One of my favourite brands, because it ticks so many boxes is The Ordinary. Affordable and with great ingredients it’s a industry rebel. That makes good skin within the reach of most people.
There is a lot to love about The Ordinary.
Is The Ordinary is cruelty-free?
Yes! The Ordinary states this clearly on their website when asked about their stance on cruelty-free “The Ordinary does not test on animals and do not ask others to do so. For this reason, none of our brands or products is sold in stores or conventional retailers in mainland China, since such sales require animal testing for registration purposes.”
Hoorah another tick in the awesome box for The Ordinary.
Let’s dive in a little deeper, to find out why The Ordinary is living up to its cruelty-free stance.
What Does Cruelty-Free Mean?
There are currently no laws or even regulations about what cruelty-free means in the USA. However, Leaping Bunny is an organisation against animal testing and that promotes cruelty-free cosmetic products. It has a certification program.
This is a voluntary certification that companies can apply for. If the company meets the standards that Leaping Bunny sets it can put a leaping bunny certification on their products.
To be considered cruelty free by Leaping Bunny a brand or product has to meet strict criteria.
- No parts of the production process for any product of the brand includes animal testing of any kind
- The company is not associated in any way, whether as a partner or subsidiary, with any company that tests on animals
- They do not have its products tested on animals by a third party and can prove this
- The company does not order anything whatsoever from companies who test on animals
- They do not allow their products to be sold in countries where animal testing is required, such as mainland China
If a brand meets these criteria they can then put the leaping bunny certified logo onto their product.
This logo let’s consumer know that this product has met the standards set by Leaping Bunny in relation to cruelty-free and not tested on animals claims. Leaping Bunny also requires companies to annually recommit to maintaining it’s certification.
Is The Ordinary Certified by Leaping Bunny?
Yes, you can see the link to The Ordinary from the Leaping Bunny website.
You can also see the Leaping Bunny and the DECIEM relationship with animals on their website. They encourage you to bring your dogs into their stores! Kindness is part of what makes DECIEM and The Ordinary set apart from other skincare companies.
DECIEM is the parent company that owns The Ordinary and they are very committed to the ethical treatment of animals and their cruelty-free not tested on animals status.
Consumers often think that to be cruelty-free a product is automatically vegan.
This is not the case many brands have cruelty free status but still use animal products such as honey, beeswax, lanolin and milk products. For example Lactic Acid an AHA can be made from milk.
Are Ordinary Products Vegan?
Cruelty-free and not tested on animals does not make a product vegan. Also just because the company has Leaping Bunny Status doesn’t make it vegan.
I know it can sound confusing, but using animal products or products derived from animals doesn’t mean those products are obtained in cruel ways.
Leaping bunny states on their website:
The Leaping Bunny list does not provide information about the composition of ingredients. Since ingredient information is available—and required by law— shoppers can easily discover whether products are vegan or not. For this reason, Leaping Bunny chooses to focus its resources on validating animal testing claims, which is information not readily available to consumers. There are many Leaping Bunny certified companies that are entirely vegan or produce a selection of vegan products. The best place to find out more information is to check a company’s FAQ or contact them directly.
Are Ordinary Products Vegan or Not?
The Ordinary has a lot of Vegan options but not all of The Ordinary product lines are vegan. You can however go to their website and search for vegan products.
However, they do meet the standards set by Choose Cruelty-Free (CCF). CCF is an Australian Organisation against animal testing and has these standards for a product to be considered cruelty free.
These standards are that no animal-derived products can contain any of the following ingredients:
- Derived from an animal killed specifically for the extraction of that ingredient;
- Forcibly extracted from a live animal in a manner that occasioned pain or discomfort;
- Derived from any wildlife;
- That are by-products of the fur industry; or
- That is slaughterhouse by-products (meaning the animal was not killed specifically for the ingredient, but that the ingredient was available due to the animal being killed for other purposes).
- Derived in a way that results in the death of that animal or insect either directly or indirectly
- Derived from fish or crustacean
DECIEM answers this question on their website.
Are your products vegan?
Majority of them are! We have a product legend for each product on our website that will indicate if it is vegan, nut-free, oil-free and a whole host of other information!
The Bottom Line: Is The Ordinary Cruelty-Free, Against Animal Testing and Vegan?
The Ordinary is definitely cruelty-free and against animal testing. It has the Leaping Bunny certification which is the industry gold standard of cruelty-free certification.
When it comes to being vegan, some of their products are vegan and they meet strict criteria for what type of animal-derived products they use in the manufacturing or their formulas.
However, all is not rosy in the land of cruelty-free and animal testing with The Ordinary.
The Ordinary is very clear on its status and that’s great.
But in the interests of total transparency, there is an elephant in the room.
DECIEM is partly owned by Estee Lauder. Estee Lauder does not have cruelty-free certification due to the fact it sells its products in mainland China.
So while DECIEM and The Ordinary don’t test on animals and have cruelty-free status, they re partly owned by a company that doesn’t.
Here is where you get to decide and have a long or not existential crisis about your choices in skincare. And possibly be nasty to each other in the comments section.
I always recommend kindness and doing the best you can and what you feel comfortable with.
I use and love a lot of The Ordinary products and the fact they are not testing on animals directly and won’t sell into China is commendable.
Armed with the facts, you can now choose.
