boscia

Last Updated: January 27, 2022

How Ethical Is boscia?

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 boscia’s ethics and initiatives.

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Ethical Analysis

Is boscia cruelty-free, vegan, or sustainable? We’ve got the answers here! Read below for more details on boscia’s policies.
boscia is cruelty-free. None of boscia’s ingredients, formulations, or finished products are tested on animals, anywhere in the world.
All of boscia’s products are 100% vegan and don’t contain any animal-derived ingredients or by-products.
boscia offers a recycling program where customers can send back empty boscia bottles to be recycled by them.
boscia claims they require their suppliers to adhere to “high social standards”. However, it’s not clear where their mica is mined or sourced from and how they trace or audit to ensure no child labor was involved. See their ethical mica mining policy here.
boscia products come in plastic packaging. I couldn’t find anything stating they’re working on reducing their use of virgin plastic in their product packaging.

About boscia

Boscia offers Japanese inspired skin care that is powerfully effective & gentle for the most sensitive skin types.
PRODUCTS MADE IN: USA, Japan, Korea
PRODUCTS: Skincare, Bath & Body Care
CERTIFICATIONS: Leaping Bunny

boscia

This post may contain affiliate links that at no additional cost to you, I may earn a small commission.

You can find Boscia cruelty-free products at Sephora, Ulta, Nordstrom, Dermstore, and on Amazon.

boscia is Cruelty-Free

boscia 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 boscia to be Cruelty-Free.

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

boscia Cruelty-Free claims

What About China’s Animal Testing Laws?

Boscia 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 sell in China.”

As of May 1, 2021, some imported ordinary cosmetics can be exempt from animal testing under certain conditions. However, for the most part, animal testing is still legally required for most imported cosmetics in 2022.

Boscia’s Cruelty-Free Status – 2017

Boscia has been on our list of brands that DO test on animals since 2017 when it was confirmed that boscia was selling its products in China where animal testing is required by law. Boscia’s animal testing statement in 2017 stated:

“boscia does not directly conduct any testing of ingredients or products on animals or advocate animal testing on raw ingredients and/or finished formulas and endeavors to work with partners who share the same values. However, as we continue to expand into international markets, we are unable to control the testing methods used by outside governments.”

Below is a screenshot I had taken from their website in 2017.

Boscia Animal Testing Policy 2017

Boscia confirmed they are no longer selling its products in China in 2020.

Below is a snippet of my response I received from boscia back in 2017 confirming they used to sell in China,

Unfortunately, we cannot definitely confirm or deny that any outside government has in the past, or will in the future conduct animal testing as part of their regulatory process.

We understand that unfortunately many brands are in fact, tested on animals. We do not advocate this practice.

Based on the above information and, in the spirit of complete transparency, boscia has recently removed all claims that state no animal testing on packaging, and all marketing materials.

We did launch the brand in China in 2014.

We can assure you that none of our products contain any animal by-products or any ingredients that are derived from animals.

Additionally, we use a clean room facility to formulate our products so there is no cross contamination either.

We hope this clarifies your question regarding animal testing.

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.

boscia is 100% Vegan

boscia has confirmed all of its products are vegan and don’t contain any animal-derived ingredients or by-products.

We do not use any animal, insect, or marine life ingredients in our products along with preservatives, ethanol alcohol, bactericides, synthetic fragrances, synthetic colorants, mineral oil, or gluten.

Vegan Policies

Similar to ‘Cruelty-Free,’ there is no standard or legal definition for the label ‘Vegan.’ But it’s usually used in the context to describe something that doesn’t contain any 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 boscia’s products made?

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

“boscia skincare is manufactured in the US with the exception of our blotting linens and foot peel which are made in Japan or Korea.”

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

“At boscia, we pride ourselves in using botanical ingredients and safe synthetics to help deliver innovative formulations all while partnering with vendors who meet our standards and share our same values.

Only two of our formulations contain mineral pigments to provide an illuminating benefit, but we require our suppliers to adhere to high social standards with safety and quality prerequisites along with regular strict audits conducted by third parties.”

boscia 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 boscia’s 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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0 thoughts on “boscia”

  1. Hi there! Can you get an update from Boscia on this? They claim they are officially cruelty free as of June 2018. I emailed but just got the regurgitation of the policy. I haven’t seen anyone post anything recent about them. Thanks so much and loooove your site!

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