Caring for SkinApr 22, 2026

The Best Cruelty-Free Skincare Formulas that Prove Great Skin Doesn’t Have to Come at the Expense of Animals

In This Article

Summary

Cruelty-free means not tested on animals, which classifies it as a formula that doesn’t involve animal testing.
Cruelty-free and vegan are two different things; cruelty-free is focused on the testing process, while vegan is zeroed in on the ingredients in the formula, ensuring they don’t have any animal-derived ingredients. Vegan will not include animal products, but it doesn’t necessarily mean they are not tested on animals.
All of Tatcha’s skincare formulas are cruelty-free, meaning you can have radiant skin without sacrificing your morals or ethics.

We believe in skincare that is kind both to your skin and in the testing process. Here are the best PETA-certified, cruelty-free formulas powered by Japanese botanicals for balanced, radiant results.

What Cruelty-Free Skincare Means

At the basic level, cruelty-free means not tested on animals. When a skincare offering is labeled cruelty-free, it means no component of the formula, from ingredients to finished goods, involves animal testing. Below, we dive into cruelty-free versus vegan, cruelty-free beyond animals, and the best cruelty-free formulas based on your skin type.

Cruelty-Free vs. Vegan

Cruelty-free skincare formulas are dedicated to the ethical treatment of animals and the testing process, ensuring that no harm is done to them during the product development phase. Cruelty-free may contain animal products, like silk, beeswax, honey, or lanolin.

Adversely, vegan is usually focused on the ingredients in the formula, ensuring they don’t have any animal-derived ingredients. Vegan will not include animal products, but it doesn’t necessarily mean they are not tested on animals.

Cruelty-Free — Beyond Animals

Being cruelty-free is rightfully centered around keeping animals safe, but it can also mean being kind to yourself, a pillar at Tatcha. Emotional well-being and strength are important, and we believe that skincare is a holistic act of self-love. While our formulas are orchestrated to restore your skin’s radiance, our rituals are crafted to bring calm, joy, and nourishment to your soul. Skincare doesn’t have to be something you just check off a list; it can be a check-in with your skin and mind alike, and how interconnected they are.

This kindness mindset is also a focus for our Beautiful Faces, Beautiful Futures initiative. A portion of every Tatcha purchase supports Room to Read initiatives that help children develop confidence and skills to succeed in school and make smart life decisions. To date, our support has provided over 12 million days of school with the Girls’ Education Program and the printing and distribution of over 600,000 diverse books in the U.S. through the U.S. Literacy Initiative.

Benefits of Cruelty-Free Skincare

The primary benefit of using cruelty-free skincare is investing in ethical practices, channeling your money and interests into brands and offerings that are focused on the ethical treatment of animals. However, the products can also potentially have more gentle ingredients and environmental benefits, if the brand invests in sustainable practices, as many cruelty-free brands do.

Are Cruelty-Free Formulas Gentler?

Some cruelty-free preparations can also have the added benefit of more natural and botanical ingredients, such as those found at Tatcha, making the formulations more gentle on the skin.

Best Cruelty-Free Skincare

We painstakingly test skincare products at the Tatcha Institute in Tokyo, but never on animals. If you’re looking for cruelty-free skincare offerings, all Tatcha products qualify. But allow us to recommend some of our most beloved formulas based on your skin type.

For Oily Skin

Treating oily skin can feel frustrating, but it’s actually a gift — the natural oils on your face can keep skin looking and feeling more youthful as we age. The trick to caring for oily skin is finding formulas that help to balance moisture and excessive oil production. The Matcha Cleanse will be oily skin’s best friend. The formula decongests pores and balances oil without stripping away essential moisture. This cleanser is designed to be as gentle as possible while still addressing long-term oiliness and clogged pores.

Next, consider a serum for your skin type. That might include a vitamin C serum to brighten skin, like The Brightening Serum, a hydrating serum to balance and boost moisture, like the Dewy Serum, or a formula that targets fine lines and wrinkles, like The Silk Serum.

Many moisturizers can exacerbate oily skin, but The Water Cream is brilliantly designed to balance oiliness and impart radiance with a lightweight feel. The refreshing gel-cream is clinically proven to refine pores, hydrate, and smooth skin’s texture. Or, consider the new Dewy Milk Moisturizer. This lightweight, creamy moisturizer deeply hydrates while balancing excess oil and boosting radiance for bouncy, supple skin with a lasting dewy glow.

For Dry Skin

Dry skin craves hydration, but not just any moisturizer will do. Rather, dry skin thrives with multiple layers of hydrating products, from cleansers to serums and, of course, moisturizers that sink into the skin for all-day comfort. Dry skin will love The Rice Wash, which leaves skin feeling soft and nourished thanks to rice powder as its main ingredient. The hydrating nature of this cleanser will help to support skin as the first step in your skincare routine.

Follow up with The Essence, a brilliant plumping, softening, and resurfacing liquid. This bestselling formula is made entirely (100 percent!) from Tatcha’s proprietary Hadasei-3, a trio of fermented Japanese superfoods, including Akita rice, Uji green tea, and Okinawa algae. The three ingredients work synergistically to support the skin and also help improve the performance of other skincare formulas in your routine, so using this morning and night is additionally beneficial.

A hydrating serum will help keep skin looking and feeling more moisturized. Consider the Dewy Serum, which works to nourish and plump the skin with squalane and hyaluronic acid. Or grab The Serum Stick, an on-the-go, pocket-sized serum that provides instant and deep moisture, while also blurring the look of fine lines and minimizing makeup creasing (basically, a must for mid-day touch-ups).

Moisturizers are dry skin’s best friend. Visibly plump and seal in moisture with The Dewy Skin Cream, which has hyaluronic acid, red algae, and squalane. This formula has a rich, creamy texture that provides antioxidant protection from visible signs of premature aging. Or if you need a slightly lighter experience, grab The Silk Cream, which toes the line between deeply hydrating and balancing skin, thanks to its rich yet weightless gel-cream formula, featuring silk extract. The formula uses a complete liquid silk protein, which parallels the amino acid structure of human skin, to form a whisper-light veil, while Japanese superfoods supply amino acids directly to the skin.

For Sensitive Skin

Sensitive skin can feel challenging to support, especially when experiencing difficult issues like extra dry skin, psoriasis, eczema, or reactivity. While cleansing sensitive skin can be an impossible task, The Indigo Cleansing Balm actually improves and repairs the skin barrier’s function for stronger skin over time.

Sensitive skin might enjoy an essence or serum, but if skin is feeling particularly reactive, it’s best to keep things simple. Follow up cleansing with The Indigo Calming Cream, a soothing formula that features potent Colloidal oatmeal and Japanese indigo. The decadent cream provides visible redness and itchiness relief with lasting hydration.

If skin needs some additional TLC, try the bestselling serum-in-moisturizer treatment Indigo Overnight Repair. The treatment works best with consistency and is designed for daily overnight use, with the Japanese indigo, ceramides, and mondo grass formula visibly calming irritation, strengthening the skin’s barrier, and balancing the microbiome for skin as strong as you are by the time you awake.

For Mature Skin

The key with mature skin is understanding your skin type first and foremost. While skin might morph or shift as you age, it’s likely to retain many of the properties it has had your entire life. Once you nail down your skin type, you can support it with the appropriate routine, whether that be dry, oily, or sensitive. However, be willing to shift on a whim. Skin can become fickle when it ages, so some days it might be particularly dry or sensitive, and in that case, support it with nourishing ingredients. For cleansing, you might enjoy either The Indigo Cleansing Balm or The Rice Wash, both of which nourish, but the Indigo Cleansing Balm works to repair the skin, too, which is always a good idea with mature skin types. Or if you enjoy a cleansing oil, try the Camellia Cleansing Oil, which is crafted with Japanese camellia oil, a featherweight botanical oil prized in Asia for its superb moisturizing activity.

Just as dry skin loves The Essence, so will mature skin. Press it into the skin after cleansing and before a serum and/or moisturizer.

Keeping your skin type in mind, choose from The Longevity Serum, The Dewy Milk Moisturizer, The Water Cream, The Indigo Calming Cream, The Dewy Skin Cream, or The Silk Cream. Or, if skin really needs a deeply rich cream, as many more mature skin types might, try the intensely hydrating Ageless Enriching Renewal Cream, which nourishes the skin with botanical extracts.

For Combination Skin

Combination skin can feel confusing — too much moisture and skin feels heavy; too little, and it can crave more nourishment. The secret to balancing combination skin is to find the delicate dance between hydration and oil absorption. To cleanse, The Matcha Cleanse is ideal for combination skin as it balances without stripping away essential moisture.

If your combination skin errs on the side of dryness, consider the Dewy Serum, which plumps skin with squalane and hyaluronic acid without weighing it down. For hydration, moisturizers for combination skin should have a gel-like texture, which is absorbed more quickly and is less likely to clog pores and cause breakouts. Start with a small amount and increase as needed to avoid over-moisturizing and stressing the skin. The Water Cream or The Dewy Milk Moisturizer is ideal as they hydrate, but don’t feel heavy on the skin.

Frequently Asked Questions

What does PETA-certified mean?

To be PETA certified, a product or brand must follow strict standards, ensuring no animals were harmed in the production process and no animal testing was conducted.

Are there cruelty-free mineral sunscreens?

Sunscreens go through extensive testing to ensure they provide the protection promised on the packaging. Some brands take the testing one step further and ensure their mineral sunscreens are cruelty-free, too. At Tatcha, The Silk Sunscreen has SPF 50 coverage and features mineral filters. And, as with all formulas at Tatcha, it is cruelty-free.

Is "cruelty-free" the same as "not tested on animals"?

Cruelty-free generally means it was not tested on animals. However, because the claim is not legally bound, look for certifications like PETA's Beauty Without Bunnies program, as they often have stricter criteria for cruelty-free claims.

Recent Posts

View all

Caring for SkinJun 11, 2026

Is Matcha Good for Acne?

Matcha is a special type of finely powdered green tea prized for its bright green hue, distinct cultivation practices, ceremonial preparation, and transformative health benefits. The tea is linked with many health benefits, from improving mental alertness, fighting free radicals thanks to the potent antioxidants, and boosting numerous cognitive functions. Additionally, matcha is also proven to be wonderfully beneficial for reducing blemishes when applied topically, an impressive fact proven by numerous clinical studies.

Caring for SkinJun 11, 2026

The Best Foaming Facial Cleanser

Foaming cleansers can be effective for all, but the secret to using them correctly is discovering a formula that is ideal for your skin type. A creamy foaming cleanser, which imparts a soft hydration onto the skin as cleansing, is more ideal for dry skin, while a refreshing foaming cleanser that includes oil-balancing ingredients is more ideal for combination and oily skin tones. Some formulas work by allowing the dense bubbles to grasp onto debris, sebum, and makeup, washing away in a single step. While other formulas might need an oil cleanser first to break down these trickier long-lasting ingredients.

Caring for SkinJun 10, 2026

The Best Blemish Begone Skincare Products

Blemishes can be caused by a variety of things, and are a fact of life. But choosing the right skincare products can help you keep breakouts at arm’s length. Blemishes happen to all of us. But to some of us, they happen more often than not. We call ourselves blemish-prone. And in addition to our usual skincare routines for morning and night, we make active choices about the products we use to make sure blemishes stay away. The word blemish, from the French blessmiss—to make angry—might be the most polite way to refer to many types of skin blemishes like acne, pimples, zits, and all of the other names we ascribe to those skin reactions that cause small unusual bumps. A bit ironique, considering that the word we now associate with acne connotes an imperfection or something else wrong. And while acne can be caused by imbalances in the skin, it’s common enough for all of us not to make it such a big deal. These are not mountains. They’re even much smaller than molehills. Still, those who deal with blemish- or acne-prone skin know that not all skincare products are created for the same skin type. All of us need to choose the right cleanser and moisturizer for our skin, but how we do so is up to us—and, usually, to the specifics of our skin’s behavior. A dermatologist should be your first stop on your skincare journey, but the following guide can help shed a little light on the acne-prone skin type, and some of the common skincare choices (and the optimal acne skincare routine!) made by those who have it. What is blemish-prone skin? Blemish-prone skin is another term for oily skin, which is one of the major skin types. Oily skin is usually categorized by skin that produces more sebum than so-called “normal” skin, but there are a few ways to glean more information about how your skin behaves at baseline. “Oil” is a poetic name for sebum, the waxy substance made of lipids like cholesterol, squalane, and glycerides that is secreted from sebaceous glands that sit within pores and hair follicles. Sebaceous glands are an important mechanism that our skin uses to moisturize and protect itself. Many of our sebaceous glands can be found on our faces and scalps, though there are a few places we don’t have sebaceous glands—like on our lips, or the bottoms of our feet. Sebum is a protective substance that helps to seal moisture by shoring up our skin barrier. In other words, it’s a good thing to have. But those with oily skin can have too much of it, and too much can lead to a higher incidence of breakouts. While oily skin can be a genetic trait, it can also be influenced by the environment around us—the climate, for instance—and our own behaviors—like how we take care of our skin. How do blemishes occur? You’re unlikely to find the term “blemish” in dermatology coursework. Generally, when we’re talking about a blemish, we’re talking about a form of acne, which is described most concisely as a blocked hair follicle. The pores that dot our skin are small channels that house sebaceous glands and hair follicles; they help traffic sebum up and out of skin. When sebum and dead skin clogs a pore, it may become what is called “common acne”, though there are a few types. Blackheads and whiteheads are caused by sebum buildup, and are distinguished by whether or not they’re open (and black) or closed (and white). When an infectious bacteria is introduced, it can cause a more robust infection, resulting in other forms of acne like papules and pustules that are painful to the touch. If you need help identifying what kind of blemish has popped up on you, head to your nearest dermatologist’s office to find out. What are the most important blemish skincare steps? Perhaps the most important thing to do in the face of acne is: Not panic! Breakouts happen to all of us, and usually fix themselves on their own. But if you identify with the oily skin type, and find yourself devoting more time to quelling breakouts than you’d like, you might want to consider some of the skincare products for oily skin, which are popular among those with acne-prone skin. A few common switches include: Cleansing with a gel. Dermatologists at the University of Florida Health once proclaimed that “the most important thing you can do for oily skin is to keep your skin clean.” Those with oily skin may want a cleansing formula with more reach than surface-level face washes—something that can cleanse pores deeply, ensuring they remain clear of acne-causing buildup. Gel cleansers are usually the ones for the job. Water-based gel cleansers are slippery, clear, and tend to foam up. Tatcha’s brand new Matcha Cleanse is a soapless gel that deeply decongests pores— thanks to a unique gel-to-foam texture—to reduce oil, and visibly calm skin without stripping. The Matcha Foam Cleanser takes on oiliness with a gentle touch: balancing the microbiome, soothing, and calming. Exfoliating with acids. There’s a reason that the inventors of alpha hydroxy acids have been honored all over the world. Their contribution to skincare includes one of the most popular exfoliating acids of all time—and it’s a boon for those with oily skin. AHAs, as they’re known, help to “peel” the skin by breaking down the bonds between old and new skin cells. Exfoliation is essential for all skin types, but the ease of AHAs and their efficacy in removing dead skin makes them great for oily skin. They’re commonly recommended to those with oily and acne-prone skin, especially in the form of a daily treatment. A product like the Texture Tonic, which takes the form of a lightweight daily toner, allows you to fit gentle exfoliation into your regular skincare routine—right between cleansing and moisturizing. Its AHAs come from a cornucopia of fruit sources proven to resurface uneven and dull skin—leaving it smooth and radiant. Moisturizing with water Sure, the idea of moisturizing with nothing but water may sound counterintuitive, or downright impossible. And yet it's the animating idea behind the Water Cream, Tatcha’s best-selling moisturizer for oily skin. This lightweight, oil-free cream has a bursting effect when applied, flooding the skin with vital and necessary hydration. It’s also beloved for its powerful superplant ingredients that address traits commonly found in oily skin, like antioxidant-rich wild rose (which has the benefit of smoothing the appearance of large pores) and anti-inflammatory heartleaf extract (a natural azelaic acid alternative). Masking with clay When it comes to natural ingredients that help oily skin, you can’t beat clay. Clay helps absorb excess oil, and is said to also draw impurities out of the skin. Anyone who has used a clay mask can attest to its drying powers, which is why it’s not usually a daily ingredient. Instead, it's suited for more irregular use, like in a face mask. The Clarifying Clay Mask, formulated as a treatment for oily skin, uses marine mineral-rich kucha clay sourced from the islands of Okinawa. For centuries prior, Okinawan women have cherished kucha clay for its superb oil-absorbing properties, using it as a hair powder or face mask. When mixed with volcanic ash and exfoliating Japanese konjac, it makes for smoother, clearer skin in no more than three minutes. 180 seconds per week may not alone calm oily or blemish-prone skin, but good holistic skincare habits will.

View all

Subscribe to our newsletter

By signing up, you agree with our privacy policy.

Bag

The Best Cruelty-Free Skincare Formulas that Prove Great Skin Doesn’t Have to Come at the Expense of Animals

What Cruelty-Free Skincare Means

Cruelty-Free vs. Vegan

Cruelty-Free — Beyond Animals

Benefits of Cruelty-Free Skincare

Are Cruelty-Free Formulas Gentler?

Best Cruelty-Free Skincare

For Oily Skin

For Dry Skin

For Sensitive Skin

For Mature Skin

For Combination Skin

Frequently Asked Questions

Recent Posts

Subscribe to our newsletter