Bed Head (Unilever)

Last Updated: March 6, 2024

How Ethical Is Bed Head (Unilever)?

Make a positive impact by supporting companies with the same values and ethics as what matters most to you. To navigate and find ethical brands, here’s a summary of Bed Head’s ethics and initiatives.

Ethical Analysis

Is Bed Head cruelty-free or vegan? We’ve got the answers here! Read below to learn more about Bed Head’s policies.
Bed Head is NOT Cruelty-Free. Bed Head engages in animal testing by allowing its products to be animal-tested.

Bed Head is also owned by Unilever, a parent corporation that does engage in animal testing.
Bed Head does not claim or market itself to offer any vegan-friendly options. And since Bed Head engages in animal testing, we wouldn’t consider anything sold or produced by Bed Head to be vegan anyways.

Bed Head (Unilever)

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Bed Head is NOT Cruelty-Free!

Bed Head allows its products to be tested on animals when required by law.

In addition, Bed Head is owned by Unilever, a parent company that is NOT cruelty-free.

Bed Head’s Animal Testing Policy

While researching to learn more about Bed Head’s cruelty-free status, I couldn’t find the brand’s official animal testing policy anywhere on its website.

So I reached out to Bed Head to ask for more information about their animal testing policy. More specifically, I wanted to know if they commission or allow others to test their products/ingredients on animals, including when selling in countries that require animal testing (like in mainland China).

And Bed Head responded by saying:

“We do not test our products on animals and are committed to ending animal testing. Unilever has complied with the EU animal testing bans for cosmetics since 2004 and supports calls for similar bans to be introduced globally.

Occasionally, across our portfolio, some of the ingredients we use have to be tested by our suppliers to comply with legal and regulatory requirements in some markets; and some governments test certain products on animals as part of their regulations.

As part of our commitment to ending animal testing, we have a growing number of brands that ensure that neither their products – nor the ingredients they use – are subject to animal testing by suppliers or by regulatory authorities. These brands’ commitment to no animal testing is certified by animal welfare groups.

We use a wide range of non-animal approaches to assess the safety of our products for consumers and continue to develop new ‘next generation’ approaches. Our team of internationally recognised leaders in non-animal safety science work with regulatory authorities, NGOs, our suppliers and other scientists across the world to share these approaches, to promote their broader use and acceptance by authorities. Our leading-edge research has one clear purpose: to continue to develop new non-animal approaches that can guarantee that our products are safe, without any need for animal testing

Additional information can be found at the following site: https://www.unilever.com/sustainable-living/what-matters-to-you/developing-alternative-approaches-to-animal-testing.html”

Based on their response, we now know that Unilever owns Bed Head. And Bed Head has the same animal testing policy as Unilever where both Unilever and Bed Head state they allow their products to be tested on animals when required by law.

Truly cruelty-free brands will never allow their products or ingredients to be tested on animals. Cruelty-free companies have a policy where if the law requires them to test on animals then they will refuse to sell their products under those conditions.

For example, imported cosmetics sold in stores in mainland China are required by Chinese laws to be tested on animals upon registration. Therefore, truly cruelty-free brands have chosen not to sell in China in order to remain committed to their no animal testing policy.

Unfortunately, Unilever and Bed Head state they will allow their products and ingredients to be tested on animals if the law requires it. For those reasons, Bed Head is NOT cruelty-free.

Cruelty-Free Policies

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, including when required by law.

See below for our complete cruelty-free checklist. Since Bed Head state it allows its products to be tested on animals when required by law, we cannot classify the brand as being cruelty-free.

Complete Cruelty-Free Checklist

Is Bed Head Certified Cruelty-Free?

Bed Head is not certified cruelty-free by any third-party cruelty-free certifications like Leaping Bunny or PETA.

Because Bed Head is not certified cruelty-free by a third party, no one is looking into or substantiating Bed Head’s cruelty-free commitments and claims.

Is Bed Head Owned By A Non-Cruelty-Free Parent Company?

Yes. Bed Head is owned by Unilever, a parent corporation that still engages in animal testing in 2022.

Some cruelty-free consumers may choose to purchase and support cruelty-free brands owned by animal-tested parent corporations as they hope it will convince the parent company to become cruelty-free.

But in this case, Bed Head is NOT cruelty-free and neither is its parent corporation, Unilever.

Is Bed Head Cruelty-Free?

To sum up, Bed Head allows its products to be tested on animals when required by law. Therefore, we would NOT consider Bed Head to be a cruelty-free brand.

Currently, Bed Head is on our List of Brands to Avoid – Animal Tested.

Is Bed Head Vegan?

Bed Head does not claim or market itself to offer any vegan-friendly options. And since Bed Head engages in animal testing, we wouldn’t consider anything sold or produced by Bed Head to be vegan anyways.

In order for products to be considered vegan by ethical elephant’s standards, the products and their ingredients must not be tested on animals anywhere in the world. Also, they must not contain any animal-derived ingredients or by-products.

Cruelty-Free Alternatives to Bed Head

Looking to switch to cruelty-free products? Here are some cruelty-free brands to check out:

And check out our Guide to Cruelty-Free & Vegan Hair Care Brands!

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