Is Carol’s Daughter Cruelty-free and Vegan?
Yes, Carol’s Daughter is a cruelty-free cosmetics brand. Its cruelty-free policy is clear – it doesn’t test animals, neither does its suppliers and third parties do this on behalf of the company. However, the brand was acquired by L’Oreal, a company that tests on animals. Carol’s Daughter claims that it is completely vegan, but we found out that they aren’t! Continue reading to get details on the status of the brand.
Carol’s Daughter is headquartered in New York City and was established in Brooklyn in 1993 by Lisa Price.
The company was, however, acquired by a French personal care company, L’Oreal, for $27 million, following a bankruptcy in 2014.
Meanwhile, L’Oreal is not a cruelty-free brand as it tests on animals. This, however, has not in any way affected the cruelty-free policy of Carol’s Daughter.
Is Carol’s Daughter Cruelty-Free?
Following the acquisition of Carol’s Daughter by L’Oreal, a brand that tests on animals, many users and animal advocacy experts would like to know if the brand’s status has changed.
To answer this question, we put Carol’s Daughter through a checklist. To be considered cruelty-free, a brand must not:
- Test its finished products, ingredients, or byproducts on animals
- Outsource its animal testing programs to vendors or third parties
- Sell in countries where animal testing is required by law
Based on the above, we found out that Carol’s Daughter is indeed cruelty-free. The brand confirms in its FAQ page on its website that it is cruelty-free.
Also, its parent company, L’Oreal, has a policy on sustainable commitment to help alleviate global issues such as fighting climate change, managing water, respecting biodiversity, and of course, preserving natural resources.
Are Carol’s Daughter products tested on animals?
Carol’s Daughter products, byproducts, and ingredients are not tested on animals. The brand doesn’t sell in countries where foreign companies are required to test its finished products on animals.
Although L’Oreal, its parent company, is not a cruelty-free brand, Carol’s Daughter, since its acquisition, still keeps its policy as a non-testing company.
Also, Carol’s Daughter confirms on its website that it is a cruelty-free organization.
They don’t do animal testing with their finished products, formulations, ingredients, and byproducts during the development, manufacturing, distribution, and aftermarket processes.
Do they Test on Animals when the law requires this?
No, it doesn’t. China is a country that has regulations that require foreign brands to put their products through a testing procedure on animals, disregarding the pain and risks that this could be for them.
And since Carol’s Daughter doesn’t sell in or ship to China, this means they don’t test animals when the law requires that it should.
Are Carol’s Daughter products sold in China?
Not at all, you can’t find Carol’s Daughter products in China, whether in stores or via cross border shipping from New York City to Far East China.
Although there are foreign cosmetics manufacturers who do cross border shipping to China but still keep their cruelty-free status, Carol’s Daughter doesn’t consider it worthy of trial because of the risk of compromise.
Instead, Carol’s Daughter only ships to states within the US.
Does Carol’s Daughter have cruelty-free certifications?
Yes, the brand has a certification from PETA’s Beauty Without Bunnies program. The animal rights organization is the leading certifying body for animal testing brands in the beauty and personal care industry.
Carol’s Daughter doesn’t have a certification from Leaping Bunny.
Is Carol’s Daughter Owned by another company?
Yes, Carol’s Daughter is owned by the French mega cosmetics brand L’Oreal. However, L’Oreal is not a cruelty-free brand.
It tests on animals, but it still has sustainable commitments to protecting the planet’s natural resources. Moreover, it’s animal testing policy doesn’t rub off on Carol’s Daughter as the latter remains cruelty-free.
Are Carol’s Daughter Products Vegan?
This is a complicated question to answer. While Carol’s Daughter claims that it is a vegan company, as can be seen from the screenshot below, we found out that it is not.
For a company to be 100% vegan, its products must not be made from animals.
Its ingredients must also not contain animal formulations, derivatives, and byproducts such as beeswax, lanolin, animal protein, egg white or egg yolk, creatine, honey, and more.
However, following our in-depth research, we found out that Carol’s Daughter indeed makes use of animal ingredients.
The ingredients of its Monoi Ora Volume Sprayshow that it makes use of hydrolyzed silk, which is an animal derivative.
Also, the Marula Curl Cream Cleanser contains keratin, a proteinous substance derived from animal hair and nails.
Its Healthy Hair Butter also contains beeswax, an ingredient secreted by bees.
Nonetheless, Carol’s Daughter still has quite a lot of vegan products in its catalog. Some of these include:
- Carol’s Daughter Leave-In Conditioner
- Goddess Strength Shampoo, Conditioner and Leave-In
- Goddess Strength Fortifying Conditioner with Castor Oil
- Goddess Strength Fortifying Shampoo with Castor Oil
Summary
Although Carol’s Daughter is not yet certified by the Leaping Bunny, it is certified by PETA’s Beauty Without Bunnies.
The company doesn’t do animal testing, neither does its suppliers or third parties do this on its behalf. It doesn’t sell in China, where animal testing is required by law.
The brand has a few products that include animal ingredients and are not vegan, contrary to its brand claims.
Also, Carol’s Daughter is owned by L’Oreal, a parent company that does animal testing. However, it’s animal testing policy doesn’t affect Carol’s status as a cruelty-free brand.
