Onyx Brands

Last Updated: February 4, 2022

How Ethical Is Onyx Brands?

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 Onyx Brands' ethics and initiatives.

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Ethical Analysis

Is Onyx Brands cruelty-free, vegan, or sustainable? We’ve got the answers here! Read below for more details on Onyx Brands’ policies.
Onyx Brands is cruelty-free. None of Onyx Brands’ ingredients, formulations, or finished products are tested on animals, anywhere in the world.
Not all of Onyx Brands’ products are vegan but they have some vegan options.
Onyx Brands does not claim or market itself as a sustainable company.
I was unable to tell if Onyx Brands use mica in any of their products as they don’t have a list of their products’ ingredients on their website. I tried asking them if their products contain mica and if so, is their mica ethically-sourced without child labor? They responded and claimed all of the factories they work with “do not support child labor in any way”.

So, it’s still not clear if they use mica, and if they do, where their mica is mined or sourced from and how they trace or audit to ensure no child labor was involved during the mining of their mica.

See their ethical mica mining policy here.
Onyx products come in plastic packaging. I couldn’t find anything stating they’re working on reducing their use of virgin plastic in their product packaging.

About Onyx Brands

Onyx Brands specializes in trendy, innovative nail care, foot care, bath, and beauty products.
COMPANY BASED IN: USA
PRODUCTS MADE IN: USA, China
PRODUCTS: Nails, Bath & Body Care
CERTIFICATIONS: PETA-Certified

Onyx Brands

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Onyx is Cruelty-Free

Onyx 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 Onyx to be Cruelty-Free.

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

Is Onyx Cruelty-Free?

What About China’s Animal Testing Laws?

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

“We do not currently have any products being sold in China, but we do sell in other countries such as Canada, Mexico, and Puerto Rico.”

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.

Onyx is Not 100% Vegan

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

In the case of Onyx, not all of their products are vegan. But they have some products that are suitable for vegans.

The following is a snippet of the email response I received from Onyx when I asked if all of their products are vegan:

“Our products are not 100% Vegan, as some contain beeswax.”

How to know which of Onyx products are vegan?

Unfortunately, Onyx does not label or indicate which of their products are vegan. I would suggest asking the company directly to receive confirmation that the item is vegan before buying.

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 Onyx’s products made?

I asked Onyx where their products are manufactured and they told me:

“Our products are produced in the US and China.”

*Note: Cosmetics made in China are not required to be tested on animals. Only cosmetics that are imported and sold in physical stores in mainland China are required to be tested on animals according to China’s animal testing laws.

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 Onyx if their mica is ethically sourced without the use of child labor and they responded by stating,

“All factories we work with are inspected and are our partners for many many years.

The do not support child labor in any way.”

Onyx claims they do not support child labor but did not specifically address where their mica is sourced from and how they audit or trace to ensure no child labor was involved in mining their mica.


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

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