Nu Skin is NOT Cruelty-Free!

Nu Skin allows its products or ingredients to be tested on animals when required by law including when selling in stores in mainland China.

Nu Skin’s Animal Testing Policy

On Nu Skin’s website, they claim they do not test on animals except when mandated by law and regulatory agencies.

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

Policies stating, “except when mandated by law,” 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.

Is Nu Skin Sold in China?

In my research, I discovered that Nu Skin products are indeed sold in mainland China.

Below is a screenshot of Nu Skin’s Chinese website:

But Doesn’t China No Longer Test on Animals?

Companies can bypass China’s pre-market animal testing by choosing to manufacture their ordinary or general cosmetics in China, but it’s not stated anywhere that Nu Skin 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 Nu Skin) are still required by law to be tested on animals in 2022.

Because Nu Skin 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 Nu Skin 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 Nu Skin 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, Nu Skin 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 Nu Skin already does not meet the last two, we cannot classify the brand as being cruelty-free.

Is Nu Skin Certified Cruelty-Free?

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

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

Is Nu Skin Cruelty-Free?

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

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

Is Nu Skin Vegan?

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