Is Garnier Cruelty-Free and Vegan?

Garnier is a French cosmetics brand owned by L’Oreal. The brand was founded in 1904 and has its headquarters in Clichy, France.

The brand majors in both hair and skincare products. Their catalog includes body lotions, face mask, shampoo, hair food, and cleansers.

Is Garnier Cruelty-Free?

Garnier has long claimed that they’re “cruelty-free”, and the claim gained more ground after they took their products off the Chinese market. They’ve since published an animal testing policy which goes as follows:

Despite this claim, Garnier isn’t considered to be “cruelty-free” due to their affiliation with L’Oréal, a brand that has earned a reputation for testing heavily on animals.

Also, they don’t have a single certification from cruelty-free authorities. We, therefore, consider this a case of blowing your own horn.

Are Garnier products tested on Animals?

Well, a statement on their site says they don’t carry out any form of animal testing, and we’re forced to believe so at the moment since they no longer sell in China.

But if the situation was different, there’s a 90% probability that they would.

This is because they’ve failed to attain any cruelty-free certification since they ended their relationship with the Chinese market.

Secondly, they haven’t signed an agreement with PETA to certify that they have no intention of carrying out animal tests in the future.

Do they Test Animals when required by the Law?

The reason Garnier pulled their products off the Chinese market wasn’t because of the strict animal testing policy in the country. It was due to low sales.

Their parent company has no problem with the animal testing policy in China and promotes 85% of its products in the country to this day.

However, Garnier strongly maintains their products are not tested on animals anywhere in the world. But we understand that during their days in the Chinese market, they had to comply with the Chinese animal testing law.

Are Garnier Products sold in China?

Garnier products are no longer sold in China. Their products were pulled off from the Chinese market in 2014.

This was thought to be a result of low sales and partly due to growing competition among cosmetics brands in the country.

Does Garnier have Cruelty free Certifications?

Garnier stated in its FAQ session that they don’t carry out any sort of animal testing. However, they have no cruelty-free certification to back that claim up. They’re missing from PETA’s list of cruelty-free brands as well.

This is because even though they promote themselves as a “cruelty-free” brand, they’ve failed to sign a statement of assurance with PETA to certify that they have no intention of carrying out animal testing on their products in the future.

Is Garnier Owned by another Company?

Garnier is one of three skincare heavyweights under L’oreal. As far as we know, the French company isn’t a friend of PETA and has emerged in their list of brands to avoid.

L’Oreal’s reputation of not being a cruelty-free brand has always rubbed off on Garnier.

The brand is not considered “cruelty-free” despite putting an end to their relationship with the Chinese market 6 years ago.

Is Garnier Products Vegan?

The vegan community doesn’t consider a brand that tests on animals or one owned by a company that does animal testing to be “vegan”. The vegan community is all about eradicating habits that pose harm to animals.

But if we come down to the cosmetic meaning of “vegan”, it means products that are free from animal-derivatives.

So far, the only Garnier product that has been certified to be 100% vegan is “the vegan ultimate blend almond shampoo”.

During its launch, it was advertised as a vegan shampoo in magazines, TV commercials, and social media promotions.

Summary

Garnier’s cruelty-free status is up in the air. And they’ve done little to help themselves. A cruelty-free certificate would have put an end to every uncertainty.

But it’s difficult to do so since a non-cruelty-free company like L’Oreal manages them.