Is Diptyque Cruelty-Free?

Diptyque appears on several cruelty-free guides, as of the original publish date of this post. And yet, I was not able to find a statement on their website or anywhere else for that matter.

Tracking down luxury beauty products that are 100% cruelty-free can be difficult. So I crossed my fingers that my research would confirm their cruelty-free status! I have to admit that I do enjoy the brand myself, though I’ve never actually purchased from them.

After some digging on both their American and Parisian websites, it was clear that there are Diptyque boutiques in Beijing and Shanghai. (I can’t say I was surprised by this; they are an international luxury powerhouse.) As you probably know, mainland China does still require that imported beauty products be tested on animals. Hong Kong is exempt from this.

Screenshots from their official website.

If the shops only sell candles, then there is no need for animal testing. But if these shops sell perfumes, body lotion, soaps, or any other body product, they would be subject to the Chinese import law. This law requires imported beauty products to be tested on animal subjects first before being allowed on shelves for human consumption.

Diptyque Perfumes are Sold in China

There is a photo on the Diptyque website of the Plaza 66 Shanghai boutique which clearly stocks Diptque perfumes.

I’m not able to verify the authenticity of this photo, but given that it appears on their offocial website I’m prone to believe it’s accurate.

What is Diptyque’s Animal Testing Policy?

I wanted to get some more information on what Diptyque’s stance is on animal testing. My hunch was that because they are manufactured in Europe that they would not conduct animal testing themselves, as per EU regulations against it. After a bit of back and forth with a pleasant customer care representative from diptyqueparis.com I was able to get this statement:

Dear Natalie,

We would like first of all to thank you for your keen interest in our brand.

Our products are made according to the European regulations relative to cosmetics and are not tested on animals as per the law of September 11th, 2004. Moreover, since March 11th, 2009, the law also forbids to practice animal experiments on raw materials composing our formulas.

Our products are regularly tested by French and/or European laboratories.

We can also guarantee that our products do not contain animal-derived ingredients, but can contain on the other hand ingredients stemming from animal secretions such as the beeswax.

Remaining at your disposal for any information you might need, we wish you a nice day.

Best Wishes,

(name removed for privacy) 
diptyque customer care

Diptyque is Not Vegan.

I was not expecting Diptyque to be a fully vegan brand. Though I know their lust-worthy candles use a vegetable and paraffin wax blend, instead of beeswax.  So I did hold out hope that there were some items in their home or beauty line that were fully vegan.

The customer care rep confirmed that Diptque was not a vegan company because they use several insect ingredients:

“After consulting our laboratory, we confirm the presence of ingredients that may not be tolerated by those who are vegan. We use, for example, beeswax and honey.”

I do think it was nice that she did reach out directly to the lab for an answer. But I was not able to get any more specific information beyond that.

Does Diptyque Create Any Vegan Products?

Dear Natalie,

We thank you for your keen interest in our brand diptyque.

Further to your inquiry, we would like to inform you that we unfortunately cannot provide a list of our products, which are designed especially for vegan people.

We sincerely hope this message will give you all the answers you were expecting.

Please feel free to contact us should you need anything else.

On behalf of diptyque we would like to wish you a pleasant afternoon.

Kind regards,

(name removed for privacy) 
diptyque customer care

I would have loved a list of vegan Diptyque products if any exist. The brand rep could not provide any clarification on which products contain insect/animal secretions and which do not. That is a bit disappointing, as none of the Diptyque products have full ingredient lists displayed on their website or on the products. So as consumers, I’m not sure how we would be able to figure that out?

But Aren’t Natural Perfumes Vegan?

No, the “natural” label doesn’t mean something is vegan. Natural perfumes can contain many non-vegan ingredients. Beyond honey or beeswax, there are several animal secretions used in perfume blends to keep the scent lingering all day. (Yes, we can harness that natural scent-marking ability of many animals by extracting their gland secretions and infusing them into perfume blends. Sexxxy. Keep in mind these glands are often inside the animal. Meaning the animal would be killed to obtain the secretions.) The musk and other “animal secretion” ingredients in Diptyque perfumes could be synthetic or natural. But without clear labeling or clarification from the rep, there’s no way for me to know which it is.

I cannot tell for certain which products from their line are vegan and which aren’t. They don’t list their full ingredients on their websites and I haven’t seen any labeling on their perfume bottles either. Diptyque should disclose full ingredient lists so that consumers can decide for themselves. Or at the very least, provide clearer labeling.

The Final Verdict

I’m on the fence with this brand. I’m happy that they abide by EU ethical testing policies. But I would not consider them to be 100% cruelty-free, due to their choice of physical shops in China. Knowing that they have shops in a country that requires animal testing makes me think twice about purchasing from them.

Diptyque is definitely not a vegan brand, but they do focus on natural ingredients. Because of the lack of transparency with ingredients, it’s impossible to determine the toxicity of their beauty products or which items are vegan.

My advice is that if you are looking for luxury vegan and 100% cruelty-free products, Diptyque may not be the brand for you.

I will update this post if I can find any clarification on their cruelty-free status, or if I am able to obtain a list of vegan items.