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ITEM Beauty’s Cruelty-Free Status is Unclear
It is unclear how ITEM Beauty verifies and ensures all its ingredient suppliers don’t test on animals.
As a result, we are unable to classify ITEM Beauty as being truly cruelty-free or animal-tested. Therefore, ITEM Beauty is listed as Grey Area – Brands with Unclear Policies.
ITEM Beauty’s Animal Testing Policy
ITEM Beauty claims on its website that they do not test its products on animals or ask others to test on its behalf; however, this is not enough information for us to classify ITEM Beauty or any other brand as being cruelty-free to our standards.
Below is a screenshot of what’s currently stated on ITEM Beauty’s website:
Cruelty-Free Policies
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, including when required by law.
See below for our complete cruelty-free checklist.
So I reached out to ITEM Beauty to ask for more information about their animal testing policy. More specifically, I wanted to know if they commission or allow others to test their products/ingredients on animals, including when selling in countries that require animal testing (like in mainland China).
And ITEM Beauty responded by saying:
“I’d just like to follow up with you! I’ve heard from our team that we do not test on animals, and the ingredients used in our products are not tested on animals. We also do not have any products sold in retail stores in China. Let me know if there’s anything else I can help with.”
In ITEM Beauty’s response, they stated that the ingredients used in their products are not tested on animals. However, when I tried asking how they ensure or verify their ingredient suppliers don’t test on animals, ITEM Beauty stopped responding to me.
Is ITEM Beauty Cruelty-Free?
Unfortunately, ITEM Beauty failed to address how they verify or ensure all of their ingredient suppliers don’t test on animals.
As a result, we cannot classify ITEM Beauty as a truly cruelty-free brand until they are more transparent with their animal testing policy.
Currently, ITEM Beauty is on our Grey Area Brands List – Brands with Unclear Policies.
Is ITEM Beauty Certified Cruelty-Free?
ITEM Beauty is not certified cruelty-free by any third-party cruelty-free certifications like Leaping Bunny or PETA.
Because ITEM Beauty is not certified cruelty-free by a third party, no one is looking into or substantiating ITEM Beauty’s cruelty-free commitments and claims.
Is ITEM Beauty Vegan?
ITEM Beauty claims to offer some “vegan” options that are free of animal-derived ingredients, but because ITEM Beauty’s cruelty-free status is unclear, we wouldn’t consider anything sold or produced by ITEM Beauty to be vegan at this time.
In order for products to be considered vegan by ethical elephant’s standards, the products and their ingredients must not be tested on animals anywhere in the world. Also, they must not contain any animal-derived ingredients or by-products.
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.
Cruelty-Free Alternatives to ITEM Beauty
Looking to switch to cruelty-free products? Here are some cruelty-free brands to check out:
