Is St. Ives ethical and cruelty-free?
Not really — St. Ives fails 3 of the 4 ethics signals we track, including its animal-testing position, and holds no third-party certification we can verify.
St. Ives, owned by Unilever, is a mass-market skincare brand known for its natural-inspired products, but it lacks independent ethical certifications and has faced criticism over controversial ingredient safety concerns and parent company animal-testing practices.
The evidence, signal by signal
Cruelty-freeflagged
Unilever does not test finished products on animals except where required by law, including some post-market testing in China.
Vegan optionsunverified
No official vegan line; some products are vegan-friendly but not labeled as such.
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: Part of Unilever's Sustainable Living Plan with targets for plastic recycling and palm oil sourcing, but St. Ives lacks brand-specific progress reports.
Scored with our public methodology. Profile last updated 2026-09-15.
More on St. Ives
Is St. Ives ethical? FAQs
Is St. Ives cruelty-free?+
Unilever does not test finished products on animals except where required by law, including some post-market testing in China.
Does St. Ives have vegan products?+
No official vegan line; some products are vegan-friendly but not labeled as such.
Does St. Ives sell in mainland China?+
Selling through mainland Chinese retail has historically triggered post-market animal testing.
What is St. Ives's ethics score?+
St. Ives averages —/100 across 0 products we score on certifications, sourcing, labour, packaging and transparency.
What are the best alternatives to St. Ives?+
See our full list of ethical alternatives to St. Ives for better-scoring options in the same categories.