Is The Ordinary Cruelty-Free and Vegan?

A brand that garners as much popularity as The Ordinary, with low prices and excellent results sounds too good to be true, right?

It can lead you, the consumer, to think that they must fall down somewhere, surely.

In many cases, these cheaper, budget brands that promise such good results are often, disappointedly, not the most ethical, with many of them testing on animals and selling in China. 

However, are The Ordinary just another one of these brands. Or is their innovation and status equally matched by their commitment to remaining cruelty free? 

I will be discussing all of your questions in this article, exploring the cruelty free status of The Ordinary, letting you know whether they test on animals, and also analyzing whether their brands (or at least some of the products) are vegan.

So, if you are a loyal user of The Ordinary, or have heard good things about them and want to find out if they align with your ethical choices, this is the article for you! 

Does ordinary test on animals?

First thing’s first, I want to reassure you that The Ordinary does not test on animals. This is good news for all of you skincare fanatics out there who want good quality, ethical goodies at low prices. 

The Ordinary is a brand that is passionate about being as ethical as possible, and so no aspect of their products is tested on animals at any point.

This means that as well as the finished product not being tested on animals, neither are any of the ingredients that they use for their products. 

Does The Ordinary Sell Their Products In China?

As if that wasn’t enough, The Ordinary is only sold in countries where animal testing is not required by law.

By this, I mean that it is not sold in countries like China where it is mandatory to test all products on animals before they are sold to the public. This ensures this

The Ordinary remains truly cruelty free in all aspects of their work. 

Are The Ordinary PETA and Leaping Bunny Approved?

To support their status as a cruelty free company, The Ordinary has also been awarded with recognition from a number of official cruelty free organizations.

Most importantly they have recognition from PETA and Leaping Bunny, giving consumers immediate reassurance that the product they are purchasing is totally cruelty free. 

Are The Ordinary Owned By A Parent Company?

One thing to keep in mind that I must tell you about in order to be totally transparent is the fact that The Ordinary is owned by a bigger parent company.

The parent company that owns The Ordinary is none other than Estee Lauder.

Estee Lauder are not cruelty free because of the fact that they sell their products in China where it is required to test on animals by law in order for any products to be sold.

As well as this, it is difficult to pinpoint their exact policy on animal testing, which has resulted in them not getting cruelty free status or logos from PETA or Leaping Bunny. 

If you are very strict on your buying policies and will only purchase from companies where the parent company is also cruelty free, then sadly, The Ordinary will not be suitable.

However, officially they are recognized as cruelty free, and clearly work hard to maintain their status, and for this reason they have my support as someone who buys only cruelty free beauty.

In fact, it is thought that you should still buy from brands that may be owned by non cruelty free parent companies as it may encourage them in the long term to become cruelty free - hey, it may happen! 

Is ordinary vegan? 

After years of having mostly vegan products, The Ordinary has recently announced through the FAQ section of their website that they are indeed 100% vegan, meaning that none of the ingredients in their products are derived from animals.

However, this seems to be a very recent move for the company as, in the past, there was some uncertainty over the vegan status of all of their products.

With this in mind, it is important to note that any older products of theirs that you may have may not be vegan.

To be sure, it is always best to double check your packaging.

That being said, if you are buying a brand new product, you can rest assured that The Ordinary now have PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) certification that they are totally vegan, and work hard to ensure the same for any new products that they release. 

Again, I just want to make the point that while The Ordinary is vegan, their parent company, Estee Lauder, is not.

This may be an issue for some people, but for the most part, people will not be deterred by this, especially since The Ordinary themselves has official certification of their vegan status. 

Summary 

To summarize, I am happy to inform you that The Ordinary is indeed a cruelty free beauty and skincare company. They have official, recognized status as such by two leading companies, PETA and Leaping Bunny. 

This means that not only is their finished product not tested on animals, but they also guarantee that none of the ingredients used in their products are tested either. 

As well as having a cruelty free guarantee from two official bodies, The Ordinary also has a 100% vegan certification from PETA, too.

This is for all of their products meaning you can purchase any of them and be assured it is cruelty free and vegan. 

Whilst The Ordinary is cruelty free, their parent company is not which may put off some customers.

However, one thing is for sure, and that is that The Ordinary seems to be making strides in the beauty industry, and has made a stand to be a total cruelty free company, at least so far, refusing to even sell to countries that enforce mandatory testing.