Is Smashbox Cruelty-Free?

🐰 Smashbox is a *cruelty-free brand. None of Smashbox’s ingredients or products are tested on animals. Smashbox has met all the criteria in our Cruelty-Free Checklist and is included in our Cruelty-Free Directory.

Does Smashbox Test on Animals?

When asking, does Smashbox test on animals? We must look beyond to ensure none of Smashbox’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.

In our research, we discovered the following:

• ✓ Smashbox confirmed they do not test their products or ingredients on animals or ask others to test on their behalf.
• ✓ Smashbox confirmed all their ingredient suppliers do not test on animals
• ✓ Smashbox confirmed they do not allow or sell their products under conditions where animal testing is required by law

By meeting all of our Cruelty-Free Criteria, Cosmetics is a *cruelty-free brand by our standards.

*Smashbox is owned by Estee Lauder, a corporation that is NOT cruelty-free because they allow some of their other brands to test on animals.

The decision is yours 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. Do what you’re comfortable with. I just thought it was important to disclose that Estee Lauder owns Smashbox.

What is Smashbox’s Animal Testing Policy?

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

What About China’s Animal Testing Laws?

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

With the current changes to China’s animal testing laws, some cosmetics sold in China can be exempt from animal testing under certain conditions. However, without meeting those conditions, animal testing is still legally required for most cosmetics sold in China in 2023.

Is Smashbox Certified Cruelty-Free?

Smashbox is certified cruelty-free by PETA, but not Leaping Bunny certified.

Cruelty-Free Policies 2023

Just because a brand claims it is ‘Cruelty-Free,’ doesn’t always mean that’s the case.

That’s because 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.

How We Assess Cruelty-Free Policies

Since 2015, the start of my blog, I’ve been emailing companies asking about their animal testing policies and cruelty-free commitments.

And based on the responses I receive from companies, I’ll research to find any supporting facts needed before concluding whether the brand should be classified as “Cruelty-Free,” “Animal-Tested,” or “Grey Area – Unclear Policies.”

☕️ Every week, I continue to reach out to new brands while trying my best to keep current brands updated. If you found any of my posts or guides helpful, consider Buying Me A Coffee! I would greatly appreciate it! ❤️

What about Vegan?

Just because something is called Cruelty-Free, doesn’t always mean it’s Vegan. And vice versa.

Cruelty-Free only refers to no animal testing, while Vegan means formulated without animal products.

Some brands are Cruelty-Free, but not Vegan.

And some are Vegan, but not Cruelty-Free.

Another important distinction to know is, Vegan in cosmetics can refer to an entire brand is 100% Vegan or a specific product is Vegan.

Is Smashbox Vegan?

⭐️ Smashbox is NOT an entirely vegan brand. But Smashbox offers some vegan options that are free of animal products.

How to know which of Smashbox’s products are vegan?

All of Smashbox’s vegan products are clearly marked on their website.

Where to buy Smashbox? Check out smashbox.com, Sephora, Ulta, and on Amazon!

Vegan Policies

Similar to ‘Cruelty-Free,’ there is no standard or legal definition for the label ‘Vegan.’ But Vegan is generally used to mean formulated without animal-derived ingredients or animal by-products.

Some common animal products 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 unless a brand explicitly labels its ingredients or product as Vegan, it’s often 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 chose were from non-animal sources.

Where are Smashbox’s products made?

I tried asking Smashbox where their products are made but they won’t disclose that information to me.

“SmashBox, a brand of The Estée Lauder Companies Inc., does business in over 150 countries and territories around the world. As a global organization, our products are produced in various facilities worldwide. You can be assured that, regardless of the place of manufacture, all of our facilities follow stringent manufacturing practices and follow our Global Quality Assurance procedures and policies.”

Ethical Mica Mining Policy

Mica is a mineral 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 Smashbox if their mica is ethically sourced without the use of child labor and they responded by stating their parent company, Estee Lauder’s mica sourcing policy.

Estee Lauder’s statement claims their mica is globally-sourced and they work with NGOs to improve living conditions where child labor is widespread in the mica industry.

However, it’s not clear where their mica is mined or sourced from and how they trace or audit to ensure no child labor was involved.

“The Estée Lauder Companies formulates with mica that is globally sourced.  While our ingredient supply chains are complex and multilayered, ELC has proactively partnered with local NGO Bachpan Bachao Andolan (now the Kailash Satyarthi Children’s Foundation or KSCF) to help address child labor in the mica mining industry by promoting education as an alternative to work for children in mica-sourcing communities. For more information, please reference our CR Report.”

I hope this article helped you to understand Smashbox’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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