You can find Madison Reed cruelty-free products at Ulta.

Madison Reed is *Cruelty-Free

Madison Reed 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 Madison Reed to be *Cruelty-Free.

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

I also emailed Madison Reed to ask for more information about its animal testing policy. The following is a snippet of the response I received from them:

“We do not test on animals nor do we commission animal testing. Leaping Bunny, a third-party organization, has certified that no animal testing has been commissioned or conducted by the company or by the suppliers of our ingredients.

At Madison Reed, we are proud to offer products that are socially responsible and that we source our ingredients according to European guidelines. The European Union has very stringent regulatory standards and expressly bans cosmetic testing on animals. Our goal is to ensure humane practices for production, and we are committed to animal preservation.

Our products are not sold in China and we have no future plans to.”

What About China’s Animal Testing Laws?

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

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, or any third parties.

Also, note that Cruelty-Free and Vegan don’t always mean the same thing.

Madison Reed is Not Vegan

‘Vegan’ in cosmetics can refer to an entire brand that is 100% Vegan or a specific product is vegan.

In the case of Madison Reed, the company does not claim to offer any vegan-friendly products. Madison Reed uses keratin derived from sheep’s wool in their products and therefore their products aren’t suitable for vegans.

This is what Madison Reed had to say about their use of keratin in some of their products:

“None of the ingredients in any of our products are derived from animals with the exception of keratin. The wool used for our keratin is sustainable and comes from healthy herds of sheep through a routine and humane shearing process done to keep the sheep healthy. We use keratin simply because it is the best ingredient available for hair repair and conditioning, and it is the protein hair is naturally made of.”

*Madison Reed is Cruelty-Free, Not Vegan

Madison Reed is considered cruelty-free and doesn’t test on animals, however, since Madison Reed does not currently offer any vegan options, Madison Reed is not included on our List of Cruelty-Free & Vegan Brands.

For vegan-friendly alternatives to Madison Reed, we recommend checking out OUAI, Olaplex, Aveda, Briogeo, R+Co.

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