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Kester Black is Cruelty-Free
Kester Black 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 Kester Black to be Cruelty-Free.
“None of our products contains any ingredient derived from animals, and our products have never, and will never, be tested on animals.”
What About China’s Animal Testing Laws?
Kester Black has confirmed they do not sell their products in retail stores in mainland China; therefore, they are not required to test on animals.
“No, we don’t have any stockists in mainland China, however, technically, you could buy products in mainland china (through cross-border e-commerce) that haven’t been tested on animals, however, Kester Black doesn’t currently sell into China at all.”
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.
Kester Black is 100% Vegan
Kester Black has confirmed all of its products are vegan and don’t contain any animal-derived ingredients or by-products.
“Are your products vegan?
Yes, indeed. All Kester Black products are 100% vegan-certified. We’ve even acquired a shiny accreditation from The Vegan Society to prove it.”
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 Kester Black’s products made?
Kester Black states on its website,
“Where are Kester Black products made?
In order to produce the best quality cosmetics, our products are manufactured in Australia, France and Italy – which through our own experience, we consider to be the best in the business.
More specifically, our lipsticks are made in Italy, our nail treatments and some of our nail polishes are made in France, while other nail polish colours and removers are made right here in Australia.
We chose Europe for their market-leading manufacturing legislation; raising the bar for our industry, and giving us (and in turn, all of you) more confidence in quality assurance.”
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 Kester Black if their mica is ethically sourced without the use of child labor and they responded by stating,
“Our nail polishes are all made in France. These are created with no child labour, all ethically made. We make sure that this is all up to date in terms of creditation, we actually visit the factory often to ensure this, up until Covid.
I hope this article helped you to understand Kester Black’s cruelty-free and vegan status and by choosing cruelty-free together, we can help end animal testing for cosmetics once and for all!
