When it comes to cruelty-free brands, there can be a lot of confusion about which brands are cruelty-free and which are not. In an attempt to make things easier, this post series hopes to help clear up the cruelty-free stance of some of the most asked about brands on Logical Harmony. A lot of people ask, “Is Aveda cruelty-free?”. Aside from being a well-known hair care brand, Aveda has their own chain of salons and is used in a lot of salons as well. A lot of cruelty-free consumers want to use Aveda on their hair at home but also because it can be such a struggle to find a salon with cruelty-free products.
Is Aveda cruelty-free? Keep reading to find out the details.
Aveda used to be one of the favorite brands in the cruelty-free beauty community. In 2012, they updated their FAQ to state that they did test on animals when required by law. This was very upsetting for the cruelty-free beauty community because so many knew of Aveda as a salon chain and hair care line they could depend on. For several years, Aveda stated that they did test on animals when required by law. Even though they were not selling in China, required by law testing can happen in almost every market around the world. Thankfully, they have made some much needed adjustments to their animal testing policy.
Over the past several weeks I’ve had extensive communication with the Aveda corporate team. They have been extremely positive, helpful, and these talks has been very productive. Thank you so much to the team at Aveda for understanding how important being a cruelty-free brand is! I truly appreciate it when these brands want to be listed on Logical Harmony as cruelty-free.
Is Aveda cruelty-free? Yes! Aveda is a completely cruelty-free brand. There is no animal testing occurring on their products or ingredients by Aveda, a parent company, or any companies that they work with. Aveda also does not test on animals when required by law.
Are Aveda products sold in China? No. Aveda products are not sold in China, and were never sold in China.
Does Aveda test on animals when required by law? No. Aveda does not test on animals when required by law. After talking to them extensively, I feel that I can confidently say that Aveda does not test on animals when required by law. Nor do they pay for any required by law testing to occur on their products.
Who owns Aveda? While Aveda is cruelty-free, Aveda is owned by Estee Lauder and Estee Lauder is not cruelty-free. I think everyone should decide for themselves how they feel about parent companies who test on animals. Supporting any cruelty-free brand is better than purchasing products from a brand that tests on animals.
Does Aveda have vegan products? Aveda does have some vegan products.
From the Aveda FAQ page:
“Aveda is a cruelty-free brand. We do not test on animals and never ask others to do so on our behalf. Our products are ‘people-tested.’ Being a cruelty-free brand is an important part of our mission to care for the world we live in and for those we live with, and has been since our founding in 1978.”
From the Aveda Cares page:
“Being a cruelty-free brand is an important part of our mission to care for the world we live in and for those we live with, and has been since our founding in 1978.
We strive to set an example for leadership and responsibility of caring, not just in the world of beauty, but around the world. Our commitment to caring for animals and wildlife reaches far and wide. In fact, we live and breathe it.
While Aveda products are not certified Vegetarian or Vegan, the overwhelming majority of our products contain no animal-derived ingredients. A very small number of products may include ingredients such as beeswax, honey, or whey-based protein.”
I am always excited to add another cruelty-free brand to the cruelty-free brand list here on Logical Harmony, especially one with a lot of vegan options. I get so many questions about Aveda, so I am very happy to be moving them to the cruelty-free section of the list. This is especially great since Aveda has salons all over and a lot of readers want to know what salon brands are cruelty-free.
Will you start using Aveda products? If so, which ones catch your eye?
While I am working on getting a full list of the vegan options from Aveda, I was able to find out about a few of them now. Below are some of the best-selling cruelty-free Aveda products that are also vegan:
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I like Occitane products but they sell in China, meaning they’re required by law to test on animals. I do not want to support any product that might not test in the US but needs to do so overseas for profit-making opportunities. I like Aveda, too, but am sad to hear that Estée Lauder owns them and tests on animals.
We have to put more pressure on companies to stop this awful, painful, and torturous deed. Animals are not disposable entities who don’t feel emotion, pain, and fear. I urge all people with any humanity left in them to ban products that test. Perhaps a petition and other actions can be done to expose and change these ways. We need to progress and stop this practice—for once and for all.
If Aveda are owned by Estée Lauder and they test on animals how can they say that their parent company doesn’t test?
They don’t. Their parent company does not test Aveda products on animals.
Hi, I got the following correspondence last month from Aveda customer service:
Although Aveda products are not certified Vegetarian or Vegan, the majority of our retail products contain no animal-derived ingredients. A small number of products may contain beeswax or honey.
Aveda was born cruelty-free, and by 2021 all of its formulations will be 100% vegan by removing all beeswax, honey and beeswax-derived ingredients from its products. Our hair care will have 100% certified vegan formulations by September 2019.
For more information please see our sustainability landing page: https://www.aveda.com/sustainablefuture
No, I wouldn’t. I received the following response from Aveda (today) to my enquiry if particular hair care range was vegan, and I also asked for the complete list of ingredients:
“Thank you for your question.
We do not send out lists of products which do or do not contain animal derived ingredients as we find from experience that there could be formulation changes and the information becomes invalid.
Very few animal derived raw materials are found in our products. Animal ingredients are used only when their efficacy cannot be duplicated by any other source of ingredients. When an ingredient can be obtained from either animals or plants, we use the plant derived material.”
Besides, I’m also not comfortable with the parent company scenario and I wasn’t aware of their parent company when I submitted my questions to them.
Whilst they may not test in animals, they are not cruelty-free in my books – to me, cruelty-free is vegan + not tested on animals.
Thank you so much for independently looking into brands-it is getting very confusing out there as to which brands are cruelty free, or to what extent they are cruelty free, and so many of my once go-to brands have changed their testing policies, so it can be hard to find something both 1. available and 2. affordable. I have gone to Aveda for years because they were on so many cruelty free lists at one point-I am ashamed to say I never even heard they had at one time changed their policy! So, thanks for clarifying!
I do go to the Aveda salon for cut and color because where I’m located it is so hard to find cruelty free salons with ample vegan products. So glad to see this post!
Thanks so much for this information! How about Origins…?
Origins is on the brands to avoid list.
I think this is great. However, I will not personally purchase items from companies that have parent companies that test. Estee Lauder needs to take the leap and set an example for other major companies. They need to make the statement that being cruelty free and ethical is more important than money.
I hope you will let Aveda and Estee Lauder know this. It’s really important for brands to know how consumers feel about this issue.