A vegan nail polish blog. A celebration of colour and light, as well as of justice for nonhuman animals.

Vegan Nail Polish Resource

  • This list will continue to be updated as I go along. I’ve copied and linked to my email correspondence with the companies when applicable (email addresses have been included for those who may wish to contact the companies themselves/have them for reference, but have been modified to prevent spamming).

a-England – polishes are vegan as detailed on their web site.

American International Industries (China Glaze, Poshe, Seche) – Have signed no-animal-testing statements. Nail colours and topcoats are vegan, not all China Glaze treatments are vegan. Ingredients are on packaging. See correspondence.

Authority Cosmetics

BB Couture – have used all-synthetic ingredients since 2008. Some shades produced before that may contain animal-derived guanine. Round bottles still say “made with natural pearl” on the back but this is an oversight that wasn’t corrected after they switched to synthetic guanine. Correspondence to come.

Beauty 21 Cosmetics (LA Colors, LA Girl, Love & Beauty) – Have signed no-animal-testing statements. Nail polish colours are vegan, some LA Girl treatments contain silk (ingredients are listed on packaging). See correspondence.

Beauty Without Cruelty – one of the traditionally well-known brands that make all-vegan polish and makeup available at some vegan online stores.

Butter London – I’ve been informed they are now adding silk to their polishes, so they are NO LONGER VEGAN. Not sure if it’s all polishes.

 

Catrice – polishes are vegan. (detailed info to come soon)

Color Club (Forsythe Cosmetics – also make Cosmetic Arts) – *NOT ALL VEGAN-FRIENDLY* please see here for details.

Colour Alike – No animal testing or animal ingredients. Confirmed by email with the creator; will post content of email soon.

Cosmetic Design Group (American Classics treatments, Nina Ultra Pro) – No animal testing or animal ingredients. The keratin listed in the ingredients for Gelous is a plant-derived phytokeratin. Email correspondence to follow.

Cult Nails – No animal testing or animal ingredients, as detailed in their about page.

Deborah Lippman – No animal testing, nail products are vegan except for cuticle remover. See correspondence.

Ella+mila

Essence – polishes are vegan. (detailed info to come soon)

Gabriel Cosmetics – one of the traditionally-known brands that make vegan polishes and makeup available at some vegan online stores.

GOSH – polishes are vegan. (detailed info to come)

Illamasqua – No animal testing as detailed on their website. Nail colours are vegan, see correspondence.

Joe Fresh – always check labels – no animal testing, ingredients on labels. Some polishes have guanine in the “may contain” list, and the company has confirmed that the guanine is animal derived, so any shades having this ingredient list are NOT vegan friendly. I have also seen some shades in the past with shellac wax listed; those would not be vegan either.

Kleancolor – No animal testing as detailed in their FAQ. All nail colours are vegan. See correspondence.

Milani (also makes Jordana) – No animal testing; nail colours are vegan with the exception of the One Coat Glitters and Jewel FX, which contain guanine of unknown source. See correspondence. *Requires updating* Seems that some lines have changed formulations, and new lines have been created. The Milani website now lists ‘vegan’ right on the page for individual products so best to check there first. The newer Color Statement line is *not* listed as vegan so it is assumed to contain animal derived pigments at least for some shades.

Misa – Have signed no-animal-testing statements. Products are vegan, see correspondence.

NCLA – polishes and nail wraps are vegan-friendly.

No Miss – one of the traditionally well-known brands that make all-vegan polish and treatments available at some vegan online stores, natural food stores, etc.

Nubar – Have signed no-animal-testing statements. Products are vegan and promoted as such on their website. See ingredients list for nail polishes here.

NYX – Have signed no-animal-testing statements. All nail polishes are vegan, as are many of their other cosmetics. See correspondence.

Obsessive Compulsive Cosmetics – Have signed no-animal-testing statements. All products vegan; see their FAQ.

OPI/Nicole by OPI – Have signed no-animal-testing statements. The company was acquired by Coty last year, who are said to be involved in animal testing (not sure for which of the many brands they own), however OPI has retained and re-committed to its no-animal-testing policies after being bought. Nail colours produced since 2007 are free of animal ingredients, OPI Ridge Filler is not vegan however (contains silk). There are a few older discontinued colours that contain guanine, see correspondence for the list.

Orly – Have signed no-animal-testing statements. Ingredients on packaging; most nail colour ingredients lists I’ve seen so far have been vegan – but there are some older Orly shades that are not, such as Emerald Life and other similar sheers – these ones say “Made with natural pearl” on the back of the bottle and have guanine in the ingredients list. I haven’t yet received a response from Orly about a comprehensive list of which polishes are and are not vegan, but all the newer ones seem to be. Not all of their treatments are vegan; be sure to check ingredients.

Ozotic (Lumineye – also make the brands Artform and Chemistry) – No animal testing or animal ingredients. See correspondence.

Picture Polish – polishes are vegan. (detailed info to come soon)

Pretty Serious – all polishes and cosmetics are vegan as detailed on their web site.

Priti NYC – polishes are vegan as detailed on their web site.

Sally Beauty Supply (FingerPaints, Sally Girl, Beauty Secrets)- No animal testing or animal ingredients in the production of their polishes. See correspondence (copied from Sally customer service portal). Similarly, no animal testing involved in Beauty Secrets treatments, check ingredients though as not all are vegan.

Soulstice Spa – Have signed no-animal-testing statements. All nail colours are vegan. May contain synthetic guanine. See correspondence.

SpaRitual – Have signed no-animal-testing statements. All ingredients are vegan; see their site.

Wet n Wild – Have signed no-animal-testing statements. Nail colours are vegan and ingredients on packaging. See a list of their vegan products here.

Zoya – No animal testing; all nail polishes and Zoya Color Lock treatments are vegan. *Not* all Qtica products are vegan, be sure to check ingredients. See correspondence.

    Indies!

Indie polish brands that make vegan polishes (will add to the list as I discover them):
Ador Beauty Supplies
Bear Pawlish
Black Cat Lacquer
Black Dahlia Lacquer
Celestial Cosmetics
Crowstoes
Different Dimension
Eat Sleep Polish
Echoes Polish
Firecracker Lacquer
Girly Bits
Glam Polish
Ellagee
Emily de Molly
Femme Fatale Cosmetics
Il était un vernis
I Love Nail Polish (ILNP, I<3NP)
IndiePolish
Indigo Bananas
Kunimitsu Nail Potions
Lacquer Lust
Maya Cosmetics
Ninja Polish
Northern Star
Oopsie Daisies
Philly Loves Lacquer
Pipe Dream Polish
Polish Addict Nail Color
Polished by KPT
Pretty and Polished
Rainbow Honey
Ruby White Tips
Smitten Polish
Stardust Polish
Starlight Polish
Starrily
Superchic Lacquer
Sweet Heart Polish
The Lady Varnishes

Comments on: "Vegan Nail Polish Resource" (43)

  1. Thanks for the info! I always do a cruelty-free check before I look into a cosmetic to purchase. Any info on Nutra Nail, Develop 10, Pro FX, & Beauty Secrets would be most appreciated as well.

  2. You should be able to add Cult Nails to this list, as well as Beauty Without Cruelty, No Miss, and Dr.’s Remedy. Thank you for posting this resource! I had no idea some of these were vegan 🙂

  3. There is a company I would like to ask about whether their polish is vegan but I do not have a good list of non-vegan polish ingredients to specifically include. Is there such a list somewhere that I could use when I contact them?

  4. Hi Meredith!

    You know, it didn’t occur to me to add companies like No Miss since I figured it goes without saying, but I should add them to the list!

    Here is what I usually ask companies, feel free to use it:
    “I was wondering if you could tell me whether there is any animal testing in the production of your nail polishes, either by conducting or commissioning animal testing, or buying ingredients from companies that do such things?

    Also, wondering if there are any animal ingredients in any of the nail polishes/treatments (such as guanine (CI 75150, 75170), pearl, silk, keratin, carmine (CI 75470), etc)? If so, would you be able to tell me which products? Do you have ingredients lists available?”

    Oh, and keep in mind that some of these ingredients can be synthetically-derived as well – guanine & carmine for sure (same with beeswax in other cosmetics, as I learned when I contacted NYX – wish they would just include “synthetic” on the label!), and sometimes companies use the word “pearl” to refer to mica-based pigments. I usually ask the above questions, and if they reply yes for those ingredients, I follow up and ask if they’re natural or synthetic.

    @Debbie, I need to update my Sally Beauty listing to add Beauty Secrets, I recently contacted them to make sure and there is no animal testing for the Beauty Secrets line either. Ingredients are on the package of each product, I haven’t checked every product in store yet but from ingredients lists online it looks like their nail polish thinner, basecoat and topcoat are vegan friendly, and of course the pure acetone since it’s just acetone – looks like their acetone-based remover is NOT vegan though.

    • I emailed Knocked Up Nails and this was their (timely and helpful) response:

      “Hi Meredith,

      Absolutely! It is not tested on animals, nor are there any animal ingredients. It is all laboratory made. Or ingredient list is below:

      Cheers,

      Ashley

      Ingredients: Butyl Acetate, Ethyl Acetate Nitrocellulose, Acetyl Tributyl Citrate, Adipic Acid/ Neopentyl Glycol/ Trimellitic Anhydride Copolymer, Isopropyl Alcohol, Stearalkonium Bentonite, Acrylates Copolymer, Styrene/Acrylates, Copolymer,Benzophenone-1, CI 77891,CI 19140, CI 15850, CI 15850,CI 15880, CI 77491,CI 77499, CI 77510, CI 77163 Polyethylene Terephthalate, Aluminium Powder, Mica,

      Knocked Up Nails

      781-281-1665

      http://www.knockedupnails.com

      I thought it might interest you.

  5. Thanks for sharing your investigations! 😉 It gives me a good list to start with. I do however wish that companies that are involved with animal cruelty (like selling animal hair make up brushes and such) doesn’t deserve to be on a list on a site called “veganclaws”, but I appreciate the fact that you include information about other products from the brand not beeing vegan and if the company is owned by another company that conducts animal testing.

    It’s such a djungle out there, with evesive answers and loopholes. I just wish there were more sites that listed companies that are completely cruelty free. 🙂

  6. I appreciate this list so much! I have one question that I hope you have an answer or at least your own take on. If a company, OPI is the perfect example, does not test on animals, yet are owned and a portion of their profits go to their parent company that does test/is non-vegan… shouldn’t they be excluded from the list? I do not want to indirectly support animal testing; but I’m just wondering if my tinking/understanding is correct.
    Thanks!

  7. Awesome blog topic, thank you so much!!! What about Urban Decay and Manic Panic? I’ve bought them in the past because I thought I read somewhere they were vegan.

  8. […] Vegan Nail Polish Blog- Vegan Claws […]

  9. […] Twitter friend recently pointed me in the direction of Vegan Claws’ Nail Polish Resource – and boy, was I ever in heaven. OPI, China Glaze…?! Brands I’d heard about on […]

  10. I have been looking for a site to tell me which nail polishes where animal friendly.Thank you for this site.

  11. mzavala26 said:

    Do you still think it’s ok to buy from OPI? So far I haven’t bought any of their nail polishes because of their parent company, but I’m not sure if that’s truly considered cruelty-free or not?

  12. I love your blog and you have such great nails! I recently emailed Classics Glamour and they replied with this: “I would like to inform you that all Classics cosmetics are not tested on animals and do not contain animal ingredients.
    thank you”
    So their Classics Glamour Nail Lacquer is cruelty-free and vegan 🙂

    • Thanks, Nuria! Glad you like the blog! And thanks for that info – I had never heard of that brand. Good to know! 🙂

  13. Brilliant! One of the easiest to use, most informative blogs on vegan nail varnishes I’ve come across. Thank you 😀

  14. […] out there for information on which nail polishes are tested on animals. My favorite blog is Vegan Claws. The posts are backed with facts from the websites from the […]

  15. Thank you for this! I am trying to decide if I still want to buy OPI products. Also, ELF (eyes, lips, face) is non-animal tested. Love their polish.

  16. Hi – Thank you very much for posting this – any idea which of these brands have chosen to sell in China (knowing that their product will then be tested on animals)?

    • Hi Christy,
      I haven’t knowingly included any, and I think all those who have signed statements with programs like Leaping Bunny definitely don’t, but now that you mention it I’m not positive for all of the others…

  17. Thank you very much for this article! 🙂

  18. hi vegan claw ,i wanted to know about “nyc” nail polish,i read somewhere that it doesn’t test on animals,but you don’t mention anything about that brand,would you happen to know anything about nyc nail polish? thank you

  19. Anyone know about Konad polishes? Cant find anything on them!

  20. animalloverjt88@gmail.com said:

    e.l.f doesn’t test on animals, its 1 dollar for each bottle and e.l.f comes in 29 colors

  21. The New Black is cruelty free & vegan too!

  22. […] A good friend of mine asked me earlier this week if nail polish was vegan. I assume things are not vegan until proven otherwise so I went directly to the Internet. I was right in this case. Fish (scales for sparkles) and pearl is often in nail polish, but no worries, there are brands out there for those of us that need cruelty-free products. Vegan Claws is officially my go-to resource for vegan nails. Check it out. https://veganclaws.com/vegan-nail-polish-resource/ […]

  23. Ranlynne said:

    It gives me such relieft to know that there are still quite a few products and copanies that don’t test on animals!! Hopefully one day soon all companies will follow!!

  24. little wolf said:

    what about kozmic colours

  25. please add PritiNYC too!

  26. Chrome Girl Nails is vegan and cruelty free too! 🙂 @chromegirlnails

  27. I know e.l.f. is cruelty free, and pretty sure on vegan. do you have any information on essie polish? I finally found the perfect shade of grey and of course they sell it, but I don’t want to buy it without knowing if they are cruelty free. I know they used to be, but were bought out….. if they aren’t anymore, then the search continues!

    • Hi, I’m not sure about Essie. The only thing I’ve heard is that they didn’t respond to questions about whether, as a sub-brand, they were going to continue with their no-animal-testing policy after being bought by L’Oreal. So, I just don’t buy them. Haven’t bothered looking into their ingredients for that reason either.

      You’re right about e.l.f., their stuff is vegan.

    • Essie tests on animals. I wrote them a very polite letter asking that they stop, citing research, etc., and they wrote me back saying they wouldn’t stop because it’s necessary. (No joke.) This was July or August of 2013, and it looks like L’Oreal bought Essie in 2010.

  28. This is a great list, thank you for this! And do please continue to add those “Goes without saying” brands as you come across them because some of these I have never heard of. I’m constantly on the lookout for new brands so things like this are endlessly useful. Bookmarked and subscribed!

  29. Just found another vegan polish at 100percentpure.com

  30. I like PiggyPaint! I emailed them and they said, “We are happy to say that Piggy Paint is 100% animal free! We do NOT test on animals or use any animal products in making our products.”

  31. […] you’re interested in reading about more cruelty-free nail polish, check out the great blog by Vegan Claws. Her blog is incredibly detailed and provides thorough reviews of cosmetic […]

  32. […] did it for me and for a list of brands which create vegan nail varnishes (the way of the future) check this out! It’s windy and sunny at the same time, so your lips do not know what time is it and can […]

  33. […] is why I’m so glad I found this blog! Check out this post listing cruelty-free brands of nail polish. I was excited to see some familiar names […]

  34. This resource is awesome! But how do you take off the polish? I haven’t been able to find cruelty-free/vegan nail polish remover–please help!

    • I use Beauty Secrets Pure Acetone (from Sally Beauty, the clear acetone, *not* the pink acetone-based remover which contains animal ingredients), and add a small amount of vegetable glycerine and water (the water allows the acetone and glycerine to chemically mix). Zoya also makes vegan friendly remover. If you’re looking for non-acetone based, Nubar, Priti NYC, Suncoat, and Sally Beauty’s blue non-acetone remover are some options.

  35. Hi there, Thanks for your article. I have a vegan client for a wedding and I must say I had to do some serious research and your blog is perfect. I really appreciate all the work you have done to compile this list. I may have missed it but I didn’t see Ginger+Liz on your list. Check them out! They have amazing colours and the polish is super long wearing. I love working with their line!
    Thanks again.

  36. Dazzle Dry is also Vegan, Cruelty Free and 5 Free (FYI)

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