Is Kiehl's ethical and cruelty-free?
Not really — Kiehl's fails 3 of the 4 ethics signals we track, including its animal-testing position, and holds no third-party certification we can verify.
Kiehl's, a L'Oréal-owned skincare brand, balances heritage natural ingredients with expanding sustainability efforts but faces ethical scrutiny due to its parent company's animal-testing policies and lack of full vegan transparency.
The evidence, signal by signal
Cruelty-freeflagged
Does not test on animals for most markets but parent company L'Oréal complies with Chinese post-market testing requirements, creating ethical ambiguity.
Vegan optionsunverified
No official vegan certification; many products contain animal-derived ingredients, and no dedicated vegan line exists.
Sells in mainland Chinaflagged
Selling through mainland Chinese retail has historically triggered post-market animal testing.
Third-party certifiedflagged
No independent certifications recorded on the products we track.
Public pledges: Aims for 50% PCR plastic by 2025 and 100% recyclable/reusable/refillable packaging by 2030, plus water and energy reduction targets.
Scored with our public methodology. Profile last updated 2026-09-10.
More on Kiehl's
Is Kiehl's ethical? FAQs
Is Kiehl's cruelty-free?+
Does not test on animals for most markets but parent company L'Oréal complies with Chinese post-market testing requirements, creating ethical ambiguity.
Does Kiehl's have vegan products?+
No official vegan certification; many products contain animal-derived ingredients, and no dedicated vegan line exists.
Does Kiehl's sell in mainland China?+
Selling through mainland Chinese retail has historically triggered post-market animal testing.
What is Kiehl's's ethics score?+
Kiehl's averages —/100 across 0 products we score on certifications, sourcing, labour, packaging and transparency.
What are the best alternatives to Kiehl's?+
See our full list of ethical alternatives to Kiehl's for better-scoring options in the same categories.