You can find Cote Hair cruelty-free products on Amazon.

Cotê is Cruelty-Free

Cote Hair 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 Cotê Hair to be Cruelty-Free.

What About China’s Animal Testing Laws?

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

“No we do not sell in Mainland China because of their practice to test on animals.”

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.

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.

Cotê Hair is Not 100% Vegan

‘Vegan’ in cosmetics can refer to an entire brand that is 100% Vegan or a specific product is vegan.

In the case of Cotê Hair, not all of their products are vegan. But they have some products that are suitable for vegans.

Cotê Hair recently told me all of their products are 100% Vegan (see response below).

“Cotê products are 100% Vegan!”

But I spotted beeswax listed in three of their products (Hybrid Whip, Molding Clay, and Texturizing Cream). See a list of ingredients here: https://cotehair.com/ingredients/

Therefore I can no longer classify or list Cotê Hair as a 100% vegan brand.

How to know which of Cotê Hair products are vegan?

I would advise checking the list of ingredients before buying to ensure the product is truly vegan.

Vegan Policies

Similar to ‘Cruelty-Free,’ there is no standard or legal definition for the label ‘Vegan.’ But it usually means no 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 Cotê’s products made?

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

“Cote products are made in California, and bottled and shipped from our main facilities in Las Vegas.”

I hope this article helped you to understand Cotê’s cruelty-free and vegan status and by choosing cruelty-free together, we can help end animal testing for cosmetics once and for all!