Garnier (L’Oreal)

Last Updated: April 20, 2023

How Ethical Is Garnier (L’Oreal)?

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 Garnier’s ethics and initiatives.

Ethical Analysis

Is Garnier cruelty-free, vegan, or sustainable? We’ve got the answers here! Read below for more details on Garnier’s policies.
Garnier is cruelty-free but Garnier is owned by L’Oreal, a parent company that is NOT cruelty-free.
Not all of Garnier’s products are vegan, but they have some vegan options.
Garnier’s ‘Green Beauty Initiatives’ include:
  • Eliminate virgin plastic in all of its packagings by 2025
  • By 2025, all packaging will be reusable, recyclable, or degradable
  • All plant and renewable ingredients will be from sustainable sources by 2022
  • All Garnier factories will be CO2 neutral by 2025

  • Garnier will report their progress in reaching these sustainability goals in their Sustainability Progress Report, which is available to the public and can be found on their website.

    Additionally, Garnier launched its Product Impact Labelling System to provide consumers with clear information on their products’ environment and social impact. The impacts are measured at every stage of a product’s life cycle and calculated by looking at sourcing, production, transportation, consumer usage, packaging recyclability, and then presenting it in a clear way.
    When asked about their mica sourcing policy, Garnier responded back stating L’Oreal’s sourcing policy. L’Oreal’s policy states, “Today, 99% of our mica comes from completely verified sources. L’Oréal is a founding member of the Responsible Mica Initiative and is committed to ending child labour practices and improving the working conditions of Indian communities whose livelihoods depend on mica.”
    Garnier’s products come in plastic packaging, and some are made with recycled plastic. And as part of Garnier’s Green Beauty Initiative, they’re working to eliminate all virgin plastic in their packaging by 2025. And to have all of their packaging be reusable, recyclable, or degradable.

    About Garnier (L’Oreal)

    Explore top-rated hair care, hair styling, hair color & skin care products for both men and women by Garnier for your own custom hair and skin care routines.
    COMPANY BASED IN: France
    PRODUCTS MADE IN: France, USA, Spain, UK
    PRODUCTS: Hair Care, Skincare
    CERTIFICATIONS: Leaping Bunny

    Garnier (L’Oreal)

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

    Is Garnier Cruelty-Free?

    🐰 Garnier is a *cruelty-free brand. None of Garnier’s ingredients or products are tested on animals. Garnier has met all the criteria in our Cruelty-Free Checklist and is included in our Cruelty-Free Directory.

    Does Garnier Test on Animals?

    When asking, does Garnier test on animals? We must look beyond to ensure none of Garnier’s ingredients or suppliers test on animals. And they don’t sell in any country or under conditions that may require animal testing by law.

    In our research, we discovered the following:

    • ✓ Garnier confirmed they do not test their products or ingredients on animals or ask others to test on their behalf.
    • ✓ Garnier confirmed all their ingredient suppliers do not test on animals
    • ✓ Garnier confirmed they do not allow or sell their products under conditions where animal testing is required by law

    By meeting all of our Cruelty-Free Criteria, Garnier is a *cruelty-free brand by our standards.

    *Garnier is owned by L’Oreal, a corporation that is NOT cruelty-free because they allow some of their other brands to test on animals.

    The decision is yours whether you want to support or boycott cruelty-free brands owned by a parent company that is not cruelty-free. There is no ‘right’ or ‘wrong’ answer to this. Do what you’re comfortable with. I just thought it was important to disclose that L’Oreal owns Garnier.

    What is Garnier’s Animal Testing Policy?

    Below is a screenshot of what’s currently stated on Garnier’s website about its animal testing policy:

    What About China’s Animal Testing Laws?

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

    With the current changes to China’s animal testing laws, some cosmetics sold in China can be exempt from animal testing under certain conditions. However, without meeting those conditions, animal testing is still legally required for most cosmetics sold in China in 2023.

    Is Garnier Certified Cruelty-Free?

    Garnier is certified cruelty-free by Leaping Bunny.

    Cruelty-Free Policies 2023

    Just because a brand claims it is ‘Cruelty-Free,’ doesn’t always mean that’s the case.

    That’s because 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.

    How We Assess Cruelty-Free Policies

    Since 2015, the start of my blog, I’ve been emailing companies asking about their animal testing policies and cruelty-free commitments.

    And based on the responses I receive from companies, I’ll research to find any supporting facts needed before concluding whether the brand should be classified as “Cruelty-Free,” “Animal-Tested,” or “Grey Area – Unclear Policies.”

    ☕️ Every week, I continue to reach out to new brands while trying my best to keep current brands updated. If you found any of my posts or guides helpful, consider Buying Me A Coffee! I would greatly appreciate it! ❤️

    What about Vegan?

    Just because something is called Cruelty-Free, doesn’t always mean it’s Vegan. And vice versa.

    Cruelty-Free only refers to no animal testing, while Vegan means formulated without animal products.

    Some brands are Cruelty-Free, but not Vegan.

    And some are Vegan, but not Cruelty-Free.

    Another important distinction to know is, Vegan in cosmetics can refer to an entire brand is 100% Vegan or a specific product is Vegan.

    Is Garnier Vegan?

    ⭐️ Garnier is NOT an entirely vegan brand. But Garnier offers some vegan options that are free of animal products.

    How to know which of Garnier’s products are vegan?

    All of Garnier’s vegan products are clearly marked on the product packaging. Spot the ‘Vegan Formula’ logo or stamp on packaging.

    Where to buy Garnier? Check out Target, Amazon, Boots!

    Vegan Policies

    Similar to ‘Cruelty-Free,’ there is no standard or legal definition for the label ‘Vegan.’ But Vegan is generally used to mean formulated without animal-derived ingredients or animal by-products.

    Some common animal products 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 unless a brand explicitly labels its ingredients or product as Vegan, it’s often 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 chose were from non-animal sources.

    Where are Garnier’s products made?

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

    “Our products are made all over the world including France, America, Spain and the U.K”

    Ethical Mica Mining Policy

    Mica is a mineral used in cosmetics to add a shimmery effect. But the mining of natural mica has been linked to child labor and human rights violations.

    Unless the company discloses its mica mining policy, we have no way of knowing whether its mica is ethically sourced without child or forced labor.

    So I asked Garnier if their mica is ethically sourced without the use of child labor and they responded by stating,

    “Garnier’s parent company is L’Oréal. To learn more on our sustainable sourcing, please visit https://www.loreal.com/suppliers/our-sustainable-procurement-policy which will provide you with other specific information on: – Our Mutual Ethical Commitment Letter, highlighting L’Oréal key values and safe working conditions for employees. – Social audit program and the focus on minimum wages, working hours, health and safety. – The way we buy in Sourcing”


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

    If you found this helpful, consider Buying Me a Coffee. So that I can continue to keep this site running and updated.

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    What do you think

    6 thoughts on “Garnier (L’Oreal)”

    1. Your information is flawed for starters Garnia are indeed cruelty free 2020 they are not tested anywhere the world and they are not sold in China
      Secondly your rebuttal being the parent company L’Oréal makes it not cruelty free , true however the brands YOU recommend above as CF alternatives, are also parent owned by L’Oréal. Derma E is owned by Skinceuticals who’s parent company is L’Oréal- as for Acure Organics they were investigated for child labour in 2018 Not ideal to be shouting out “as holier than thou “ethnical brands – I thought I’d just mention as many I like to shop ethically but do you think it’s reasonable to discriminate one brand yet praise another when they are owned by the same affiliates ?

    2. Hi, thanks for your work, I appreciate it very much.
      I have a few questions and I would be very grateful if you could help me.
      I started this cruelty free and vegan journey a while ago, and it’s not always the easiest thing considering where I live and the price point of some brands, so you could imagine how happy I was when I heard the news about garnier. But my concern is that it’s owned by L’Oréal, I’ve seen in this community that when some brand is cruelty free but it’s owned by a company that isn’t, it’s not considered 100% cruelty free and your still giving money and supporting a company like L’Oréal to keep their unethical ways. So I would like to see your views on this, I would be very grateful if you could help me figure out where I stand concerning garnier.
      Thank you very much 😊
      P. S I’m sorry for some mistake in my English it’s not my first language.

    3. So pleased to read this. Hopefully many other High Street and high end brands will take note that products can be produced without involving the archaic practice of animal testing.

      1. You’ll find Garnier listed on Cruelty Free International’s Leaping Bunny Directory: https://crueltyfreeinternational.org/leapingbunny

        It’s confusing how they do this, but as far as I know… Companies with headquarters in the US and Canada are listed on the LeapingBunny.org directory, whereas companies based outside the US & Canada are listed in the CrueltyFreeInternational.org directory. It’s confusing and annoying having to check both lists so I hope they change that soon!

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