Ulta Beauty Cruelty-Free Shopping Guide

One of my biggest goals for last year was to go completely Cruelty-Free and promote only Cruelty-Free brands. On my journey, I realized there are different ways to classify Cruelty-Free and it is not black and white.


As Ulta is one of the largest cosmetic retailers....and also where I happen to work....I thought I would show you guys how shop truly Cruelty-Free at Ulta. This list will not include Vegan or Non-Toxic only brands. Those shopping guides will be coming up soon!


Let's get started!




I define Cruelty-Free as:

• No use of animal testing on the final product.
• No use of animal testing on the products ingredients or methods of production. 
• No use of animal testing by the brands suppliers. 
• Do not sell their products in markets where animal testing is required.

And finally, where some people may disagree with me, I also classify a brand as truly Cruelty-Free when their parent company is also Cruelty-Free. So any Cruelty-Free brands owned by non Cruelty-Free brands such as L'Oreal or Estee Lauder, I do not consider Cruelty-Free.


Parent companies directly benefit and earn profits from the success of the brands that they own. So while you may be purchasing the Too Faced mascara, L'Oreal benefits from that purchase. When the parent companies decide to stop using animal testing as a means of production, then I will include and support their Cruelty-Free brands.


Here is the list of brands that I consider to be Cruelty-Free at Ulta Beauty.

Here is a list of companies that claim to be Cruelty-Free but are owned by a parent company that still uses animal testing, so personally I do not consider them to be truly Cruelty-Free for the reasons I stated above and would not recommend purchasing from.

**UPDATE 6/30/17** 

NARS is no longer Cruelty-Free

If you do not see a brand on this list, most likely the brand is not Cruelty-Free, does not claim to be Cruelty-Free, cannot verify their suppliers Cruelty-Free status, or currently sell their products in China where animal testing is required. 

I would highly recommend the Cruelty Free Kitty as a great go-to list and updates for Cruelty-Free statuses. Her information is very thorough and has pretty much every brand you can think of. 

Leave any questions in the comments below!