Essie’s 2021 Pledge: 100% Cruelty-Free and Vegan

Beloved nail polish brand Essie is now vegan.

At the end of last year, the company revealed that all of its products have been reformulated to be vegan. The formula is also now “eight-free.” That means that none of its polishes contain any of the following: formaldehyde, toluene, dibutyl phthalate, resin, camphor, xylene, ethyl tosylamide, or triphenyl phosphate.

Going forward, all of Essie’s products will be made with the new formula. But at the moment, everything on the shelves apart from the newly-launched Expressie range may contain the old ingredients list. So it’s best to check with the brand first before buying.

Essie has been reformulating its products since 2018. Carolyn Holba, Essie’s general manager, told WWD: “We have consumers that know exactly what our colors look like, so we had to hold ourselves to the highest standards for performance. That’s why it’s taken us several years to get here. There was a lot of testing done.”

It’s important to note that Essie’s parent company L’oreal is not certified cruelty-free, but the brand explicitly states on its website that it does not test on animals. It says: “Our company does not test any of its products or any of its ingredients on animals and has been at the forefront of alternative testing methods for over 30 years.”

Beauty Goes Vegan and Cruelty-Free

Essie isn’t alone in its decision to turn its formulas vegan for 2021. Popular hair and skincare brand Aveda recently made a similar announcement. It reformulated more than 500 products to ensure that every single item in its offering was completely free of animal ingredients, like honey and beeswax.

Barbara De Laere, Aveda’s global brand president, said in a statement: “[It’s] a really exciting moment for our brand as we share with the world our continuous commitment to sustainability.”

In further progress for the industry, last year, Unilever-owned personal care brand Suave went cruelty-free. The iconic company, which sells a product every 14 seconds and is in bathrooms in one out of two American households, joined PETA’s Beauty Without Bunnies program.

Berengere Loubater, senior brand director for Suave, said in a statement: “Suave is known for its high-quality beauty products made accessible to all since 1937. Our consumers care about animals and so do we! That is why we are proud to be certified cruelty-free by PETA and continue to offer high-quality beauty products.”