50+ Unethical Beauty Brands To Avoid

Animal testing. Genocide supporting. And toxic, too! These are the most unethical beauty brands you need to know. Avoid!

By Diane Small

There has been a major revolution in the beauty industry!

While once, no one even questioned what ingredients were in products, now consumers demand to know everything. Where was it made? By whom? What’s inside the product? Are those ingredients safe?

Mainly, we want to know about:

• Animal Testing
• Animal Based Ingredients
• Toxic Chemical Ingredients
• Mica/Child Labour
• Unethical Politics/Policies

In fact, there are issues that are so vital to most consumers, there are now plenty of certifications to ensure us whether beauty brands are unethical or not.

But that being said, there are some countries – namely, the USA, where there’s very little regulation – or even transparency – about beauty brands. Meaning we beauty bunnies need to do our own research! So let’s look at some of the key issues in a bit more depth, below.

1. Animal Testing (AT)

It’s hard to believe. But according to PETA, in 2025, there are still loads of beauty brands testing on animals. And the worst part? Many of these brands are considered cruelty-free! How so, you may wonder? Well, it’s all about the details, my friends. A brand can actually legally claim to be cruelty-free “except when required by law.”

In other words, if the brand is sold in places like China that demand animal testing. And brands many are!

Does China Really Still Require Animal Testing?

At the time of writing, yes. Animal testing is still required in China for special cosmetic products. These include sunblocks, hair dyes, skin-whitening, and anti-brown spot treatments.

However, most general cosmetics (like daily makeup, skincare, haircare, and perfume) are exempt from this requirement.

A brand can avoid pre-market animal testing if its products meet certain conditions. For example:

• the product cannot make efficacy claims
• must not contain unregistered ingredients
• must not be designed specifically for children.

However, most brands DO make efficacy claims – especially for skincare.

The only reliable way to ensure a brand stays cruelty-free in China is by verifying if it is part of the Leaping Bunny China Qualification Program.

This program guarantees that the brand does not conduct pre-market or post-market animal testing in China.

2. Using Animal Products (AP)

Another way of saying this is ‘non vegan’ beauty products. While vegan beauty brands proudly shun the use of any animal products – even beeswax – most unethical beauty brands use tons of animal parts in their products.

This can include a wide range of ingredients, for a wide range of purposes.

A short list includes:

• Collagen
• Keratin
• Tallow
• Gelatine
• Cochineal
• Lanolin

…and many more.

3. Using Toxic Ingredients (TI)

As with the list of animal ingredients found in unethical beauty brands, there’s a long list of possible toxic ingredients, too.

Most ‘clean’ brands will say on their packaging that they’re free of parabens, sulphates and fragrance.

But there is a plethora of other toxins that are common – and that’s true in even the most popular beauty brands.

Here’s a small list of what to avoid:

• Formaldehyde, a known carcinogen.
• Paraformaldehyde, a type of formaldehyde.
• Methylene glycol, a type of formaldehyde.
• Quaternium 15, which releases formaldehyde.
• Mercury, which can damage the kidneys and nervous system.
• Dibutyl and diethylhexyl phthalates, which disrupt hormones and damage the reproductive system.

4. Mica/Unethical Supply Chains (M)

Mica is used to add shimmer to anything from eye shadow to blusher. It’s not necessarily toxic in itself (though it can be). But the issue is that it’s usually mined by child labour.

India produces most of the world’s mica. And around 25% of that comes from regions where child labour is common. Unfortunately, due to economic hardship, many families are forced to put their children to work.

Unfortunately, it has been discovered that there is absolutely no transparency in many of these mines, so there is no way of knowing if the mica used in your makeup was sourced with child labour or not.

Luckily, some brands have come together to form the Responsible Mica Initiative (R.M.I.), which is committed to eliminating child labour from the mica supply chain in the states of Bihar and Jharkhand in India.

Click here to learn more about ethical mica in cosmetics.

5. Unethical Politics/Policies (UP)

How would you feel if you knew your purchase of an unethical beauty brand’s products contributed to genocide? Or lined the pockets of a human trafficker? Or what if the brand just exploited their workers and/or customers really badly?

Unfortunately, most popular cosmetic companies today are guilty of one or more of the above.

From funding Israel’s IDF (who are now notorious for deliberately targeting children) to being besties with the likes of Jeffrey Epstein, there are loads of reasons to avoid certain highly unethical beauty brands. Which we will get to.

Ready to learn more about unethical beauty brands to avoid? Read on!

Here’s how we scored them:

• AT -Their products are still tested on animals
• AI – Their products contain animal ingredients
• TI – Their products contain toxic ingredients
• M – Their products contain unethically sourced mica
• UP – Their products are unethically produced, and/or they have unethical politics/policies.

Please note: We did our best research into these companies. But policies do change, and nobody is perfect! If you find a reason why any of these companies do not deserve to be in our list of the most unethical beauty brands, please let us know in the comments, below!

The Least Ethical Beauty Companies

1. L’Oreal

There’s a reason L’Oreal is at the top of our list. While this huge company has made some progress  to eliminate animal testing, PETA still lists it as a “do test” brand.

But that’s not all.

L’Oreal’s products contain myriad toxic chemicals. In fact, there are just far too many to list here. But of the huge list of brands below, I can’t think of a single one I would call ‘clean’, except maybe Aesop.

Oh, and the company also supports genocide in Palestine. Finally, many of their supply chains are not transparent.

Note that L’Oreal is the parent company to many, many other brands.

These include:

• Maybelline
• Lancôme
• The Body Shop
• Urban Decay
• YSL
• Redken
• NYX
• Dark and Lovely
• Garnier
• CeraVe
• Essie
• LaRoche Posay
• Biotherm
• Kiehls
• Helena Rubenstein
• Aesop
• Shu Uemura
• Ralph Lauren
• Prada
• Carita

…and many more. So those brands are to be avoided, too!

The brand has a whole ESG report about how ‘inclusive’ they are. And how they are reducing their energy use, etc. But given how toxic their products are, their support for genocide, and their sanctioning of the torture of animals, it shows you just what a joke ESG scores truly are.

One of the most unethical beauty brands because of: AT, AP, TI, UP

2. Estée Lauder

Estée Lauder also needs to be at the top of our list of unethical beauty brands!

And that’s a big deal, because it’s the parent company of many brands, including:

• Clinique
• Bobbi Brown
• La Mer
• GLAMGLOW
• Origins
• Tom Ford
• M.A.C.
• Aveda

These companies are all subject to the same animal-testing policy in China, meaning none of them are cruelty-free. And there’s so much more to dislike about Estée Lauder!

For example? The company is very active in the Pink Ribbon breast cancer campaign. And yet…many of their products contain cancer-causing chemicals. They also donate that ‘charity’ money to…Big Pharma. Specifically, Big Pharma that the owner, Ron Lauder, is on the board of. And Lauder is a huge donor to the Israeli Defence Forces, meaning he’s all about aiding genocide.

Finally, Estée Lauder upset many of its customers in 2020, when they failed to deliver Christmas orders. The company took their time responding to angry customers, and then only sent a generic, bland corporate response. Worse yet, from what we understand, many customers still have not received their product or a refund. Classy.

One of the most unethical beauty brands because of: AI, AP, TI, M, UP

3. NARS

For a long time, consumers thought the company founded by makeup artist Francois Nars was a great brand for cruelty-free makeup. However, in early 2020, the brand updated its animal testing policy, as it joined the Chinese market. Unfortunately, this means that NARS now conducts animal tests where required by law. So, they are no longer a cruelty-free brand.

In addition, we don’t know where their mica comes from, and there is zero information on their website about supply chains. When we reached out to them to find out more info, we never got a reply.

One of the most unethical beauty brands because of: AT, M

4. Coty 

Coty is the parent company of a long, long list of unethical beauty brands.

These include, amongst several others:

• O.P.I.
• Rimmel London
• Kylie Cosmetics (partly)
• Marc Jacobs
• Lancaster
• Bourjois
• Covergirl (this brand is actually Leaping Bunny certified)
• Burberry
• Calvin Klein
• Gucci
• Jil Sander
• Hugo Boss
• Joop
• Max Factor
• David Beckham
• Sally Hansen
• Tiffany & Co
• Vera Wang

Coty was removed from the list of cruelty-free companies when PETA discovered the company had abandoned its anti-animal testing policy and sold products in the Chinese market. Now it is just one of many brands that have sold out its ethics and upstanding principles for the chance to make money in China.

But that’s not all.

Their ingredients are not so clean – at all! There are so many toxic chemicals included in these brands that I simply cannot list them all in one article. I did look for a mica policy, and found none. And of course, there’s no guarantee that any of these brands are vegan, either.

Now, let’s just take one brand – Kylie Cosmetics – as a case study to check out Coty’s overall ethics and policies.

I mean…what’s to love about Coty’s toxic, unethical beauty brands? As far as I can see, nothing. Nothing at all.

One of the most unethical beauty brands because of: AT, AP, TI, UP, M

5. Victoria’s Secret

This company once spoke out against animal cruelty. But when they realised how huge the Chinese market was, they changed their mind. Today, Victoria Secret is just another unethical beauty brand that is happy to test their products on animals so they can capitalise on the Chinese market.

But that’s not all! The founder of the company, Les Wexner, is infamous for being very close to sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein. In fact, Epstein was his financial manager for over 20 years. Yikes! Makes you wonder how old those VS ‘angels’ really were…or what they had to do to become one. Wexner is also a huge supporter of Israel’s genocide in Palestine.

The company is transparent about their supply chain. But not so much about their ingredients. Especially in their fragrances. But I can tell you – every time I walk by a VS store, I get a headache from the smell. Not a good sign!

One of the most unethical beauty brands because of: AT, AP, TI, UP

6. Revlon

Revlon is the parent company of:

• Cutex
• Almay
• Elizabeth Arden
• Juicy Couture
• Elizabeth Taylor fragrance collection
• Christina Aguilera fragrances
• Sinful Colors

… and more.

It seems each of those brands is happy to do animal testing “where required by law.” So none of Revlon’s brands can be considered to be vegan or cruelty free.

But that’s not the worst of it. The company also supports the genocide in Palestine. And finally, Revlon is notorious for using several toxic ingredients in their cosmetics, such as parabens, fragrance and various preservatives. And then they hypocritically fund cancer charities! Shades of Estee Lauder, eh?

As for mica, we couldn’t find information about their supply chain for this. So we will just assume the policy is not good. But if you know something that would change that assessment, let us know!

One of the most unethical beauty brands because of: AT, AP, TI, UP, M

7. Chanel

This oh-so glamorous brand is just ridiculous. They have a long PDF about their ‘sustainability’ policies. These include racial equality, reducing energy, using renewable energy, etc. Great. But there is nothing about stopping the use of animal ingredients, or stopping animal testing in Chinese markets.

There’s no transparency about what exactly the ‘fragrance’ is in their perfumes, many of which are headache-inducing for many.

In addition, Chanel supports genocide in Palestine. And we don’t know where its mica comes from.

That being said, an examination of around ten of the brand’s top selling cosmetics demonstrated fairly clean ingredients.

One of the most unethical beauty brands because of: AT, AP, UP, M

8. Mary Kay

Mary Kay’s representatives often claim the brand doesn’t on animals, but the brand has the same “where required by law” rule as all the rest listed here.

Unfortunately, in 2012, Mary Kay decided to start selling its products in China, and they began testing on animals once again and continues to do so today.

In addition, Mary Kay still uses harmful chemicals in their products, such as ‘fragrance’ and parabens. And they’re not vegan friendly, either. There was no information on the site about their supply chains, nor could we find anything about their mica policies. So we just assume the worst…

One of the most unethical beauty brands because of: AT, AP, TI, M

9. Avon

It seems this popular cosmetics company might not be around for much longer. In 2024, Avon filed for bankruptcy after legal representatives of their customers alleged their eyeshadows and face powders were contaminated with asbestos. Yipes! Talk about toxic ingredients!

Like Mary Kay, this is a brand that profits from misleading their customers. They claim to be the first major makeup company to end animal testing on its products back in the ’90s. However, the truth is that Avon authorises and pays local Chinese officials to conduct animal testing for them. And also like Mary Kay, there’s no information about their supply chains, or mica.

One of the most unethical beauty brands because of: AT, AP, TI, M

10. LVMH

We saved one of the worst for last!

This is another parent company to a long list of unethical beauty brands.

These include:

• Dior
• Guerlain
• Sephora
• Acqua di Parma
• Benefit Cosmetics
• Cha Ling
• Fenty Beauty by Rihanna
• Fresh
• Givenchy Parfums
• KVD Beauty
• Kenzo Parfums
• Loewe Perfumes
• Maison Francis Kurkdjian
• Make Up For Ever
• OLEHENRIKSEN

Like all luxury brands that sell in mainland China, they test on animals. Although, for example, Guerlain says they “are strongly opposed to animal testing and have developed recognised expertise in alternatives to animal testing,” this just sounds like another clever way of saying someone else does testing on the brand’s behalf.

But that’s not all, of course. LVMH supports genocide, and most of their brands carry myriad toxic ingredients. They may also use animal parts in their products. Even their ‘vegan’ brands, like KVD, are not Leaping Bunny Certified.

One of the most unethical beauty brands because of: AT, AP, TI, UP, M

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Chere Di Boscio

Founder & Editor in Chief at Eluxe Magazine

Chere has always loved writing, fashion and languages, and holds degrees in Psychology and Art, and postgraduate degrees in Applied Linguistics and Education. Her long career in journalism spans several continents: she’s edited and written for prestigious magazines in Toronto, Dubai, Paris, London and Buenos Aires. Learn more about Chere’s extensive career on LinkedIn.

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