Kayla Young
The Ordinary is a small, well-loved cosmetics brand. Over the past few years, they’ve become popular for their clinically-developed, high-quality cosmetics and have received stellar reviews from customers. You can get an entire skincare routine from their products.
These days, however, consumers are concerned about more than just effectiveness and reviews. They also care about ethics. Many wonder “Is The Ordinary cruelty-free? Or do they test their products on animals?”
In this post, we’ll examine whether or not The Ordinary is a genuine cruelty-free company, how they test their products, and whether or not they’re a vegan company. And we’ll look at who owns them, and what they own.
If you’re the type of person who likes to purchase ethically produced cosmetics, then you’ll want to give this piece a read!
Contents
Is The Ordinary Cruelty-Free?
Unfortunately, some of the world’s most prominent cosmetic companies sell products that have been cruelly tested on helpless, innocent animals. These animals are trapped in cages, mistreated, abused, starved, and tortured on a daily basis.
Awareness of this cruelty has been raised thanks to undercover agents who manage to gain access to these testing facilities. Once inside, they use hidden cameras or cell phones to record the tragedies within. This awareness has led to many consumers completely changing which companies they shop with.
On their website, The Ordinary claims to be cruelty-free, but are they really?
The Ordinary Does Not Test On Animals (Or Use Third-Party Testers That Do)
According to Cruelty-Free Kitty (an organization dedicated to identifying cruelty-free companies), The Ordinary truly is a cruelty-free company.
In addition to this, PETA has also given The Ordinary their stamp of approval as well.
PETA’s stamp of approval is not easily earned. So the fact that they endorse The Ordinary is a great sign that the company is an honest, truly cruelty-free cosmetic company.
Essentially, this means that they don’t test any of their products on animals. It also means that they don’t go through third-party testers that test products on animals (a tactic used by many other cosmetic brands claiming to be “cruelty-free”).
The Ordinary Does Not Sell To Countries That Require Animal Testing
The Ordinary also refuses to sell its products to countries that require animal testing on imported cosmetics (such as China).
This means that under no circumstances are the company’s products tested by animals.
Is The Ordinary Vegan?
The Ordinary doesn’t test any of its products on animals and complies with all cruelty-free trade laws and regulations. However, its products are not 100% vegan.
This means that some of their products may contain animal-derived products.
This is common policy among many skincare brands including Mario Badescu and Tatcha.
What About The Ordinary’s Parent Company?
Here’s where the situation gets a bit sticky…
So, The Ordinary is owned by Deciem, a large umbrella corporation that owns multiple cosmetic lines. While all of Deciem’s products are also cruelty-free, the problem is that Deciem itself has sold a 76% stake to cosmetic giant Estee Lauder.
Estee Lauder is not a cruelty-free company, and they have openly admitted to testing products on animals.
So, even though The Ordinary is an independently-owned company, part of its profits eventually go up the chain and are pocketed by Estee Lauder.
Sigh. Do with that information what you will.
Conclusion
Although The Ordinary is a cruelty-free company, they are, in part, owned by Estee Lauder. This means that money spent with The Ordinary contributes to Estee Lauder’s success, which allows them to continue testing their products on animals.
Whether that is acceptable or not is up to the individual consumer.
