You can find Schmidt’s cruelty-free products at Target, London Drug, Walmart, or on well.ca and Amazon.

Schmidt’s is *Cruelty-Free

Schmidt’s 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 Schmidt’s to be *Cruelty-Free.

*Schmidt’s is owned by Unilever, a corporation that is NOT cruelty-free because they allow some of their other brands to test on animals.

It’s your choice whether you want to support or boycott cruelty-free brands owned by a parent company that is not cruelty-free. There is no ‘right’ or ‘wrong’ answer to this. I encourage you to do what you’re comfortable with, but I think it’s important to disclose that Unilever owns Schmidt’s.

What About China’s Animal Testing Laws?

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.

But Schmidt’s has confirmed they only sell their products online and not in retail stores in mainland China; therefore, they are not required to test on animals.

“Schmidt’s is not and has never been sold directly in China. Consumers in China are only able to purchase Schmidt’s products through cross-border e-commerce channels which do not require animal testing by the Chinese authorities. Schmidt’s has a policy prohibiting any animal tests, anywhere in the world, and we are certified cruelty-free by Leaping Bunny. We never approve projects internally if they were to result in a requirement for animal testing of Schmidt’s products by the Chinese authorities. Still and always cruelty-free.”

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, and by any third parties.

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

Schmidt’s is 100% Vegan

Schmidt’s has confirmed all of its products are vegan and don’t contain any animal-derived ingredients or by-products.

“All of our products are certified vegan by Vegan Action.”

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 Schmidt’s products made?

“Unless otherwise stated specifically on the label, all of our products sold in the U.S. are manufactured in the United States. The statement found on some of our packaging “Product of (Country)” is not a statement of where the raw material is from, but rather a statement of where the product is processed. All of the ingredients used in our products are required to meet legal US standards for safety. The safety and well-being of our consumers are always the number one concern of Unilever as we manufacture and market high-quality products around the world.“

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