Photo Credit: The Dublin Gazzette
As Wikipedia states, “TRESemmé is an American multi-national brand of hair care products first manufactured in 1947 by the Godefroy Manufacturing Company in St. Louis, Missouri, United States.” TRESemmé has been purchased multiple times over the years with the most recent acquisition by Unilever in 2010. Their products fall into the hair care category and include shampoo, conditioner, dry shampoo, hair spray, hair gel, mousse, and heat protectant spray. In this article we look to answer two questions: 1. Is TRESemmé vegan? and 2. Is TRESemmé cruelty-free?
Vegan vs Cruelty-Free
While “vegan” and “cruelty-free” are often used interchangeability by beauty brands and consumers, they actually mean two different things. With all lifestyle brand and product analyses we produce at Veg Knowledge, we use the same definitions for vegan and cruelty-free. These definitions are:
“Vegan” products are those that contain no animal-derived ingredients.
“Cruelty-Free” products are those that no animal testing occurs on the product or any of its ingredients.
Therefore, it is possible that a product could be “vegan” but not “cruelty-free” if the product contains no animal-based ingredients, but it is tested on animals due to a certain country’s regulations.
We choose to use these definitions in our analyses because they are often the definitions used by those in the beauty industry. In our option, it is hard to justify that a product is cruelty-free if it includes animal-based products, but this is how the beauty industry labels their products. If you’d like a full breakdown on this topic, check out the Ethical Elephant’s article.
Is TRESemmé Vegan?
While TRESemmé’s US based website does not have information on animal-based ingredients or animal testing, their UK based website’s FAQs has the answers we are looking for. It appears that the same products are sold in both countries, so the UK FAQ answers would apply to the brand as a whole. The first FAQ asks, “Are there animal derived ingredients in TRESemmé products?” with the following answer:
“Our products may contain animal derived ingredients from normal sustainable animal husbandry or farming or fishery practices such as milk, honey, lanolin, silk etc. Products may also contain processed and denatured animal by products with established uses such as tallow, keratin, collagen, elastin etc. In most cases this is because the ingredient performs a function for which there is no suitable alternative available. Animal welfare is an important social and ethical issue. As part of our Sustainable Agricultural Code we work with suppliers to continuously improve the sourcing of agricultural ingredients.”
Therefore, TRESemmé products ARE NOT vegan because they may contain animal derived products including, but not limited to, milk, honey, lanolin, silk, tallow, keratin, collagen, and elastin.
Is TRESemmé Cruelty-Free?
TRESemmé UK’s second FAQ asks, “Does TRESemmé test on animals?” with the following answer:
“TRESemmé is committed to eliminating animal testing across the business. Since the 1980s, TRESemmé has remained at the forefront of research into non-animal approaches to assess product safety and advocates effective, science-based regulation on alternatives to animal testing that ensure consumer safety and facilitate innovation.
TRESemme’s scientists play a leading role internationally, working with key academic, government and NGO scientists to lead the development and application of non-animal tested approaches for assessing consumer safety. Where we are legally obliged to commission animal studies, we ensure a minimal numbers of animals are used.
No animal testing is carried out in our own laboratories. In countries where local authorities test our products on animals, we are working with government scientists to help implement non-animal based methods.“
This answer is a long winded way of stating that TRESemmé uses animal testing on its products where required by law, but does not test in its own labs (they use third party testers when necessary). While it is vague in the answer, TRESemmé is likely referring to China when stating they test “where legally obliged.” China currently requires a test on animals for all imported cosmetics, regardless of the location of manufacture. TRESemmé lists China as one of its product countries on their website.
Therefore, TRESemmé products ARE NOT cruelty-free either.
Unilever's Animal Testing Stance
It is important to note in this article that TRESemmé’s parent company, Unilever, is committed to end animal testing. Unilever has posted an article titled, “Developing alternative approaches to animal testing” on their website and many of their brands are cruelty-free. With Unilever’s work in this area, we might see animal testing in the beauty industry end in the coming years.
Vegan and Cruelty-Free TRESemmé Alternatives
As none of TRESemmé’s products are vegan or cruelty-free, we have compiled a list of alternatives to TRESemmé’s products.
Most of Paul Mitchell’s products are both vegan-friendly and cruelty-free. You can purchase their Hot Off The Press Thermal Protection Spray on Amazon.
Summary
At the time of this writing, the hair care products from TRESemmé are neither vegan nor cruelty-free, but with Unilever’s devotion to ending animal testing these certifications could change in the upcoming years.
You can read our other vegan and cruelty-free lifestyle analyses here.
