Drew Barrymore might be our favourite easy-breezy child star, and her cosmetics brands Flower Beauty is just as fun! Flower Beauty is all about enhancing natural beauty without limits, but is it also cruelty-free and vegan?
Flower Beauty is cruelty-free. It doesn't conduct animal testing on its products, nor does it distribute its cosmetics where animal testing is required by law. While Flower Beauty does offer a range of vegan cosmetics, it is not considered a vegan brand.
The giggly and gorgeous Drew Barrymore started Flower Beauty in 2012 with co-founder Maesa Group. Her tagline, “You’re already beautiful, now let’s play!” also tells us a lot about the type of brand she’s chosen to develop.
Barrymore has often declined to talk or release financials, but the estimated annual net worth topped $50 million in mid-2021.
But fun branding and a beloved celebrity don’t make a product ethical, sustainable or kind. Did our favourite Charlie’s Angel give us sound cruelty-free and vegan policies with Flower Beauty?
We look at how safe the brand's ingredient choices are and what to avoid. You’ll also decide whether you can confidently spend your money knowing animal welfare and the environment are considered too.
Is Flower Beauty Cruelty-Free and Vegan?
Flower Beauty is Cruelty-Free
Test any of its products or ingredients on animals
NO
Purchase any ingredients tested on animals within its supply chain
No
Distribute its products to any countries that require animal testing by law.
No
Flower Beauty has a solid cruelty-free message, which shows with its PETA accreditation.
The brand is also backed by Measa Group, a brand incubator which is also firmly against animal testing.
Measa also complies with all regulations of the EU Cosmetic Directive Animal Testing Ban.
Flower Beauty is Not Vegan
Flower Beauty has a large variety of vegan products available.
Better yet, all you need to do is visit its website and click on a product of your choice to find out if it's vegan.
However, the brand still uses a couple of animal-derived ingredients. These include:
If you're interested in which products are vegan or finding vegan brand alternatives – keep reading or click on this link: Flower Beauty vegan products.
Animal Testing Policy and History
Flower Beauty has been committed to creating fun, effective and affordable cosmetics that are also cruelty-free from day one!
Cruelty-Free Status in 2022
Here is a screenshot of Flower Beauty's official statement regarding its cruelty-free policies and vegan products, taken from its website:
Certification
Flower Beauty is PETA certified.
This is an excellent start – but it would be nice to see more certification since it’s so proudly cruelty-free.
While you might know PETA very well – it surprisingly doesn't hold the strictest cruelty-free regulations. It seems only to require a brand's written consent that abides by the PETA code of conduct.
Leaping Bunny association is ideal because it holds rigorous standards and does regular audits to ensure they are upheld.
Is Flower Beauty Sold Where Animal Testing is Required By Law?
Flower Beauty does not distribute any of its products to China or any country that requires animal testing on cosmetics by law.
China has a shocking track record. It is the country with the most animal testing globally, with over 20 million animals used per year.
Please note that while Flower Beauty cosmetic brushes and cosmetics bags are manufactured in China, it does not test on animals at all.
This law is purely enforced on international cosmetic products entering China and not on products being made within the country itself.
All other Flower Beauty products are manufactured in USA or Canada.
However, if you live in China or are concerned about its cruel beauty policies, there are a couple of loopholes.
Here's how to find cruelty-free cosmetics in China: Are Cosmetics Made in China Cruelty-Free?
What Flower Beauty Products Are Vegan?
When researching this article, only 8 products came up when searching ‘vegan’ on the Flower Beauty website.
However, we found many more products when using the ‘Featured’ menu, which has a vegan collection.
To save you some time, here are some of Flower Beauty’s most popular vegan products to choose from:
You can find a complete list of Flower Beauty’s vegan products on its website.
Vegan Alternatives to Flower Beauty
Flower Beauty has put some effort into developing vegan alternatives that other brands haven't cared to try yet. They have a clean track record and noteworthy transparency with its consumers.
Flower Beauty might not be your first choice if you are a strong vegan advocate.
Luckily, there are many alternatives you can find that are certified cruelty-free and vegan to choose from.
Here are some fun and fancy-free cosmetics brands within the same price range that are 100% vegan and cruelty-free.
Brand | price range | 100% vegan | Certification |
|---|---|---|---|
$10 - $30 | Yes | Leaping Bunny | |
$20 - $50 | Yes | Leaping Bunny | |
$15 - $30 | Yes | PETA | |
$18 - $50 | Yes | Leaping Bunny | |
$5 - $20 | Yes | Leaping Bunny | |
$20 - $70 | Yes | PETA, Leaping Bunny |
Is Flower Beauty Natural and Organic?
Flower Beauty does claim to use safe ingredients, but it is not considered natural or organic. Nowhere does the brand claim to be or market itself as such.
Does Flower Beauty Use Safe Ingredients?
According to Skin Safe, Flower Beauty has an 82- 100% allergen-free ranking across 60 listed products.
Many of Flower Beauty’s products are free of allergens such as parabens, topical antibiotics, MCI/MI, nickel, gluten, soy, propylene glycol, dye and irritants.
Reading the ingredient list is crucial because Flower Beauty is not 100% hypoallergenic or non-comedogenic, and they do not claim to be.
However, certain products are specifically for these concerns, so make sure you buy what your skin needs.
The EU/UK Have Stricter Ingredient Regulations
We don’t want to scare you, but you HAVE to read up on any product’s ingredient list before you make a purchase – especially if you live within the United States. The reason why will shock you.
The FDA has only banned or restricted 11 harmful chemicals from cosmetics within the country. Europe and the UK, on the other hand, have banned 1,328!
Flower Beauty does stick to a safe ingredient but isn’t considered clean beauty.
With skincare and cosmetics, you want to avoid these ingredients:
Are Cruelty-Free Ingredients Safe?
There is no reason why cruelty-free products shouldn’t be as safe as anything tested on animals.
Not only is it easy to test ingredients without using animals altogether, but there are so many pre-approved ingredients you can use to make cosmetics that there is no need.
If you’re interested, here’s more on the subject: Are Cruelty-Free Cosmetics Safe?
Is Flower Beauty Sustainable and Ethical?
This comes from a millennial who watched Drew kick ass in Charlie’s Angels – the lack of info on sustainable and ethical work by Flower Beauty is disappointing.
Flower Beauty does not have pages listing any sustainability and ethical initiatives; the brand doesn’t mention either in their FAQ pages.
Other than being cruelty-free, they don’t give us, the consumers, much to find.
They have confirmed to Ethical Elephant that they internally audit all suppliers and vendors to forbid enforced child labour and slavery.
Even an internet deep dive and trawling through Flower Beauty’s social media channels could not help us answer questions about charitable work or donation drives. Whelp.
Final Thoughts
Flower Beauty is cute and accessible. If you want to know that your products weren’t tested on animals, you might want to try them.
The fact that it's cruelty-free is music to our ears! It does have a few award-winning formulas and products that are also vegan.
However, since Flower Beauty is not 100% vegan – it might not be the best choice for activists who go the extra mile.
It’s also important to consider the lack of publicly available information on environmental policies, sustainability, social or philanthropic drives… and more.
There are a lot of brands without star power behind them that are doing so much more.
We strongly believe in the power of consumers telling brands want they want- showing them our values with our buying power.
You get to decide what’s the most important to you and purchase from companies that reflect it.
