Is Mario Badescu Cruelty-Free? Is It Vegan?

Is Mario Badescu cruelty-free? Is Mario Badescu vegan?

Who hasn’t heard of Mario Badescu skincare? They’re everywhere! Years ago I fell in love with their drying lotion.

I never repurchased it, after I used it up because I couldn’t find a definitive answer to their cruelty-free status. So I reached out to them to try and get to the bottom of it.

Are you ready to find out the answer to “is Mario Badescu cruelty-free?”

Is Mario Badescu Cruelty-Free?

Here is what their customer service department told me when I asked if Mario Badescu is cruelty-free:

Hello Ashleigh,
Thank you for taking the time to write and for your interest in Mario Badescu Skin Care.
Here are our brand statements with regard to your questions:
We do not test our products on animals, we do not test our ingredients on animals, nor do we have anyone test on our behalf. Further, we ask all of our raw material vendors to sign a certification that they do not test on animals. That said, we have no control over the actions of raw material vendors. Below is the statement that we require all of our raw material vendors to sign as it relates to the raw materials we purchase:
I confirm that to the best of my knowledge and belief that the above named raw material complies with the European ban on animal testing and has not been tested on animals for cosmetic or personal care purposes since December 31, 2009. I also confirm it has been checked with the actual manufacturer of each constituent raw material used to produce the product listed above to ascertain that this statement is correct.
We are a privately held company and are not owned by a larger parent company. We currently have no products registered for sale in China.
Some of our products do contain ingredients derived from animals such as egg whites, bee pollen, honey extract, lanolin, and lactic acid. Although we do have some products that are free of animal by-products, we are not a vegan facility.
I hope this is helpful, please let me know if you have any additional questions.
Best,
Nicole

I want to take a minute to talk about the bolded part of their response. They state that they ask all raw material vendors to sign off vouching that they do not animal test.

But then they go on to say they have no control over their raw material vendors actions. I wholeheartedly believe this is just a statement they make to cover their asses legally if something were to go wrong.

The statement they require their raw material vendors to sign off on is incredibly similar to statements I’ve seen from other brands. So I’m confident this is just something their legal department asks them to include in the correspondence.

In the end, I am happy to say YES, Mario Badescu is cruelty-free!

Is Mario Badescu Vegan?

Some Mario Badescu products are vegan – but not all. Some of their products contain lanolin, beeswax, bee pollen, collagen, lactic acid, or animal-derived ingredients or by-products.

As the rep noted in the email they sent me:

Some of our products do contain ingredients derived from animals such as egg whites, bee pollen, honey extract, lanolin, and lactic acid. Although we do have some products that are free of animal by-products, we are not a vegan facility.