Clé de Peau is NOT Cruelty-Free!

Clé de Peau allows its products or ingredients to be tested on animals when required by law including when selling in stores in mainland China.

In addition, Clé de Peau is owned by Shiseido, a parent company that is NOT cruelty-free.

Clé de Peau’s Animal Testing Policy

On Clé de Peau’s website, they state part of their parent company, Shiseido’s animal testing policy.

See below for a screenshot of what’s currently stated on Clé de Peau’s website:

However, what’s not mentioned above in Shiseido’s (and inherently Clé de Peau’s) animal testing statement is that Shiseido allows some of its brands and products to be tested on animals when required by law (like when selling in China).

So, I wanted to know if Clé de Peau is another brand owned by Shiseido that is also selling in China and therefore required to be tested on animals.

Is Clé de Peau Sold in China?

In my research, I discovered that Clé de Peau products are indeed sold in stores in mainland China.

Below is a screenshot of Clé de Peau’s Chinese website and store locator showing results in mainland China:

But Doesn’t China No Longer Tests on Animals?

Companies can bypass China’s pre-market animal testing by choosing to manufacture their ordinary or general cosmetics in China, but it’s not stated anywhere that Cle de Peau has taken this route.

Additionally, the possibility of post-market animal testing is not completely ruled out and may be conducted on some cosmetics sold in physical stores in China.

As of May 1, 2021, cosmetic companies can also export and sell their ordinary or general cosmetics in China without animal testing only if they meet a set of preconditions first. However, meeting these conditions has proven difficult, and it’s still unclear what exactly is accepted according to the new regulations. So there’s no word yet of any company that has successfully done so.

Follow the highlighted lines in the graphic below to see why most cosmetics sold in China (like Clé de Peau) are still required by law to be tested on animals in 2022.

Because Clé de Peau has decided to sell in mainland China stores, they must consent and pay to have their products tested on animals. That’s why most cosmetics brands selling in mainland China cannot be considered cruelty-free in 2022.

Although Clé de Peau may not be conducting these animal tests themselves, they knowingly allow Chinese authorities to test their products on animals to sell in China.

For those reasons, we would not consider Clé de Peau to be cruelty-free by our standards.

Cruelty-Free Policies

Many truly cruelty-free brands have chosen not to sell their products in China because of its animal testing laws. Unfortunately, Clé de Peau refuses to do the same and therefore cannot be considered cruelty-free.

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 Clé de Peau already does not meet the last two, we cannot classify the brand as being cruelty-free.

Is Clé de Peau Certified Cruelty-Free?

Clé de Peau is not certified cruelty-free by any third-party cruelty-free certifications like Leaping Bunny or PETA.

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

Is Clé de Peau Owned By A Non-Cruelty-Free Parent Company?

Yes. Clé de Peau is owned by Shiseido, 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, Clé de Peau is NOT cruelty-free and neither is its parent corporation, Shiseido.

Is Clé de Peau Cruelty-Free?

To sum up, by choosing to sell in mainland China, Clé de Peau must have its products tested on animals. Therefore, we would NOT consider Clé de Peau to be a cruelty-free brand.

Currently, Clé de Peau is on our List of Brands to Avoid – Animal Tested.

Is Clé de Peau Vegan?

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

Looking to switch to cruelty-free brands? Here are some cruelty-free and vegan-friendly options that are similar to Clé de Peau:

• KVD Vegan Beauty *owned by Kendo, LVMH
• Hourglass *owned by Unilever
• Koh Gen Do
• Tata Harper *owned by Amorepacific
• OSEA
• Juice Beauty

Or check out our list of High-End Cruelty-Free Makeup Brands and Luxury Vegan Skincare Brands!