Nexxus (Unilever)

Last Updated: March 6, 2024

How Ethical Is Nexxus (Unilever)?

Make a positive impact by supporting companies with the same values and ethics as what matters most to you. To navigate and find ethical brands, here’s a summary of Nexxus’s ethics and initiatives.

Ethical Analysis

Is Nexxus cruelty-free or vegan? We’ve got the answers here! Read below to learn more about Nexxus’s policies.
Nexxus is NOT Cruelty-Free. Nexxus engages in animal testing by allowing its products to be animal-tested.

Nexxus is also owned by Unilever, a parent corporation that does engage in animal testing.
Nexxus does not claim or market itself to offer any vegan-friendly options. And since Nexxus engages in animal testing, we wouldn’t consider anything sold or produced by Nexxus to be vegan anyways.

Nexxus (Unilever)

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Is Nexxus Cruelty-Free?

☠️ Nexxus is NOT cruelty-free in 2023. Nexxus allows its products to be tested on animals when required by law.

Nexxus’s Animal Testing Policy

When asking, does Nexxus test on animals? We must look beyond to ensure none of Nexxus’s ingredients or suppliers test on animals. And they don’t sell in any country or under conditions that may require animal testing by law.

To assess whether brands are cruelty-free, I always start with the company’s official animal testing policy on their website.

Nexxus claims on its website that they do not test its products on animals, and then they go on to state its parent company, Unilever’s animal testing statement. However, this is not enough information for us to classify Nexxus or any other brand as being cruelty-free to our standards.

See below for a screenshot of what’s currently stated on Nexxus’ website:

Animal testing for cosmetics can happen at various stages of product development, including at the ingredient level, and is often done by others and not the cosmetic company itself. This is why 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.

So I reached out to Nexxus to ask for more information about their animal testing policy. More specifically, I wanted to know if they commission or allow others to test, not just their finished products but their ingredients, on animals, including when selling in countries that require animal testing (like in mainland China).

And Nexxus responded by saying:

“Thank you for contacting Nexxus. We appreciate the opportunity to assist you.

We do not test our products on animals and are committed to ending animal testing. Unilever has complied with the EU animal testing bans for cosmetics since 2004 and supports calls for similar bans to be introduced globally. To learn more about our position and our work on non-animal approaches, please see our website: www.unilever.com/sustainable-living/what-matters-to-you/developing-alternative-approaches-to-animal-testing.html.”

Based on their response, Nexxus has the same animal testing policy as Unilever. So, I checked out the link they provided and found Unilever’s official animal testing statement, where they state that they allow some of the brands’ ingredients to be tested on animals when required by law.

See below for a snippet of Unilever’s animal testing statement:

“Occasionally, across Unilever’s broader portfolio of brands, ingredients that we use still have to be tested by suppliers by law, to comply with regulatory requirements in some markets; and some government authorities test certain products on animals as part of their regulations.”

Truly cruelty-free brands will never allow their products or ingredients to be tested on animals. Cruelty-free companies have a policy where if the law requires them to test on animals then they will refuse to use those ingredients or sell their products under those conditions.

For example, imported cosmetics sold in stores in mainland China are required by Chinese laws to be tested on animals upon registration. Therefore, truly cruelty-free brands have chosen not to sell in China in order to remain committed to their no animal testing policy.

Unfortunately, Nexxus and Unilever state they will allow their products and ingredients to be tested on animals if the law requires it. For those reasons, Nexxus is NOT cruelty-free.

Cruelty-Free Policies

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. Since Nexxus allows its products to be tested on animals when required by law, we cannot classify the brand as being cruelty-free.

Complete Cruelty-Free Checklist

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Is Nexxus Certified Cruelty-Free?

Nexxus is not certified cruelty-free by any third-party cruelty-free certifications like Leaping Bunny or PETA.

Since Nexxus is not certified cruelty-free by a third party, no one is substantiating or auditing Nexxus’s cruelty-free commitments and claims.

Is Nexxus Owned By A Non-Cruelty-Free Parent Company?

Yes. Nexxus is owned by Unilever, a parent corporation that still engages in animal testing in 2023.

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, Nexxus is NOT cruelty-free, and neither is its parent corporation, Unilever.

Does Nexxus Test on Animals?

To wrap up, Nexxus has the same animal testing policy as Unilever where both companies allow their products to be tested on animals when required by law. Therefore, we would NOT consider Nexxus to be a cruelty-free brand.

Currently, Nexxus is on our List of Brands to Avoid – Animal Tested.

Is Nexxus Vegan?

Nexxus is NOT vegan. Nexxus does not claim or market itself to offer any vegan-friendly options. And since Nexxus engages in animal testing in some capacity, we wouldn’t consider any Nexxus products vegan anyways.

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 to Nexxus

Looking to switch to cruelty-free hair products? Here are some cruelty-free brands to check out:

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