My colorist has used Redken on my hair for almost two years now. Shades EQ gloss every six weeks to keep the color from turning brassy, Acidic Bonding Concentrate whenever my ends start feeling like straw, and a bottle of All Soft Conditioner I bought myself sitting in my shower right now. So when someone asked me is Redken cruelty free, I realized I’d never actually checked. I’d just trusted the salon chair. I went through Redken’s own statements, L’Oréal’s policy, and every certification list that actually matters, and the short version disappointed me too.
The Quick Answer: Is Redken Cruelty Free?
No, Redken is not cruelty free. Redken isn’t Leaping Bunny certified, it doesn’t appear on PETA’s cruelty free list, and it has never published a policy ruling out animal testing anywhere in its supply chain.
The reason comes down to who owns it. Redken is an L’Oréal brand, and L’Oréal’s official animal welfare statement says the company itself stopped testing finished products and ingredients on animals back in 1989. That part is true, and it’s worth giving them credit for it. But the same statement admits that certain health authorities can still require animal tests for products sold in China, and Redken products are sold there. That single carve out is enough to keep the whole brand off every credible cruelty free list. PETA’s own listing for Redken calls it out directly and puts the brand on their “companies to avoid” side rather than their cruelty free one.
I’ll be honest, I read Redken’s marketing copy first and almost stopped there. It talks a lot about clean formulas and safety testing, and none of it mentions animals at all. That’s not an accident. A brand doesn’t need to lie to keep you confused, it just needs to leave the inconvenient part out.
Cruelty free status isn’t permanent either. Companies get bought, testing policies shift, and countries change their import rules, so treat this as accurate for right now and worth a quick recheck before you make a big purchase.
Does It Matter Which Redken Line You’re Using?
I get why people search line by line. Is Redken Acidic Bonding Concentrate cruelty free specifically, or is it just the shampoos? Is Redken Shades EQ cruelty free, or is toner treated differently since it’s a service product rather than something you buy retail?
It doesn’t work that way. Cruelty free status gets decided at the company level, not the product level. It’s about whether the brand or its regulators can ever require an animal test somewhere in the process, and that policy covers everything manufactured under the Redken name. So Acidic Bonding Concentrate, All Soft, One United, Extreme Length, every Redken hair color and Shades EQ shade, and every shampoo and conditioner in the lineup all fall under the same answer. There’s no cruelty free product line hiding inside a brand that isn’t cruelty free overall.
I felt that gap most with the Acidic Bonding Concentrate. My colorist swears by it for repairing damage after lightening, and honestly, it works. My ends stopped snapping off within a few treatments. That’s exactly the kind of product that makes this hard, because the performance isn’t the problem. The policy behind it is.
Redken and the “Gluten Free” Question (It’s a Different Thing Entirely)
A chunk of people searching for Redken’s cruelty free status are actually asking something else: is Redken color gluten free, are Redken products gluten free, is Redken shampoo gluten free. That’s a completely separate question from animal testing, and the two get mixed up constantly because they both sound like purity claims.
Gluten free is about whether a product contains proteins from wheat, barley, or rye, which matters for people with celiac disease or a gluten sensitivity, especially if the product could reach the mouth or an open scalp wound during a service. Redken doesn’t market any of its lines with a “gluten free” label the way a food brand would, and formulations change often enough that I wouldn’t trust an old blog post’s ingredient breakdown over checking the actual ingredient list on your specific bottle or asking your colorist to check the batch they’re using. Cruelty free and gluten free tell you two completely different things about a product, and a brand can be one, both, or neither.
What PETA and Other Watchdogs Actually Say
If you’ve searched Redken cruelty free PETA or Redken cruelty free Kitty, you’re looking for a second opinion, which is smart. Here’s what I found when I checked.
PETA maintains two separate lists, one for brands that don’t test on animals and one for brands that do or that can’t rule it out. Redken sits firmly on the second list, alongside its parent company. Cruelty Free Kitty, one of the most cited independent trackers in this space, reaches Redken by contacting brands directly and asking for their full animal testing policy in writing. Brands that won’t give a straight no, or that admit to testing where required by law, get classified as not cruelty free. Redken falls into that category there too.
When two organizations that use different methods land on the same answer, that’s a stronger signal than either one alone. Neither is guessing. They’re both responding to what Redken and L’Oréal have actually said in writing.
My Honest Take After Two Years With Redken
Here’s where I’ll probably annoy people on both sides. I didn’t throw out my Redken products the day I found this out, and I’m not going to tell you that you have to either.
What I did do was stop repurchasing at retail. I finished the All Soft Conditioner I already owned instead of pouring it down the drain out of guilt, because wasting a product I’d already paid for doesn’t undo any testing that already happened. I did try to replace the Acidic Bonding Concentrate on my own with a cruelty free bond builder, and it was a letdown. My ends went back to feeling rough within about three weeks, nowhere near what the Redken version did. That’s the part of this I don’t see many cruelty free bloggers admit: sometimes the alternative genuinely isn’t as good yet, and pretending otherwise doesn’t help anyone make a real decision.
My honest, slightly contrarian take is that treating this as all or nothing usually backfires. People quit cold turkey, get disappointed by a swap that underperforms, and quietly go back to their old products feeling like a failure instead of someone who made one reasonable trade off. I’d rather see someone shift their next few purchases toward cruelty free brands and keep one salon service they actually love than abandon the whole effort over a single gloss appointment.
Cruelty Free Redken Alternatives Worth Trying
If you’re ready to shift your retail purchases away from Redken, the good news is the cruelty free hair care space has genuinely caught up in the last few years. I’ve had good luck with sulfate free, plant based lines that don’t ask you to sacrifice shine or hold to make the switch. For a full breakdown of the brands I’d actually trust with color treated hair, I put together a list of cruelty free shampoo brands worth actually buying, including a few that rival salon lines on performance.
Worth knowing too: Redken isn’t an outlier among salon-owned brands. I ran into the exact same wall when I looked into Lancôme’s cruelty free status, another L’Oréal brand with the identical China loophole. If you’re trying to go fully cruelty free, it’s worth checking every brand under a parent company you’re trying to avoid, not just the one you searched for.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Redken cruelty free or not?
No. Redken isn’t Leaping Bunny or PETA certified, and its parent company L’Oréal can still be required to test products sold in mainland China, which is enough to disqualify the whole brand from cruelty free status.
Is Redken Shades EQ cruelty free?
No. Cruelty free status applies to the entire brand, not individual product lines, so Shades EQ falls under the same policy as the rest of Redken’s lineup.
Are Redken products gluten free?
Redken doesn’t market its products with a gluten free label, and this is unrelated to cruelty free status. Check the ingredient list on your specific product or ask your colorist if this matters for your health.
Does Redken test on animals in the United States?
Redken and L’Oréal say they don’t conduct testing themselves in their own labs. The issue is that regulators in markets like mainland China can still require third party animal testing on products sold there, which Redken’s do.
Is there a fully cruelty free version of Redken?
No, there isn’t a cruelty free sub-line within Redken. If you want a comparable salon quality product with a clean cruelty free policy, you’ll need to switch brands entirely rather than picking a specific Redken product.
Bottom Line
Is Redken cruelty free? No, and the reason isn’t some obscure technicality, it’s a straightforward loophole tied to selling in a market that still allows required animal testing. Every product line inherits that same answer, whether you’re asking about a $12 shampoo or a $40 salon gloss.
I’m still finishing the Redken I already own, and I’m not pretending that makes me a purist. What I’ve changed is where my next purchase goes. If you’re at the same crossroads, start with your everyday shampoo and conditioner since those are the easiest swaps, and work your way up to the salon services when you’re ready.