Frequently Asked Questions

Our approved cruelty-free brands confirm that they don’t test finished products or ingredients on animals at any point during production or beyond. No animal testing is being performed by the brands themselves, their suppliers, or any third-parties. These brands also don’t test on animals where required by law, and don’t sell in stores in mainland China.

You can learn more about our criteria, the Cruelty-Free 5.

Before adding them to our list, we contact brands directly and ask them the following questions:

• Does your brand test on animals, for either finished products or ingredients?
• Do your suppliers test on animals? How do you ensure this?
• Do any third-parties test on animals on your behalf?
• Do you test on animals where required by law?
• In which countries are your products sold (excluding online sales)?

Only the brands that are able to confirm all of the above are added to our list. We ask these questions to PETA-approved brands we well. In the case of brands that are certified by Leaping Bunny, we bypass the questions unless the brands sell supplements. This is because Leaping Bunny’s certification holds a high standard, although a loophole can be used for companies that sell supplements.

We select brands based on demand, popularity, and availability. The majority of the brands we add to our list are well-known and widely available, because these are the brands most people shop. Our goal is to make it easy for everyone to shop cruelty-free, both in stores and online.

To suggest a brand, please fill out this form.

Since 2020, we accept requests from brands to be added to the list. We’ve opened up the list in order to include more small or independent brands that are cruelty-free and wish to reach a larger audience. These partner brands are marked with the P symbol on their brand page.

To be considered, use the contact form and select “Get your brand listed”. Please note that there’s a fee in order to be added.

First, search for the brand to make sure it’s not already in our database. If you can’t find the brand, you can suggest a brand for us to verify by filling out this form.

PETA approves brands that are sold in countries where animal testing is required by law if they use certain loopholes. We don’t believe that these loopholes are solid enough, as they imply a small risk that their finished products may be tested on animals. Because of this risk, we don’t consider these brands to be cruelty-free.

Unfortunately, the term “cruelty-free” is not regulated, which means any brand can make a cruelty-free claim even if it’s not true or verified. Always read the fine print when it comes to brand policies, as many companies use clever phrasing to mislead customers.

No. All of them are cruelty-free, and many offer vegan products. You can refine the list of cruelty-free brands to only show brands that are 100% vegan.

Cruelty-free: no animal testing. Vegan: does not contain any animal-derived ingredients.

Not all vegan brands or products are cruelty-free, and not all cruelty-free brands are vegan.

No. Many cruelty-free brands sell products that are “made in China”. These products are not tested on animals. Only products sold in stores in China have to be tested on animals. You can read more here.

No. There are no MLM brands on our lists. We don’t believe that the MLM model is an ethical one, and we don’t promote these companies.