L’Oreal Paris is NOT Cruelty-Free!

L’Oreal Paris allows its products or ingredients to be tested on animals when required by law including when selling in stores in mainland China.

In addition, L’Oreal Paris is a subsidiary of L’Oreal Group, a parent company that is NOT cruelty-free.

L’Oreal Paris Animal Testing Policy

On L’Oreal Paris’s website, they state their parent company, L’Oreal Group’s animal testing policy. Both companies state they no longer test their ingredients on animals and then go on to state China’s animal testing laws.

See below for a screenshot of what’s currently stated on L’Oreal Paris’s website:

Policies stating China’s animal testing laws usually imply the company is selling its products in mainland China. That’s because cosmetics sold in stores in mainland China are required by law to be tested on animals.

L’Oreal Paris Sold in China?

In my research, I discovered that L’Oreal Paris products are indeed sold in stores in mainland China.

Below is a screenshot of L’Oreal Paris’s Chinese website:

But Doesn’t China No Longer Test on Animals?

As stated in L’Oreal Group’s and L’Oreal Paris’s animal testing policy, companies can bypass China’s pre-market animal testing by choosing to manufacture some ordinary or general cosmetics in China, but it’s not stated specifically that L’Oreal has taken this route.

Additionally, the possibility of post-market animal testing is not completely ruled out and may be conducted on some cosmetics sold in physical stores in China.

As of May 1, 2021, cosmetic companies can also export and sell their ordinary or general cosmetics in China without animal testing only if they meet a set of preconditions first. However, meeting these conditions has proven difficult, and it’s still unclear what exactly is accepted according to the new regulations. So there’s no word yet of any company that has successfully done so.

Follow the highlighted lines in the graphic below to see why most cosmetics sold in China (like L’Oreal) are still required by law to be tested on animals in 2022.

Because L’Oreal Paris has decided to sell in mainland China stores, they must consent and pay to have their products tested on animals. That’s why most cosmetics brands selling in mainland China cannot be considered cruelty-free in 2022.

Although L’Oreal Paris may not be conducting these animal tests themselves, they knowingly allow Chinese authorities to test their products on animals to sell in China.

For those reasons, we would not consider L’Oreal Paris to be cruelty-free by our standards.

Cruelty-Free Policies

Many truly cruelty-free brands have chosen not to sell their products in China because of its animal testing laws. Unfortunately, L’Oreal Paris refuses to do the same and therefore cannot be considered cruelty-free.

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 by any third parties, including when required by law.

See below for our complete cruelty-free checklist. Since L’Oreal Paris already does not meet the last two, we cannot classify the brand as being cruelty-free.

Is L’Oreal Paris Certified Cruelty-Free?

L’Oreal Paris is not certified cruelty-free by any third-party cruelty-free certifications like Leaping Bunny or PETA.

Because L’Oreal Paris is not certified cruelty-free by a third party, no one is looking into or substantiating L’Oreal Paris’s cruelty-free commitments and claims.

Is L’Oreal Paris Owned By A Non-Cruelty-Free Parent Company?

Yes. L’Oreal Paris is owned by L’Oreal Group, a parent corporation that still engages in animal testing in 2022.

Some cruelty-free consumers may choose to purchase and support cruelty-free brands owned by animal-tested parent corporations as they hope it will convince the parent company to become cruelty-free.

But in this case, L’Oreal Paris is NOT cruelty-free and neither is its parent corporation, L’Oreal Group.

Is L’Oreal Paris Cruelty-Free?

To sum up, by choosing to sell in mainland China, L’Oreal Paris must have its products tested on animals. Therefore, we would NOT consider L’Oreal Paris to be a cruelty-free brand.

Currently, L’Oreal Paris is on our List of Brands to Avoid – Animal Tested.

Is L’Oreal Vegan?

L’Oreal claims to offer some “vegan” options that are free of animal-derived ingredients, but because L’Oreal engages in animal testing, we wouldn’t classify anything sold or produced by L’Oreal to be vegan.

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.

Cruelty-Free Alternatives:

Looking for cruelty-free alternative to L’Oreal Paris? We recommend the following cruelty-free makeup brands:

• NYX *owned by L’Oreal – some vegan options
• Milani – some vegan options
• ELF – 100% Vegan
• CoverGirl *owned by Coty – some vegan options
• ColourPop – some vegan options