Is Maybelline ethical and cruelty-free?
Not really — Maybelline fails 3 of the 4 ethics signals we track, including its animal-testing position, and holds no third-party certification we can verify.
Maybelline is owned by L'Oréal and is not certified cruelty-free. It is sold in mainland China through channels that can require post-market animal testing.
The evidence, signal by signal
Cruelty-freeflagged
Not certified cruelty-free. Maybelline states it does not test on animals except where required by law.
Vegan optionsunverified
Some individual products are vegan-formulated, but the brand holds no third-party vegan certification.
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: L'Oréal reports packaging and carbon targets at group level; Maybelline runs a make-up recycling scheme in some markets.
Scored with our public methodology. Profile last updated 2026-08-16.
More on Maybelline
Is Maybelline ethical? FAQs
Is Maybelline cruelty-free?+
Not certified cruelty-free. Maybelline states it does not test on animals except where required by law.
Does Maybelline have vegan products?+
Some individual products are vegan-formulated, but the brand holds no third-party vegan certification.
Does Maybelline sell in mainland China?+
Selling through mainland Chinese retail has historically triggered post-market animal testing.
What is Maybelline's ethics score?+
Maybelline averages —/100 across 0 products we score on certifications, sourcing, labour, packaging and transparency.
What are the best alternatives to Maybelline?+
See our full list of ethical alternatives to Maybelline for better-scoring options in the same categories.