33 Beauty Brands You Probably Didn't Know Were Cruelty-Free

It's been nearly a decade since makeup artist Charlotte Tilbury gifted the world her namesake beauty brand, and the world is a better-looking place because of it. While the company has been cruelty-free since its inception in 2013, it recently received its official Leaping Bunny approval by the Cruelty-Free International Program, certifying its commitment to the cause. This super-selective certification is renewed annually and ensures the brand — and every ingredient supplier in its pipeline — upholds its pledge to be 100 percent free of animal testing, allowing you to glow with a clear conscience. 

With an impressive lineup of award-winning favorites like Charlotte Tilbury's signature Magic Cream and Pillow Talk Lipstick, achieving red carpet-worthy looks has never been easier.

This cruelty-free beauty brand is known for sourcing star ingredients like Amazonian clay and maracuja oil, which make for deliciously lush formulas that wear beautifully on the skin and pack a host of complexion-improving benefits. Case in point: The award-winning Tarte Amazonian Clay 12-Hour Blush. Its allegiance to sustainability goes beyond harvesting and spans into empowering the local communities where these ingredients are sourced. 

The brand's maracuja oil, for example, is sourced from a female farming community that cold-pressed seeds that would otherwise be discarded, supporting women and reducing its carbon footprint. (Talk about a win-win.) The brand's impressive resumé includes a host of Best of Beauty Awards, Readers' Choice favorites, and PETA's stamp of approval — including the Lights, Camera, Lashes 4-in-1 Mascara and Busy Gal Brows Tinted Brow Gel.

Hourglass Cosmetics takes a remarkably proactive approach to its cruelty-free commitment. It not only launched as a cruelty-free brand back in 2004, but it continues to reinvest in its pledge to keep animals safe by donating a portion of annual profits from sales on its website to the Nonhuman Rights Project, a nonprofit organization that works to secure fundamental rights for animals. 

In 2017, the brand re-evaluated its obligation and pledged to reformulate its entire collection by removing any ingredients derived from animals. This meant finding suitable replacements for common ingredients like beeswax, lanolin, and carmine, while still delivering the complexion-perfecting genius fans have come to expect from Hourglass. As of December 2020, the brand reached its milestone with a fully vegan product lineup. So that lit-from-within highlight, compliments of everyone's favorite Ambient Light Palette, is as look-good and feel-good as it gets.

Don't let the fun, neon packaging, and cheeky product names fool you — InnBeauty Project is serious about its commitment to you and the environment. The vegan and cruelty-free brand ensures the efficacy of its products by using powerful ingredients like brightening vitamin C and pomegranate stem cells while keeping a laundry list of potential irritants like PEGs and sulfates out of its bottles.

InnBeauty Project has also pledged to remove more plastic waste from the planet than it produces. As if you needed another reason to get behind this do-gooder brand, one dropper-full of InnBeauty Project Green Machine Skin Transforming Oil Jelly Serum is enough to seal the deal and deliver a noticeably brighter complexion.

Olaplex's impressive bond-building formulas take hair repair to the next level and stick to the brand's cruelty-free promise. The hair-strengthening products help to reform the disulfide bonds that make up hair in order to strengthen and reinforce strands from the inside out. While Olaplex is most widely known for helping to protect against chemical damage done by salon coloring — and was awarded Allure's Best of Beauty Breakthrough honor for its ability to do exactly that — its latest formulas deliver that same hair-repair magic at home. Another admirable reason to jump on the Olaplex bandwagon: The brand prohibits the sale of its products in countries that require animal testing by law. 

E.L.F. Cosmetics has replaced the beeswax and lanolin in its products with synthetic versions, making them not just cruelty-free but vegan as well. And with eye shadow palettes for $10 and the perfect nude lipstick for $3, you can't get much better than that.

The popular Black-owned beauty brand Uoma captures the essence of inclusivity with a lineup of statement colors and extensive shade ranges that celebrate diversity across all skin tones, ethnicities, and backgrounds. Its bold color palettes inspire self-expression, while an inviting 51-shade foundation range makes everyone feel seen and catered to. Uoma's cruelty-free formulas thoughtfully combine a wide mix of hues with skin-loving ingredients to keep skin looking and feeling good even after you wash off your makeup. 

Our personal favorite: Uoma Beauty's Say What?! Foundation. The Best of Beauty Award-winning matte base is spiked with hyaluronic acid for smoother, healthier-looking skin.

Glossier strives to create ethically responsible products that you'll want to use every day. From its universal skin-saving salves to its best-selling fragrance, this brand remains committed to maintaining a 100-percent cruelty-free stance.

R+Co is the brainchild of a beloved trio of hairstylists — Garren, Thom Priano, and Howard McLaren — so you can rest assured a hair-care brand with this type of expertise at its root delivers. The results-driven products are dressed up in bottles and tubes that showcase cool, eye-catching photography, and the clean formulas inside are equally appealing. While the brand has been cruelty-free since its launch in 2014, it upped the ante in 2019 with its pledge to keep formulas 100 percent vegan, swapping animal byproducts for fruit extracts and waxes without skimping on performance and quality. 

One dab of its best-selling Badlands Dry Shampoo Paste, made with volcanic ash to sop up excess oil and Brazilian coconut oil to keep hair hydrated, is enough to validate its effectiveness.

Herbivore Botanicals' minimalist glass bottles are deserving of prime countertop real estate, and not just for their pretty, clean-looking appearance — although it's certainly a bonus. The Insta-worthy products house delightfully clean, plant-based formulas that are natural, vegan, and cruelty-free, and they're equal parts gentle on your skin and the environment. The colorful formulas are some of the most striking we've ever seen, with serums and creams whipped up into soft pink, golden amber, and deep gemstone blue tones. 

Its best-selling Pink Cloud Rosewater Moisture Crème took the brand nearly two years to formulate as the brand worked to substitute artificial polymers with a cocktail of skin-loving goodness like rosewater, aloe water, and Aspen bark to give skin a plump, dewy, hydrated appearance.

Bliss is one of the latest brands to announce its cruelty-free status, which is in partnership with PETA's Beauty Without Bunnies program. All of its products' packaging will wear the signature bunny logo that tells customers it's been formulated without testing on animals. And, while not all of its products are vegan just yet, it does have an entirely vegan collection, which includes this zesty Lemon and Sage Body Butter.

On its website, Beautycounter has a "Never List," a long list of ingredients that it promises you'll never find in its products. Right there at the top? "Animal fats, oils, and musks." It's a huge relief (along with its cruelty-free policy) because we're obsessed with this line. Everything from skin care (like the lightweight Rejuvenating Day Cream) to makeup (especially the lipsticks and tinted moisturizer) is elegantly formulated and surprisingly effective — and, usually, even vegan.

Paul Mitchell has been synonymous with salon-quality hair care for over four decades, and its pledge of kindness toward animals was established from day one. The brand has its own Production Innovation Center, where the team performs rigorous product testing — on humans —perfecting formulas to ensure the best possible results. 

The brand's animal-friendly commitment extends beyond its ingredient lists and into its daily practices, with all Paul Mitchell stylists carrying vegan leather shear cases and using brushes made only with synthetic bristles. It's a highly decorated brand that's no stranger to the Allure Best of Beauty seal — hello, Awapuhi Wild Ginger collection — and its most recent line features innovative, environmentally responsible packaging made from 90 percent Brazilian sugar cane.

Aveda has been dedicated to caring for animals with its "people-tested" promise since the brand was founded in 1978. In 1989, it went on to become the first company to sign the Ceres Principals, which outlined corporate responsibility to safeguard the planet and its inhabitants, setting the gold standard for cruelty-free product formulation and testing. The brand kicked off 2021 as a 100 percent vegan brand, with reformulations that furthered its commitment to know-better, do-better. 

Aveda's accolades continue to pile on with a 2021 Best of Beauty seal for its Invati Advanced Intensive Hair & Scalp Masque, celebrated for its ability to restore fullness to limp hair.

Milk Makeup's line is over 60 percent vegan, which includes some of their best-sellers like the Holographic Stick, Cooling Water, and Blur Stick. All of the brand's products are cruelty-free, it does not retail in any country that requires animal testing, and it's not owned by any other beauty company that tests on animals. That is the trifecta of being ethically responsible.

In November of 2018, CoverGirl officially became the biggest makeup brand to be granted the Leaping Bunny seal through Cruelty-Free International, which means it's universally recognized as a company that doesn't test on animals. It also happens to be the gold standard when it comes to certifications of this kind. Needless to say, if you're a drugstore beauty shopper who refuses to compromise when it comes to animal testing, look no further than CoverGirl.

Being cruelty-free is just one of SheaMoisture's many distinctions: It's also organic, fair-trade, and eco-friendly, and the shea butter in each product is ethically sourced from women's co-ops in northern Ghana. We're big fans of the sulfate-free Moisture Retention Shampoo, which leaves hair so luscious and shiny that you can cut the amount of conditioner you use in half.

Too Faced is another brand that's been vocal about its cruelty-free commitment long before it was a trending topic. It maintained its animal-friendly promise even after its 2016 acquisition by Estée Lauder and has since gone on to offer a selection of vegan products, including the best-selling, frenzy-triggering, Readers' Choice Award-winning Better Than Sex Mascara. The brand continues to reiterate its pledge to never test on animals while still delivering fun, playful products (that also smell delicious — like chocolate and cinnamon buns) for guilt-free glam.

Strivectin first made the move to become cruelty-free in 2017, when it pulled its products out of mainland China, where animal testing is required. Then, it received its official cruelty-free certification from PETA's Beauty Without Bunnies program. That being said, you can trust that none of its skin-care products, including the best-selling TL Advanced Tightening Neck Cream, pictured above) are tested on our furry friends.

Here's the proof that cruelty-free doesn't have to come with a hefty price tag. In March 2021, Garnier became one of the largest global beauty brands to get cruelty-free approval under the Leaping Bunny Program. Its commitment extends across the entire Garnier portfolio, including its Nurtrisse, Fructis, Olia, Color Sensation, SkinActive, and Whole Blends lines of products. 

That means verifying its cruelty-free pledge across 500 suppliers around the globe and more than 3,000 ingredients, so every single element bottled up in those familiar bottles plays no part in testing on animals.

Drew Barrymore's beauty line was founded on the principle that women deserve quality products at an affordable price. The brand is also on PETA's "Beauty Without Bunnies" list of cruelty-free cosmetics companies. From its eye shadow palettes to its lipsticks, Flower has many beautiful makeup options as well as fragrance and skin care. Our favorite? Try the contour kit for a flawless buildable look.

This California-based brand makes all-natural, totally animal-friendly soaps inspired by Big Sur (get it?). Shaped like surfboard wax, the cylindrical soaps come in two scents — Lavender & Sage and Cedar & Mint — and contain olive, coconut, and grape-seed oils to moisturize and sanitized sand to exfoliate. As you scrub down, you'll feel as if you've been transported to the West Coast. Your skin, on the other hand, will be as smooth as if you went in for a professional body scrub.

No roundup would be complete without Lush. The brand has been fighting against animal testing for decades. It even has something called the Lush Prize, which it hands out annually to recognize individuals and projects that have been working toward the goal of eradicating animal testing in product- and ingredient-safety testing. And while not all of its products are vegan (some of its creams and washes contain honey, yogurt, and eggs) — No Drought Dry Shampoo (seen here) is — those non-vegan ingredients are sourced from suppliers who are equally passionate about being as cruelty-free as Lush.

When it first launched, this Los Angeles–based nail company was best known for its awesome, non-cheesy nail wraps. The brand has since refocused on traditional lacquers and now offers a dizzying array of polishes that includes cool colors, chromed-out metallics, and funky glitters — all of which are five-free, cruelty-free, and vegan. If you're looking for a clean and classic manicure that you can do at home, try the foolproof French Mani Kit.

Sea-buckthorn oil is chock-full of omega fatty acids and antioxidants that hydrate, soothe, and help protect the skin against future damage when layered over sunscreen. And it's an ingredient found in every single Sibu Beauty product (which all happen to be cruelty-free). The line includes cleansers, creams for face and body, scrubs, masks, and even dietary supplements. We particularly like the Hydrating Serum, which is great at quenching dry, parched skin.

Dermablend is best known for its impressive selection of foundation and concealers, some of which you can use on your body to conceal things like bruises, or even tattoos. Additionally, the dermatologist-recommended brand boasts a cruelty-free certification from PETA. Its Dermablend's Leg and Body Makeup is one of our favorites. It's fragrance-free, highly pigmented, and contains SPF.

SpaRitual has made some of the brightest creams, shiniest metallics, and most intense glitter nail polishes we've ever seen. Its nail lacquer in Thrive is actually as brilliant as some of our real rose-gold knuckle rings. So it's surprising to know that from the start, the brand has used certified-organic and fair-trade ingredients, and the products are five-free, vegan, and cruelty-free — and that includes its body products, too.

Hailing from Brooklyn, S. W. Basics is known for its pure and simple formulas. No product contains more than five ingredients, none of which are tested on our four-legged friends. "We also explain exactly what those ingredients are going to do to your skin," says founder Adina Grigore. "We're proposing that when it comes to skin care, simple really can be better."

If you're a self-proclaimed beauty lover, you know Ahava's story: Made in Israel, the formulas contain mud and minerals from the Dead Sea. What you may not know is that the brand doesn't test on animals and the products don't contain any animal ingredients. In fact, in Hebrew "ahava" means love. If you're new to Ahava, we recommend trying the luxurious Mineral Botanic Velvet Cream Wash in Hibiscus & Fig and Dermud Intensive Foot Cream.

Vapour Organic Beauty knocks down every rumor you've ever heard about organic makeup. Its cruelty-free products have luxurious formulas, come in pretty shades, and contain rich pigments that don't fade away into nothing — so much so that we've crowned both its Aura Multi Use Blush stick and its Luminous Foundation (seen here) with a Best of Beauty Award in years past.

Here's a fun and totally random fact: Nourish was the first USDA-certified-organic skin-care collection. It even worked with the Department of Agriculture so that its products would be as pure and certifiably organic as the kale you get at your local farmers' market (talk about overachievers). It absolutely, positively does not test on animals, and most of its products are vegan (those that aren't do not have the vegan seal on the label), including our favorite, the Rosewater Body Mist.