Bourjois is a French cosmetics company with a collection of make-up, fragrance and skincare products, but is Bourjois cruelty-free in 2020? We’ve got the answer here!
Is Bourjois Cruelty-Free?
Bourjois is NOT Cruelty-free. Bourjois sells its products in stores in mainland China where animal testing is mandatory for all imported cosmetics. As a result, Bourjois pays and allows its products to be tested on animals when required by law.
In addition, Bourjois is owned by Coty, a parent company that is also not cruelty-free.
Bourjois Animal Testing Policy
Upon researching Bourjois’ cruelty-free status, I couldn’t find any mention of the company’s official animal testing policy anywhere on their website, which is never a good sign.
So I emailed the brand asking if any of its products or ingredients are tested on animals. Either by the company itself, commissioned to a third party to test on its behalf, or by any of its suppliers. They responded saying,
“Thank you for contacting Coty regarding our Bourjois products. We appreciate your interest in our brand. We would love to help!
At Coty, we do not test our products on animals and are committed to ending animal testing across our industry
All our products are safe and have been developed, manufactured and packaged in compliance with the laws, regulations and guidelines that are applicable in each country in which they are sold.
Coty’s human safety experts review our ingredients, as well as the finished products, by applying the best science, based on the use of recognized alternatives to animal testing, existing safety data and, increasingly, the sharing of such data with other parties and industries
Some governments or agencies stipulate the testing of finished products on animals in accordance with local legal and regulatory requirements. An example is China, where we continue to be involved in the dialogue with the Chinese authorities, including through our active membership of industry groups, to find alternatives to their use of animal testing.
http://www.bourjois.com/ Once again, thank you for contacting Coty. We always enjoy hearing from our consumers. Please let us know if we can help in any other way.”
Bourjois is owned by Coty, so it’s no surprise that they responded with Coty’s official animal testing policy.
And unfortunately, Coty is a corporation that does allow some of its subsidiaries’ products (like Philosophy, Wella, and Nioxin) to be tested on animals where required by law.
Policies stating, “some governments stipulate the testing of finish products on animals in accordance with local legal and regulatory requirements”, usually implies the company is selling its products in mainland China. Because all imported cosmetics sold in stores in mainland China are required by law to be tested on animals.
Is Bourjois Sold in China?
I eventually discovered that Bourjois products are indeed sold in China. Below is a screenshot I took from Google, clearly showing several stores located in mainland China where you can buy Bourjois cosmetics:
Because of Bourjois’s decision to sell in mainland China stores, they must consent and pay to have their products tested on animals. That’s why all cosmetic brands selling in mainland China cannot be considered cruelty-free in 2020.
Although Bourjois may not be conducting these animal tests themselves, they are knowingly allowing Chinese authorities to test their products on animals in order to sell in China.
Many truly cruelty-free brands have chosen not to sell their products in China because of the country’s animal testing laws. Unfortunately, Bourjois refuses to do the same and has decided to put profits before the welfare of animals.
Summary: Bourjois is NOT Cruelty-Free!
To sum up, by choosing to sell in mainland China, Bourjois must have their products tested on animals. Therefore I would not consider Bourjois to be a cruelty-free brand.
Currently, Bourjois is on our List of Brands to Avoid – Animal Tested.
Is Bourjois Vegan?
Since we would not consider Bourjois to be cruelty-free as their products are tested on animals when required by law, we also wouldn’t consider anything sold or manufactured by Bourjois to be vegan.
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, and also must not contain any animal-derived ingredients or by-products.
Cruelty-Free Alternatives to Bourjois
Looking to switch to cruelty-free brands? Here are some cruelty-free and vegan-friendly options that are similar to Bourjois:
- Catrice – some vegan options
- Barry M – some vegan options
- GOSH – some vegan options
- The Body Shop – some vegan options
- essence – some vegan options
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What do you think?