Leaping Bunny

Definition

Leaping Bunny — The international gold standard for cruelty-free personal care and household products.

The Leaping Bunny Program, run by the Coalition for Consumer Information on Cosmetics, is the strictest globally recognized cruelty-free certification. It requires brands to commit to no animal testing of finished products or ingredients at any stage of development, by themselves or any supplier.

Certified brands must monitor their supplier chains, sign legally binding pledges, and submit to independent audits. The certification covers cosmetics, personal care, and household products.

Unlike self-declared "cruelty-free" labels, Leaping Bunny is verified — making it the most reliable claim a shopper can rely on.

See Leaping Bunny products

Browse top-ranked Leaping Bunny-certified products across categories.

How Leaping Bunny is verified and scored

Sustainability language is largely unregulated, so the useful question is always what evidence sits behind the word. Here is how Leaping Bunny is treated across the site, and what a shopper can check independently.

How QuickRatey treats the term Leaping Bunny compared with other claim types
Claim typeEvidence requiredScored?Example
Third-party certificationLive registry entry with scope and expiryYes — Brand & TrustGOTS, B Corp, Leaping Bunny, FSC
Measurable specificationA number on the spec sheet or listingYes — Quality, Value, ExperienceRecycled content %, warranty years
Regulated claimLegal definition in the market of saleYes, where it appliesOrganic (food), cosmetics testing bans
Unregulated adjectiveNoneNoEco-friendly, green, natural
Future pledgeA published target, not a resultNo — shown as contextCarbon neutral by 2040

Checking a Leaping Bunny claim in four steps

  1. 1

    Find who is making the claim

    Distinguish the brand's own wording from a third party's assessment. If the only source for Leaping Bunny is the brand, it is an intention rather than a verified fact.

  2. 2

    Look for the number or the certificate

    Quantified claims survive scrutiny; adjectives do not. A percentage, a certificate number or a warranty term is something you can actually check.

  3. 3

    Check the boundary and the scope

    Most overstatement lives in scope: one certified line implying a whole catalogue, or a footprint figure that excludes the largest emissions source.

  4. 4

    Weigh it against use and lifespan

    A claim only matters in proportion to how you will use the product. Longevity and repairability usually outweigh a single headline attribute.

Leaping Bunny: common questions

What does Leaping Bunny mean?

The international gold standard for cruelty-free personal care and household products.

Is Leaping Bunny regulated or verifiable?

Leaping Bunny is issued by a third-party certifier with a public registry, so any claim can be checked against a certificate number, its scope and its expiry date. A logo without a resolvable registry entry is not treated as evidence.

Does Leaping Bunny affect a product's QuickRatey score?

Yes. A verified Leaping Bunny credential feeds the Brand & Trust pillar, which is 20% of the 0–100 composite. It raises the ceiling but cannot compensate for weak durability, poor value or a bad ownership experience.

How do I check a Leaping Bunny claim myself?

Find the issuing body or the underlying number, then confirm it independently: a certificate on the certifier's registry, a stated percentage on the spec sheet, or a warranty and spare-parts policy you can read. If nothing resolves, treat the claim as marketing.

Where does Leaping Bunny appear on QuickRatey?

On product pages where the attribute is present, in category and use-case rankings as a filter, and in the methodology page where the scoring weights are published in full.