this article helped you to understand bareMinerals’ 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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