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The Ultimate Guide to Cruelty-Free Nail Polish Brands

Posted on by Tashina Combs & Last updated on 77 Comments

The Ultimate Guide to Cruelty-Free Nail Polish Brands

When I first switched to using all vegan beauty and household products, I was really surprised at how easy it was to find vegan nail polish. There are a lot of cruelty-free brands that offer a lot of vegan options and there are also a lot of brands that offer vegan nail polish too. A lot of people have seemed really surprised when they learn that all nail polish isn’t vegan.

People know about animal testing and what brands to avoid because of that, but not about animal ingredients that polish can contain. The short story is that a lot of brands test on animals, but a lot of nail polish also contains animal ingredients. Read more about what makes nail polish vegan and learn what these animal ingredients are.

Below are brands that are not only cruelty-free but also offer vegan nail polishes.

Cruelty-Free Nail Polish Brands:

Cruelty-Free Gel Polish Brands:

The following cruelty-free brands also make cruelty-free gel polish.

Cruelty-Free Builder Gel Polish Brands:

Cruelty-Free Builder Dip Powder Brands:

Cruelty-Free Poly Gel Polish Brands:

Cruelty-Free Drugstore Nail Polish Brands:

The following are cruelty-free nail polish brands that can be found in the drugstore:

Nail Polish Brands that are NOT Cruelty-Free:

The following brands are not cruelty-free and also make nail polish. This is not a full list but just includes the most popular brands out there.

  • Creative Nail Design (CND)
  • Essie
  • Formula X
  • L’Oreal
  • Max Factor
  • Maybelline
  • Revlon
  • Rimmel
  • Sally Hansen
  • Sinful Colors

Do you know of other cruelty-free nail polish brands? Please comment and let me know! I’d love to keep expanding this list to include more options!

Editor’s Note: By using the affiliate links in this post you are supporting Logical Harmony! How does it work? When you purchase a product through one of these links Logical Harmony gets a small commission at no extra cost to you. This is a very large part of what keeps Logical Harmony running – Thank you!

Last updated on Filed Under: Nail Care

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Victoria says

    Essence has a few shades of nail polish. I know they are on the Cruelty-free makeup list, but I was wondering why they weren’t on the nail polish list. Do they use ingredients tested on animals for the polishes?

    Reply

  2. Kittie says

    Hi Tashina,

    I love the way you have a specific list just for nail polish! I was so glad to hear there are Cruelty Free nail gels as well. When I go to NYC, to visit my old stomping grounds, I always try to stop in the Elf Store. I can get Elf cosmetics here in PA, but going to a store dedicated to their products gives so much variety.

    Reply

  6. Gemma says

    Rimmel London don’t test on animals and their “60 seconds super shine” nail polish definitely contains no animal products. I don’t know about there other nail polishes but pretty sure that one is clean! 🙂

    Reply

    • Tashina Combs says

      Hi Janet,

      Wet’n’Wild did used to be on this list. I removed them because not all polish shades are vegan, which is really confusing for a lot of people. So I decided to make this a list where people can pick from brands where they don’t have to worry about checking ingredients in each shade.

      Reply

    • Tashina Combs says

      Hi Elise,

      Thanks for suggesting this brand! I haven’t looked into them before, which is why they don’t appear on the list. I’ve just sent them an inquiry and have added them to the pending brands list. Please check back in the future to see what list they are on. This will depend on how fast I hear back from them.

      Reply

    • Tashina Combs says

      I have reached out to Julep about their animal testing stance and use of animal ingredients many times, but have never received a response. Because of this, I don’t feel comfortable adding them to the list.

      Reply

  17. redtearsblackwings says

    Furless Cosmetics do a heap of colours which are all vegan. They’re an Aussie brand who also do amazingly soft makeup brushes. I’ve not tried any of their polish because my nails peel and the colour peels off when the nail does. Tracking down a vegan nail treatment is tough, most have silk in them thus my nails still peel. I’m not sure if the nail polishes can be posted outside of Australia though, some can’t because they’re considered dangerous goods. But I know there are lots of Aussies who read your blog.

    Reply

  20. Danae says

    From what I knew Essence is 100% cruelty free and also vegan..not sure if you can find it in your country through(But from what I know it’s really,really possible)

    Reply

  22. catheryn says

    Color Secrets Nail Polish! It is a new line, but it is high quality vegan polish at very affordable prices. They also have huge color selections that include vegan glitter and shimmers. I just ordered from them again to stock up my nail salon….Can’t go wrong with the quality and pricing, with the vegan formula to top it off!! If you would like any product review or want more information how to work with Color Secrets or order any polishes, please feel free to respond / contact me!

    Reply

  23. Pia says

    Hello Tashina, so before I pop my question, let me just tell you that I have just recently come across your blog and YOU ARE DOING SUCH A GREAT JOB! Seriously, I appreciate all the work you put into it, in order to provide your readers with nothing but the most accurate information. So, thank you 🙂
    Now, onto my question. I’ve been doing a little research here and there and have even mailed a couple of companies myself, in an attempt to find as many vegan and cruelty-free nail polish brands as possible. I have also scrolled through a couple of other blogs and forums and it has been said that O.P.I, china glaze and NYX are also vegan and cruelty-free. Do you by any chance know if this is reliable, because those are brands (apart from Butter London and e.l.f) that would actually be available to me.
    Thanks in advance and keep it up!

    Reply

    • Tashina Combs says

      Hi Pia!

      Thank you so much for the kind words. I really appreciate it. 🙂

      Sadly, OPI is a “required by law” brand, so they are not cruelty free any longer. NYX is cruelty free with some vegan options. I have reached out to China Glaze several time and they have been unresponsive to me, so I am unable to state if they are cruelty free or not (by my standards). I just sent them another information request, so fingers crossed I hear back this time!

      Reply

    • Tashina Combs says

      Hi Steph,

      The Leaping Bunny logo doesn’t verify if products are vegan or not, just cruelty free. I’ve never seen the Leaping Bunny used on any Butter London packaging myself. Regardless, I check with all brands listed on my Cruelty Free & Vegan Brand list and featured on Logical Harmony myself in great detail. Even brands who are certified by PETA or Leaping Bunny as being cruelty free.

      Butter London was able to answer all of my questions about animal testing and their use of ingredients in a way that makes me comfortable saying they are cruelty free. I have been assured by the brand that all of their nail polish shades are vegan, but not all of their products are as some cosmetic items contain beeswax and carmine. They are not a vegan brand and do not market themselves to be an all vegan brand. Just a cruelty free brand with vegan options, including their nail colors.

      I haven’t heard of Kester Black before. Thanks for the tip! I’ll look into them and see if I feel comfortable adding them to my cruelty free & vegan brand list!

      Reply

    • Tashina says

      Thanks for pointing out Scotch Naturals! That was an oversight on my part. Zoya is listed here because all of their polishes are vegan. However, not all of their treatment products are vegan. This is why they are not listed as 100% vegan on the brands list.

      Reply

  29. Kelly says

    Hello! I am interested in learning more… I must have missed it, but what animal ingredients are in nail polish? Can they be listed and explained, please? I didn’t see them listed on this post or others. Thanks!

    Reply

  30. Ev says

    I think Piggy Paint polishes can be included — they say they’re cruelty-free, have no animal by-products, and are odorless/eco-friendly.. what’s really cool is that they make polishes for dogs also *(*´??*)?

    Reply

  31. Christina says

    Hi, Tashina!

    Thank you for such useful info updates!
    Sorry if it has been asked before, but what about OPI? It is not in the list so it is not vegan?

    Thank you!

    Christina

    Reply

  36. Emma says

    LOVE this list!

    I want to use nails inc in my home salon for polish although need to research who to use for gel polish. If you have any tips on the gel front I would be very interested in reading them 😀 Keep up the great blogs x

    Reply

    • Tashina says

      Isn’t it great to see tons of brands you’d buy anyways on this list? I love that some brands are already on top of being animal friendly. 🙂

      Thanks for the tip on Barry M, I’m going to check out that brand too!

      Reply

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