Awareness and demand in Japan for vegan and cruelty-free cosmetics is low (particularly vegan), and as such there are very few vegan and cruelty-free Japanese cosmetic brands, especially at the lower end of the price spectrum and in drugstores. There may be very few or no vegan and cruelty-free choices in typical drugstores or grocery stores. It may be easier to purchase Western or Korean import brands. Online shopping is another option, especially for the budget-conscious.
Although brands sometimes release information about their own animal testing policies, this information is not necessarily applicable to their suppliers, and they may also sell in physical stores in China, where their products may be subject to pre- or post-market animal testing, without disclosing that information. This means their animal testing policy may refer only to if animal testing is performed in product development, and not to if they pay for animal testing to be conducted so they can sell in a particular country.
Where we have any information about this, we will share it below.
As of May 1, 2021, China implemented changes to its laws meaning, according to Ethical Elephant, “some cosmetics may qualify to be exempt from their animal testing requirements.” Check the Ethical Elephant blog here for more detailed info and an easy-to understand chart in English.
With the possible exceptions of The Body Shop and Lush, shop staff probably won’t know which cosmetics are vegan, so it will probably be necessary to consult the overseas versions of the websites of imported cosmetics to check if they have the vegan item marked. You may find it helpful to keep your phone with you and open it to the overseas version of their website when shopping in-store, if it lists the vegan options.
For those who do not live in Japan, products sold online on Rakuten Ichiba can be shipped to other countries via Rakuten Global Express (English), Rakuten’s official overseas delivery service (click here for Rakuten Global Express in Japanese). They will combine your Rakuten Ichiba (Japanese) order with orders from other shopping websites, including those that do not ship overseas, and send everything to you. Sign-up is free. Learn how to use the service here (English). Those in Japan can purchase any product that is carried on Rakuten Ichiba directly, of course without using Rakuten Global Express, which is only for overseas shoppers.
Japanese Brands
Most of the big, famous brands such as Shiseido officially claim to be cruelty-free, but continue to retail in physical stores in mainland China, where animal testing is required by law (although some cosmetics may be exempt from the requirements as of May 1, 2021). Many products also contain animal products such as beeswax/ミツロウ/mitsurou, royal jelly/ローヤルゼリー/rōyaruzerī, collagen/コラゲーン/koragēn, carmine/カルミン/karumin, horse oil/馬油/bāyu, etc.
When our volunteer contacted Japanese companies in late 2020, one well-known company responded that they don’t use any animal derived ingredients and that they don’t consider beeswax and carmine to be animal ingredients so they do use them. Also, it isn’t uncommon for company websites to state something like “Uses no animal ingredients (except for honey, etc.).” The lack of understanding some companies have about what animals and animal ingredients are creates an environment where shopping for vegan cosmetics is difficult, even for those who do read and speak Japanese.
That said, a few cruelty-free and vegan options do exist.
Awake（アウェイク）
Awake is a mid-range vegan skincare and cosmetic brand that is a sister brand to the US company Tarte Cosmetics. (Note that Awake is owned by the parent company Kose, which is not vegan or cruelty-free.) The Brand Concept section of their website states that they do not use animal ingredients or ingredients derived from animal testing, nor do animal testing.
The Awake makeup line includes CC cream, tinted moisturizer, powder, blush and lip oil. Check the shop list here.
Online shopping links: Awake website, Rakuten Ichiba
Koyudo
A famous brush company that normally uses animal hair has released a vegan makeup brush collection called La Fuga del Gatto. The product page states that as it’s become difficult to obtain animal hair, they worked to bring synthetic hair closer to animal hair in order to maintain the culture of Koyodo brushes in the future. It also states that vegan brushes are those that do not use animal hair.
M.m.m Cosmetics has a vegan section on its website. It seems to produce base products such as setting spray, concealer, and foundation. The brand is also sold in Cosme Kitchen stores and on the Cosme Kitchen website (check that the product you want is vegan before purchasing). Their frequently asked question section states (from autotranslate):
“Do you conduct animal testing, including consignment to third parties? Also, please let me know if the ingredients are tested on animals.
We do not conduct animal testing. We also do not outsource to third parties. We ideally use ingredients that have not been tested on animals.”
M.m.m. Cosmetics is owned by Nature’s Way, which also distributes Dr. Bronner’s in Japan, as well as owns Naturaglace, which has some animal-ingredient-free products and is introduced below.
Pictured are the Color Tuner color corrector, Make Fixer makeup setting spray, and Nude Concealer.
Photos from website.
MiMC
A mid/high-end Japanese brand using minerals and whole plant and fruit ingredients and free from ingredients including synthetic fragrance, synthetic color and synthetic preservatives.
Some of their products contain beeswax/ミツロウ/mitsurou, royal jelly/royaruzerī/ローヤルゼリー and carmine/カルミン/karumin. MiMC can be found in various department stores across the country, as well as branches of Cosme Kitchen. Vegan products were once marked as such on the individual product pages; however as of the end of 2021, that no longer appears to be the case.
Regarding animal testing, the FAQ section of their website says (from autotranslate):
“Q: Do you carry out animal experiments?
A: We have not conducted animal experiments on the raw materials and products used in MiMC.
The same applies to skin care products and other products.
Since the raw materials used by MiMC are only naturally occurring raw materials, there is no need to carry out animal experiments like new types of organic raw materials.
Therefore, neither MiMC nor raw material manufacturers are conducting animal experiments.
Also, please be assured that there are no plans to do it in the future.”
Online shopping links (not all products are vegan. Please confirm on the MiMC website that the individual product you want to purchase is vegan before purchasing): MiMC website, Rakuten Ichiba
Images of vegan mark and products from MiMC’s website.
Naturaglacé (ナチュラグラッセ)
The brand name comes from a combination of the words “natural” and “glacé” (gloss). It aims to use the power of plants and have makeup be like watercolors that show the beauty of skin.
In late 2020, customer service stated that they do not conduct any animal experiments, including in cosmetics development or through outsourcing to third parties, and they have no plans to do so in the future. Ideally, they use raw materials that have not been tested on animals, however, it is difficult for them to confirm this 100%, so they do not confirm this. They do not sell in physical shops in mainland China so do not conduct animal experiments or outsource animal testing to third parties to sell there. They only sell in China through the internet. They don’t have information about what sort of tests are performed on the Chinese side for those products sold on the internet, and they don’t have any information that it involves animal testing.
At the same time, customer service also stated that the two non-vegan, animal ingredients they are using are carmine/カルミン/karumin and beeswax/ミツロウ/mitsurou. Check the ingredient list to make sure neither of those are included.
From a review of their products, they use palm-derived ingredients like palm-derived alkyl esters/yashi arukiru/ヤシアルキル.
At the time, they provided the following list of some products that do not contain carmine or beeswax:
・ Makeup Cream N/メイクアップ クリームN Available colors: 01 02
・ Moist BB Cream/モイスト BBクリーム Available colors: 01 02 03
・ Skin Balancing Base/スキンバランシング ベース
・ Color Control Base/カラーコントロール ベース Available colors: 01 02 03
・ UV Protection Base N/UVプロテクションベースN
・ Clear Powder Foundation/クリアパウダーファンデーション
・ Skin Treatment Foundation/スキントリートメント ファンデーション Available colors: 01 02 03 PB2
・ Watery Foundation N/ウォータリーファンデーションN
・ Loose Powder/ルースパウダー Available colors: 01 02
・ Eyebrow Powder/アイブロウパウダー Available colors: 01 02
・ Point Makeup Remover/ポイントメイクアップリムーバー (This item is no longer on the Naturaglacé website but seems to have been replaced on the Naturaglacé website with the Naturaglacé Shake Cleansing/ナチュラグラッセ シェイククレンジング, which doesn’t show either beeswax or carmine on the ingredient list.
Shojin Cosme （精進コスメ）
A small brand of vegan and halal cosmetics. The line consists of lip balm, lipsticks, lip gloss, blush, and eyeshadow. The products bear the UK Vegan Society mark. From the Vegan Society’s website (English): “The Vegan Society’s standards for the Vegan Trademark includes both no animal ingredients, and no animal testing (at the initiative of the company or on its behalf, or by parties over whom the company has effective control)…”
They appear to only be sold online.
Online shopping links: GoodGood Mart, Shojin Cosme website (English; links to Amazon Japan (page language can be set to English) for purchase)
Uzu is a drugstore brand. Some of the colors of the UZU Eye Opening Liner (links to the English-language U.S. site) are vegan. According to the company’s customer service, the bristles are made with four kinds of synthetic hair. The packaging on the vegan colors says 100% cruelty-free and vegan in English. It can be found at many major drugstores. The products were used in the 3.1 Phillip Lim February 2019 show in New York.
The company confirmed to our volunteer in 2020 that they don’t do animal testing, don’t outsource animal testing to other companies, don’t use ingredients that were tested on animals and have no plans to do so in the future, and don’t sell their products in countries or regions where animal testing is mandatory. They stated that they use ingredients that have a history of safe use on humans and perform tests on new ingredients with machines.
Vegan colors (links to the English-language U.S. site):
Non-vegan colors:
Burgundy
Purple
Orange
Pink
Navy
Red Black
Navy Black
The other UZU products are not listed as vegan. The Mote Mascara Vol. 6, Mote Mascara Vol 8, and Mote Mascara Vol. 9 are clearly not vegan as they contain beeswax/mitsurou/ミツロウ per the ingredient lists.
Korean brands available in Japan
Amuse – the product “Skin Tune Vegan Cover Cushion” has EVE Vegan certification (Expertise Vegane Europe) (English). The English-language product page states that the formula and package are free of animal products or by-products and that it is 100% cruelty-free. They also have an EVE Vegan certified eyeshadow palette, the Eye Vegan Sheer Palette (English-language product page). The products appear to be sold mainly online, but they were also spotted in Champ de Herb, a chain makeup store, in November 2021.
Online purchase link: Rakuten Ichiba (Skin Tune Vegan Cover Cushion), Rakuten Ichiba (Eye Vegan Sheer Palette)
Athé (English-language link) is a line of skincare and makeup. According to the Athé brand page previously linked, “ATHE has received its vegan certification from the renowned certification institution in France, EVE (Expertise Vegane Europe).” Isuta has an article about the line. They do not seem to be sold in physical stores in Japan.
Online purchase links: Qoo10, Rakuten Ichiba (lipsticks only)
Dear Dahlia (link is to the global, English-language site) is a luxury vegan beauty brand that sells products for the lips, face and eyes. The brand is certified cruelty-free by PETA (English-language link). They are particularly strong in the lip product category. They also sell makeup goods such as brushes and micellar water. They are available at locations from Hokkaido to Kyushu. Check the list of locations in Japan that carry their products here.
Online purchase link: Rakuten Ichiba
Fity – the product Sweat Proof Slim Fit Vegan BB Cream (English-language link), certified vegan by EVE, is available for online purchase.
Online purchase links: Qoo10, Rakuten Ichiba
Unleashia (English-language link) is a vegan makeup brand specializing in glitter products that is certified cruelty-free by PETA (English-language link). In December 2020, it was spotted in Loft Ginza in Tokyo. Check the Unleashia Japan Instagram here.
Online purchase links: Qoo10, Rakuten Ichiba
Western brands available in Japan
Bare Minerals is cruelty-free and has both freestanding shops and counters in Japan. Not all products are vegan, but their UK site has a vegan section (English-language link). Bare Minerals is owned by Shiseido, which is not cruelty-free.
The Body Shop has over 100 stores across Japan. They are a 100% vegetarian, UK company and were the first ever company to receive Leaping Bunny cruelty-free certification. They are cruelty-free but not all products are vegan- around half of all the products they make are, according to their UK website. However, a list of their vegan products (English-language link) can be found on their UK website, or check for the Vegan Society mark on the packaging. According to Plant Based News (English-language link), they will go 100% vegan by the end of 2023, and The Body Shop plans to have their entire product portfolio registered with the Vegan Society’s Vegan Trademark by December 2023.
You can check the makeup products that the Japan shops carry here, but be sure to check that they’re vegan before purchasing.
DYP Cosmethic is a vegan French brand, certified by PETA, and available for online purchase in Japan. Check their Japan-specific Instagram here.
Online purchase link: DYP Cosmethic
Garnier has gone cruelty-free. Some of their products are being sold on Amazon Japan, but as of a review of the site in March 2021, we could only locate one product from their vegan list (English-language link) for sale, the SkinActive Water Rose Micellar Cleansing Water, which seems like it would be useful for removing makeup. The product listing photo also shows the product labeled as vegan.
Online purchase link: Amazon Japan (page language can be set to English)
Kure Bazaar (English-language link) is a vegan and cruelty-free nail polish brand (English-language link) reported to be found in places like @Cosme in Harajuku and Lumine 1 in Shinjuku, as well as available for online sale. Check their Japan-specific Instagram account here.
Online purchase link: Forte Online Store
Lush is very popular in Japan with more than 70 branches in the country. It is 100% free from animal testing and all products are vegan or vegetarian. Check for a vegan mark to find their vegan products, or their online list. They make some refillable products. Check their makeup here. The biggest selection of makeup will most likely be found at the Shinjuku flagship store in Tokyo. Smaller branches may not carry much of a makeup selection. As they do have many vegan products, it might be more efficient to check the vegetarian section of the website to make sure the product you want to purchase is not in there. Not all the makeup is vegan- they do make a non-vegan mascara with beeswax/ミツロウ/mitsurou called Lush Lashes. It appears that they only use sugar that is not processed with bone char for their products- in 2020 they issued a product recall in Japan for lip scrubs that mistakenly used bone-char refined sugar (English-language link).
100% Pure is a California-based company with a concept of using pure and organic ingredients. Many products use fruit pigments as colorants, so this is a good place to buy lip products (which often contain carmine when made by other brands). They are cruelty-free and most of their products are vegan. Vegan products are clearly labeled on both their U.S. website (English-language link), as well as on the Japanese 100% Pure Shop linked below. This brand sometimes turns up in higher-end shops in Japan such as Primal Color/プライマルカラー.
As of early 2021, on their English-language website, to the question “Is 100% PURE vegan and cruelty-free?” they answer:
“All of our products are cruelty-free, and most are vegan. We’re currently in a transitional phase and are moving to become a fully vegan brand.
Some products contain animal-derived ingredients, like milk enzymes, beeswax, or honey. Products with these ingredients will be phased out and replaced with vegan alternatives in the future.
All ingredients are listed on each product page. We don’t hide animal-derived products, so it’ll be very easy to see if a product is vegan or not.”
In the image below, the Fruit Pigmented Ultra Lengthening Mascara (marked with an x) is not vegan as it contains beeswax.
Online purchase link: 100% Pure Shop
Too Faced is a cruelty-free brand, certified by PETA (English-language link), that is available at various department stores in Japan and at their flagship stores in Tokyo. A store locator and a vegan product list can be found on their Japanese website. Of course, you can also check the vegan product list in English on their U.S. website. Their parent company, Estee Lauder, is not cruelty-free, according to PETA and the Ethical Elephant website (English-language link).
Photos from website.
Zao Essence of Nature is a makeup brand made in Europe using certified organic ingredients. They have completed the process of veganizing their line by removing the last ingredient of animal origin they previously used, beeswax. PETA lists them as a totally vegan brand (English-language link) and certifies them as cruelty-free. Their products come in sustainable (and sometimes refillable) bamboo packaging. Some products use RSPO certified palm oil to make certain ingredients, and those ingredients are identified in the FAQ section of their UK site (English-language link). A shop list can be found on their Japanese website.
Online purchase link: Zao Online Store
You may also be able to find a few vegan nail polish brands that self-report on their websites as being cruelty-free such as Sundays (English-language link) and Green by Manicurist (English-language link) at stores like Loft, the Cosme Kitchen chain or @cosme Tokyo in Harajuku, Tokyo. Sundays’ website FAQ section (English-language link) states “Are your products vegan and cruelty-free? Yes, none of our products and ingredients are derived from animals, and they have not been tested on animals.” Green’s website FAQ section (English-language link) states “Q: Are your products vegan and cruelty-free? Of course! Our products contain no ingredients of animal origin or that have been tested on animals.”
Websites where overseas vegan/cruelty-free brands can be bought
Many mainstream websites such as Sephora will ship to Japan. Below are a few examples of promising ones with large selections of vegan products. Note that not all of the beauty brands stocked are vegan and cruelty-free, so check your order carefully when purchasing. Except for California Organic House and the Japanese version of Lookfantastic, all websites are in English (or can be set to English, in the case of iHerb and YesStyle).
California Organic House – An online shop based in Los Angeles, California, importing small makeup brands made in the West Coast of the United States to Japan. All items are vegan and cruelty-free.
FeelUnique – Sells many western and some Korean brands. Check for vegan products here. They list cruelty-free products separately (they are not all vegan and vice versa). They carry brands with many vegan/animal-ingredient-free options such as Cosrx and The Inkey List.
iHerb – A popular website importing supplements, foreign foods and health foods, as well as western and Korean toiletry and cosmetics brands. More affordable choices are often stocked here. Many products are cruelty-free and vegan. Product search results can be filtered by running the search, then checking the boxes for vegan and cruelty-free products in the “certification and diet” section. (The check boxes will only appear if items in your search are actually vegan and/or cruelty-free.) To get a discount on your order please feel free to use our referral codes: CYK4452 or ARA5497.
Lookfantastic – Western brands with some vegan products such as NYX, 3INA, and many more can be purchased via the Japanese version of this UK-based website. You can also browse in English on the U.S. version of the site.
Love Lula – Has a vegan section. Reported to ship to Japan for free if the order is over 3500 jpy and discount the 20% sales tax at checkout when shipping to Japan as well as often giving 10% off for new orders.
Naturisimo – Has a vegan section. Reported to ship to Japan for free if the order is over 3500 jpy as well as often giving 10% off for new orders.
Petit Vour – A totally vegan beauty website that can ship anywhere in the world. They also carry other vegan products like bags and shoes. Offers a vegan beauty box subscription.
YesStyle sells Korean cosmetics, including Unleashia. Product search results can be filtered by running the search, then checking the boxes for vegan and cruelty-free products in the “featured” section. (The check boxes will only appear if items in your search are actually vegan and/or cruelty-free.)
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Is it Vegan? (Japan) 
Is Curel vegan brand?
Hello, no it is not. Curel products use things like gelatin, derived from animal collagen.