Independent public company; 100% vegan and double-certified Leaping Bunny + PETA
| Ingredient transparency | Full ingredient list read and categorised |
| Ownership | e.l.f. Cosmetics is a brand of e.l.f. Beauty, Inc., a publicly traded company on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker ELF. It has no single controlling parent. TPG Growth took a majority stake in 2014, before the company's later public listing; current ownership is dispersed among public shareholders. The company also owns Naturium, a separate skincare brand acquired in 2023, which should not be conflated with e.l.f. Cosmetics itself. (Publicly listed; no non-CF conglomerate owner) |
| Where made | Manufactured by third party suppliers, primarily in China, per the company's own Responsible Sourcing Policy. |
| Price | Budget |
| Cruelty free | Yes |
| Vegan | Yes |
| Organic | No |
| Certifications | Leaping Bunny: certified since 2022, confirmed on the live Leaping Bunny register, which lists distribution in the US, Canada, Australia, the European Union, Mexico, the United Kingdom, the Middle East region and Southeast Asia; China is not listed.; PETA Beauty Without Bunnies: listed live as cruelty-free, with the page stating verbatim that the company ensures neither ingredients nor finished products are tested on animals, and that suppliers and third parties follow the same standard. No caveats appear on the page.; No organic or Vegan Society Trademark certification was found for any product; e.l.f.'s '100 percent vegan and cruelty-free' marketing is a brand claim rather than a third party certified one, with zero products independently certified. |
| Sold in mainland China | Sold online into China but not in mainland China physical stores, consistent with its Leaping Bunny directory entry listing the US, Canada, Australia, EU, Mexico, UK, Middle East and Southeast Asia. |
| Palm oil | RSPO certified palm procurement was 75% in FY2024, up from 50% in FY2023, against a stated 100% goal by FY2027. |
| Packaging | Mixed plastic; some recyclable |
| Good On You | Rated It's a Start, with Planet 2 out of 5, People 2 out of 5 and Animals 5 out of 5, and the written summary still marked coming soon. |
| EWG | Listed in EWG Skin Deep at product level, with no EWG Verified products found. |
| External ratings | CFK verified cruelty-free & vegan; PETA + Leaping Bunny certified |
| Lab tested | Not publicly disclosed |
| Clinical studies | Not published |
| Controversies | Benefit sued over the Lash 'N Roll dupe and lost in December 2024, and the brand has drawn criticism for excess plastic packaging and for a 2025 Matt Rife advert that prompted a public statement. |
| Caveat | Publicly listed as e.l.f. Beauty (NYSE: ELF) and trading normally, with continuing scrutiny over dupe culture and plastic heavy packaging; its FY2025 Impact Report is a digital web report rather than a downloadable PDF. |
Claims made for this brand that could not be confirmed in a certifier's own register. A brand website is a claim, not a source.
A separate PETA listing exists under the name 'Naturium, an e.l.f. Cosmetics, Inc. brand', referring to the different Naturium skincare line that e.l.f. Beauty acquired in 2023. This should not be conflated with e.l.f. Cosmetics' own cruelty-free listing.
e.l.f. Beauty as a publicly traded company, NYSE: ELF, with no single controlling parent https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E.l.f.
Leaping Bunny certification since 2022 and distribution country list, read live https://www.leapingbunny.org/brand/elf-cosmetics-inc
PETA cruelty-free listing for E.L.F. Cosmetics, read live https://crueltyfree.peta.org/company/elf-cosmetics/
Separate PETA listing for Naturium, an e.l.f. Cosmetics Inc. brand, not to be conflated with e.l.f. Cosmetics itself https://crueltyfree.peta.org/company/naturium-e-l-f-cosmetics-inc/
Why there is no score: Partial read. This verdict is provisional. Only part of the catalogue could be read and the certifications listed have not been checked against the certifiers own registers, so the evidence does not yet support a settled verdict. No score is published. Ingredient lists were obtained for 1 products, but the brand's product listing did not respond when the total catalogue size was measured, so the share of the range covered is unknown. Without a denominator a percentage would be meaningless.
Last checked 22 July 2026.
Not yet independently verified. The certifications listed for this brand are as the brand states them. They have not yet been checked against the certifiers own registers, so they should be read as a claim rather than a confirmed fact.
We analysed 1 e.l.f. Cosmetics products, categorising every listed ingredient by function, origin (raw natural, naturally derived or synthetic) and safety concern. This is not the whole catalogue, so it is reported as a partial read. Percentages show the share of each formula that is natural or naturally derived.
Most common flags: Dimethicone, Phenoxyethanol
Coverage: Ingredient lists were read for 1 products. The size of the full catalogue could not be established, so no average is shown.
Analyst note: Ingredient lists were read for 1 products. The brand's total catalogue size could not be measured, so the share of the catalogue covered here is not known.
| Product | Natural | Ingredients | Flagged |
|---|---|---|---|
| No Budge Retractable Eyeliner - Navy | 79% | 14 | 2 |
Full ingredient breakdown
The full ingredient by ingredient breakdown of all 1 e.l.f. Cosmetics products (14 ingredients, each categorised by function, origin and safety concern) is free with an account.
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