You can find Hero Cosmetics cruelty-free products at Target and Ulta.

Hero Cosmetics is *Cruelty-Free

Hero Cosmetics 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 Hero Cosmetics to be *Cruelty-Free.

Update! *Hero Cosmetics will soon be owned by Church & Dwight Co., a corporation that is NOT cruelty-free because they allow some of their other brands to test on animals.

It’s your choice 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. I encourage you to do what you’re comfortable with, but I think it’s important to disclose that Church & Dwight will soon own Hero Cosmetics.

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

What About China’s Animal Testing Laws?

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

“we do not test on animal in any aspect of our production and our products are not sold in mainland China in stores or otherwise.”

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.

Hero Cosmetics is 100% Vegan

Hero Cosmetics has confirmed all of its products are vegan and don’t contain any animal-derived ingredients or by-products.

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

“Thanks for reaching out! Yes, we are vegan friendly and the majority of our ingredients are plant derived!”

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 Hero Cosmetics made?

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

“We have several products made in Korea and some made right here in the US!”

Ethical Mica Mining Policy

Mica is a mineral that’s 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 Hero Cosmetics if their mica is ethically sourced without the use of child labor and they responded by stating,

“Thanks for reaching out! Happy to ask our team for specifics but we do not use child labor and everything is ethnically sourced. We are working towards a Leaping Bunny certification.”

Hero Cosmetics claims all of their materials are ethically sourced without the use of child labor but did not specifically address where their mica is sourced from and how they audit or trace to ensure no child labor was involved in mining their mica.

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