Is John Frieda Cruelty-Free And Vegan?
If you’re pursuing a vegan lifestyle or wish to support companies whose values are similar to yours, it can be hard to know which companies are truly cruelty-free and vegan. Many companies claim to be cruelty-free but still sell their products in places where animal testing is required.
John Frieda is a hair care brand best known for its Frizz Ease line of products designed to smooth, tame, and moisturize all types of hair. But is John Frieda truly cruelty-free and vegan?
John Frieda is not a cruelty-free or vegan brand. John Frieda sells their products in China, where it’s required by law to test cosmetics on animals. Since some of their products include animal-derived ingredients, they also aren’t a vegan company.
In this post, we’ll discuss why John Frieda doesn’t qualify as a cruelty-free or vegan brand.
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Is John Frieda Cruelty-Free?
John Frieda doesn’t test their products on animals in most countries. In fact, on their website, they state that they “absolutely do not test on animals.” However, this is very misleading. On the same web page, they note that laws sometimes require that materials be tested on animals, so they do test on animals whenever it’s required.
China is an example of a country where animal testing is a legal requirement. This means that all John Frieda shampoo, conditioner, serum, and hair care products are tested on animals before they ever make it onto store shelves.
Cruelty-free companies don’t ever test their products on animals, even when it’s a law. Instead, they refuse to sell their products anywhere that it’s a requirement to test them on animals. Since John Frieda allows the testing of their products on animals, they aren’t cruelty-free.
Is John Frieda Owned By A Parent Company That Tests On Animals?
John Frieda is owned by a company named Kao Corporation. Kao Company tests on animals where it’s required by law. In fact, they are on PETA’s “Companies That Do Test On Animals” list.
Kao owns many other companies, including Biore, Jergens, Molton Brown, and Oribe. All of these companies test their products on animals whenever it’s required.
Is John Frieda Certified Cruelty-Free?
No organizations have certified John Frieda as cruelty-free. Of course, their use of animal testing in China prevents them from being cruelty-free, thus the lack of certifications.
PETA has the lowest number of requirements for cruelty-free certification. In fact, companies don’t even have to recommit to their standards each year. If they show they don’t practice animal testing once, they can use PETA’s “Global Beauty Without Bunnies” logo on their products indefinitely. Here is what they ask of companies they endorse as being cruelty-free:
- No ingredients or products are tested on animals.
- The company must refuse to sell their items in places where they’ll be legally required to be tested on animals.
The Leaping Bunny logo, however, has more stringent qualifications and requires more steps to be met before its logo can be placed on product labels. In addition to PETA qualifications, Leaping Bunny companies must:
- Not purchase any ingredients from suppliers utilizing animal testing.
- Recommit to the Leaping Bunny Standard each year.
- Keep tabs on their suppliers to ensure they aren’t ever using their products on animals to conduct experiments.
If John Frieda wishes to become certified cruelty-free, they first need to stop their operations in mainland China. At that point, they’d be able to be certified cruelty-free by PETA; gaining use of the Leaping Bunny logo would take more work but would show commitment to an important cause.
Is John Frieda Vegan?
Many John Frieda products contain products derived from animals, so they are not vegan.
For example, glycerin is the second ingredient listed in their Frizz Ease Daily Nourishment Leave-in Conditioner. While glycerin may be derived from plants, it can also come from animals. Since John Frieda doesn’t specify where they source their glycerin from, it’s impossible to consider them vegan.
Other non-vegan ingredients that John Frieda utilizes in their products include tallow, silk, lanolin, honey, and collagen, just to name a few. Of course, it’s necessary to read each ingredient label to know for sure which animal-derived ingredients are included in that specific formula.
Even if John Frieda only produced vegan-friendly products, it would be impossible to consider them a vegan company. Continuing to test their products on animals does not align with vegan values; therefore, they will not be an authentic vegan brand until they stop their animal testing policies.
Do John Frieda Products Contain Animal-Derived Ingredients?
Many of John Frieda’s products contain animal-derived ingredients. Ingredient labels can be confusing to read, but some animal-derived ingredients used in their products are easy to spot: milk, collagen, lanolin, etc.
There are many vegan alternatives to the animal-derived ingredients John Frieda uses in their products. Hopefully, they’ll decide to transition to more ethical options for their otherwise high-quality products.
Is John Frieda Sold In China?
John Frieda continues to sell their products in China, one of the few places where animal testing is still required for skin and hair care products.
Even though China’s laws have changed in recent years so that not every cosmetic product needs to be tested, most cosmetics are still required to be tested before shipping to retailers. Even if John Frieda’s products aren’t tested upon arrival, they may be pulled from store shelves to undergo animal testing at any time.
Alternatives to John Frieda Frizz Ease Hair Serum
John Frieda is well-known for their Frizz Ease Hair Serum, a hair product designed to help control frizz and flyaways. While this John Frieda product may be effective, especially if you have a frizzy hair type, as we’ve discussed, the brand is not cruelty-free.
If you struggle with frizzy hair and are looking for a cruelty-free alternative to John Frieda Frizz Ease, we’ve got you covered.
Here is one of the best cruelty-free and vegan hair serums for frizzy hair:
Olaplex No. 9 Bond Protector Nourishing Hair Serum is a silicone-free hair serum that protects hair from pollution for up to 48 hours while shielding hair from heat (up to 450 °F). This hair serum is designed to help restore and protect damaged hair.
It is formulated with red algae extract, which contains antioxidants, vitamins, minerals, and amino acids that nourish the scalp and hair follicles and protect and strengthen the hair.
The serum feels weightless in your hair and has a light signature Olaplex scent. It smoothes the hair and prevents flyaways, and it’s anti-tangle & anti-static. It’s also safe for all hair types, including color-treated hair.
In addition to being cruelty-free and vegan, the Olaplex serum is gluten-free, nut-free, paraben-free, phosphate-free, phthalate-free, sulfate-free, and pH balanced.
Final Thoughts: Is John Frieda Cruelty-Free and Vegan?
Because John Frieda tests the products they sell in China on animals, they don’t qualify as a cruelty-free brand. In addition, their use of animal-derived ingredients in many of their popular products prevents them from being a vegan brand.
Hopefully, John Frieda will soon join the ranks of the many vegan and cruelty-free brands that offer effective cruelty-free hair care products.
