This post may contain affiliate links that at no additional cost to you, I may earn a small commission.
You can find eos cruelty-free products at evolutionofsmooth.com, Amazon, Ulta, Target, Walmart, and Well.ca
eos is Cruelty-Free
eos 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 eos to be Cruelty-Free.
Below is a screenshot of eos’ official animal testing statement:
What About China’s Animal Testing Laws?
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.
But eos is no longer selling in China. And the brand is now Leaping Bunny certified cruelty-free!
The brand recently confirmed this to me in an email response (Nov 7, 2020):
“We do not sell our products in China. We are proud to be cruelty-free certified through the Leaping Bunny program. This certification means that we, and our supply chain, do not conduct, commission, pay for, or allow any tests on animals for our ingredients, formulations, or finished products.“
eos used to sell their products in China and claimed that since those products are manufactured in China, they were able to bypass China’s pre-market animal testing requirements.
Although eos was able to avoid China’s pre-market animal testing requirements by manufacturing their products in China, their products were still at risk of post-market animal testing. This is where Chinese officials will pull product off store shelves and test them on animals. This was often done without the company’s knowledge or consent. For those reasons, eos was considered a Grey Area brand by our cruelty-free standards.
In case you were curious, below is a snippet of the email response I received from eos last year on Sept 19, 2019:
“Thank you for your interest in
But in 2020, eos confirmed they are no longer selling in China. This means their products are no longer at risk of being tested on animals in China. And the fact that eos has gained Leaping Bunny’s certification is a HUGE deal!
Leaping Bunny has the most rigorous standards in the industry when it comes to verifying and auditing brands’ animal testing policies. So the fact that eos voluntarily went through LB’s extensive certification process gives me the reassurance and confident to believe eos is cruelty-free now!
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.
eos 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 eos, not all of their products are vegan. But they have some products that are suitable for vegans.
How to know which of eos products are vegan?
eos claims their crystal lip balm collection, shave creams, and all of our lotions are vegan.
The following is a screenshot of what’s currently stated on eos’ website about its vegan products:
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.
1 thought on “eos”
I’m so thankful that eos is cruelty free again.
For my mom and many others with arthritis in their hands, traditional lip balms are way to hard to open. When I found eos and first bought it for her, it was a game changer. I was so disappointed when they began selling China, because this is the only lip balm she can easily open and close without pain.
Very relieved to see they stopped selling China before I needed to buy more for her! Because I didn’t have another option, and it would have been upsetting to my mom that her lip balm was from a company that tested on animals. (She is the reason I’m an animal lover, after all!)