You can find RMS cruelty-free products at Sephora, Beautylish, The Detox Market, Shoppers Drug Mart, and on Amazon.

RMS Beauty is Cruelty-Free

RMS Beauty 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 RMS Beauty to be Cruelty-Free.

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

What About China’s Animal Testing Laws?

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

“Due to our brand’s stance on animal cruelty, we do not ship or sell our products in China at this time.”

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, and by any third parties.

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

RMS 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 RMS, not all of their products are vegan. But they have some products that are suitable for vegans.

How to know which of RMS products are vegan?

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

“Some of our products do contain beeswax, and are therefore not 100% vegan. Please know we use certified, organic, cruelty-free beeswax from the mountains in South America where the bees are away from city pollution, pesticides, insecticides, herbicides and fungicides, and neocides. Our founder Rose-Marie spends much of her time sourcing ingredients from sustainable and environmentally friendly sources. We won’t ever source ingredients from a facility where animals are harmed.”

RMS Beauty Vegan Product List

In addition, this list of RMS Beauty vegan products was provided by the company.

• Back2Brow Brow Powder
• Beauty Oil
• Desire Me Duo
• Hidden Desire Palette
• Living Luminizer Glow Face & Body Powder
• Luminizing & Bronzing Powders
• Pressed Blushes
• Raw Coconut Cream
• Sensual Skin Trio
• Swift Shadows
• Tinted “Un” Powder
• Ultimate Makeup Remover Wipes
• “Un” Powder
• Vintage Cake Liner
• All Makeup Brushes
• Probiotic + Prebiotic Supplements

Not Vegan – RMS Beauty

Below is a list of RMS Beauty products that contain beeswax and are not suitable for vegans:

• Buriti Bronzer (contains beeswax) – not vegan
• Eye Polish (contains beeswax) – not vegan
• Lip & Skin Balm (contains beeswax) – not vegan
• Lip Liner (contains beeswax) – not vegan
• Lip Shine (contains beeswax) – not vegan
• Lip2Cheek (contains beeswax) – not vegan
• Living Luminizer (contains beeswax) – not vegan
• Living Luminizer Glow Quad Mini (contains beeswax) – not vegan
• Luminizer X Quad Highlighter Palette (contains beeswax) – not vegan
• Master Mixer (contains beeswax) – not vegan
• Master Radiance Base Cream Highlighter (contains beeswax) – not vegan
• Signature Set Mod Collection (contains beeswax) – not vegan
• Signature Set Pop Collection (contains beeswax) – not vegan
• Tinted Daily Lip Balm (contains beeswax) – not vegan
• “Un” Cover-up Concealer (contains beeswax) – not vegan
• “Un” Cover-Up Cream Foundation (contains beeswax) – not vegan
• Volumizing Mascara (contains beeswax) – not vegan
• Wild With Desire Lipstick (contains beeswax) – not vegan

Vegan Policies

Similar to ‘Cruelty-Free,’ there is no standard or legal definition for the label ‘Vegan.’ But it’s usually used in the context to describe something that doesn’t contain any 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 RMS’s products made?

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

“Many of our products, including our living luminizer, buriti bronzer, and magic luminizer are manufactured in the USA. Some ingredients we use are sourced from different countries and all of our ingredients are fair-trade, cruelty-free and carefully selected to ensure they are the highest quality and sustainably sourced ingredients :)”

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

“All of our ingredients are sourced fair-trade and cruelty-free. For proprietary reasons, we cannot provide specific sourcing information for the mica we use, but please know that our founder Rose-Marie spends much of her time sourcing ingredients from sustainable and environmentally friendly sources. We would never source ingredients from a facility that utilizes child labor. We will always take an ethical approach from origin to end product.”

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