Cowshed

Last Updated: January 13, 2022

How Ethical Is Cowshed?

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 Cowshed's ethics and initiatives.

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Ethical Analysis

Is Cowshed cruelty-free, vegan, or sustainable? We’ve got the answers here! Read below for more details on Cowshed’s policies.
Cowshed is cruelty-free. None of Cowshed’s ingredients, formulations, or finished products are tested on animals, anywhere in the world.
Not all of Cowshed’s products are vegan but they have some vegan options.
Cowshed is committed to using natural, organic, and wildcrafted ingredients. And they make all of their products in England, ensuring local sustainability and ‘just picked’ freshness. Cowshed is also committed to using sustainable packaging like bioplastics, recycled materials, and recyclable aluminum or glass.
Cowshed uses recycled coffee cups in their packaging and their bottles are made from a carbon-neutral bioplastic that is a byproduct from the sugarcane industry. In addition, some of Cowshed’s packaging consist of aluminum or glass as they strive to become entirely plastic-free in the near future.

About Cowshed

Cowshed started with a simple mission: to inject a little country calm into people’s busy lives.
COMPANY BASED IN: UK
PRODUCTS MADE IN: UK
PRODUCTS: Bath & Body Care, Hair Care, Skincare, Candles
CERTIFICATIONS: N/A

Cowshed

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

You can find Cowshed cruelty-free products at cowshed.com and Nordstrom.

Cowshed is Cruelty-Free

Cowshed 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 Cowshed to be Cruelty-Free.

Below is the email response I received from Cowshed about its animal testing policy:

“We are committed to working in accordance to the EU Cosmetics Regulation that bans animal testing on finished cosmetic products since 11 September 2004 and on ingredients or combination of ingredients since 11 March 2009. As such you can be assured that all Cowshed products are cruelty free.

What About China’s Animal Testing Laws?

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

“We do not have a store in China but we do offer worldwide shipping, so it is normal that China is on the list for shipping options. However, we do not need to test our products for China thanks to the e-commerce cross-border regulation/policy. Whereby brands can sell their products on Chinese websites only, not in stores, without them being tested 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, or any third parties.

Also, note that Cruelty-Free and Vegan don’t always mean the same thing.

Cowshed 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 Cowshed, not all of their products are vegan. But they have some products that are suitable for vegans.

How to know which of Cowshed products are vegan?

All of Cowshed’s vegan products are clearly marked on their website.

The following is a snippet of the email response I received from Cowshed when I asked if all of their products are vegan:

“Please rest assured that our products are Vegetarian and Vegan friendly with the exception of a few of our products which contain honey and bees wax or Xanthan Gum which is processed with an egg-derived enzyme.

Here is a list of our products which contain bees wax or honey and Xanthan Gum:

Natural Lip Balm
Baby Buttery Bottom Balm
Smooth Shampoo
Clarifying Clay Face Mask
Sleepy Pillow Mist
Mother Stretch Mark Balm

At Cowshed, we aim to make our products and treatments as natural and accessible as possible. With this in mind, any products that are included within our spa services that are not Vegan friendly can be substituted accordingly.”

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 Cowshed’s products made?

Cowshed states on its website,

“Made in England, our award-winning products use the very best organic and wildcrafted plant extracts and essential oils to nourish mind, body and soul.”


I hope this article helped you to understand Cowshed’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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