Last Updated on April 9, 2021 by Eco Elsie
Unfortunately, CeraVe products are not considered cruelty-free by the vast majority of beauty and skincare consumers and animal rights activists.
Although their website states that CeraVe products are not tested on animals, their parent company is L’Oreal, which absolutely does test their products on animals.
Therefore, as a subsidiary of that company, they cannot be considered completely cruelty-free by default.
Likewise, CeraVe products are sold in mainland China; although laws have recently changed there, it was previously required by law that all products must be tested on animals before they could be marketed.
This means that prior to the new legislation being put into effect, CeraVe products will have been tested on animals in China. Otherwise, they wouldn’t have been legally allowed to sell skincare products there!
As a result, the statement on their US website (which is absent from the UK frequently asked questions page) is unequivocally false, and they should not be making such a claim in light of the above information.
Plus, because they have many products that aren’t vegan (as we’ll go into a bit more below) there are many who wouldn’t consider them a cruelty-free company, even if L’Oreal didn’t test on animals, or they didn’t sell CeraVe in China.
Is CeraVe Vegan?
Not entirely, no. Whilst they as a brand certainly sell products that are vegan-friendly (whether intentionally or not), they also have many items in their skincare line that contain animal byproducts in the United States and Canada.
Ingredients they feature in their formulations include glycerin and cholesterol, both of which are produced using animal fats.
You can also find Lanolin oil in some CeraVe products, derived from sheep’s wool, an ingredient that cannot be considered vegan either.
That being said, in over thirty countries across the world, including the United Kingdom, only the vegan products they produce are available for purchase. This has lead many to falsely believe that the brand is cruelty-free or vegan when it isn’t.
However, there has been a claim from representatives of CeraVe that they intend on reformulating their North American skincare line by the end of 2021, promising a totally vegan formula for every product.
Will they actually follow through with this? Only time will tell.
Just because your line contains vegan products, does not make you a vegan company. You really have to commit to things and go the whole hog!
Is CeraVe An Ethical Company?
The answer to that question depends very much on who you’re asking!
Those who follow a vegan lifestyle, or only purchase products from entirely cruelty-free companies, would probably say no.
As they are owned by L’Oreal – explained above – a company that absolutely tests its products on animals, they can’t really be considered ethical when a lot of their funding comes from a company that advocates animal suffering.
Likewise, they continued to sell their products in mainland China when the laws still forced companies to test on animals in order to be eligible for market. One might argue that valuing the opportunity to profit over animal suffering is, again, not particularly ethical.
However, if you were to ask someone who is not a vegan or especially concerned by a need to shop cruelty-free, they might have a different opinion.
As CeraVe themselves don’t test any products on animals and are also making attempts to ensure their entire line is vegan across the world, you may find some folds who would argue that they are in fact ethical.
At the end of the day, it depends on your own personal morals and ethics. Where you should is entirely up to you – you’re the one who has to live with it!
Does CeraVe Test On Animals?
As we have already covered above, no, CeraVe themselves do not test their products on animals.
However, there are two clear caveats to this:
Their parent company, L’Oreal, and many of the other companies under its huge umbrella, definitely test on animals.
Similarly, CeraVe products are available to purchase in mainland China, where up until incredibly recently, it was the law that all beauty and skincare items be tested on animals before being legal to sell.
Just because CeraVe can claim innocence in that they don’t personally perform the testing, they are a company very much invested in the skincare industry, beneath other businesses who prioritize profit over animal pain.
In North America, CeraVe are able to say they don’t test on animals publically because of a loophole. In China, they cannot claim this, because it would be against the law.
That being said, the laws are changing, which could see huge improvements in the beauty industry and lead to the protection of millions more innocent animals. Here’s hoping!
Are CeraVe Products Toxic?
It’s a matter of opinion, really, but some CeraVe lotions and potions contain some highly sinister and unpleasant chemicals which on the surface might seem fine, but could get really nasty.
Now, there are many CeraVe products that appear to be absolutely fine, and in fact incredibly beneficial for your skin, with no toxic ingredients whatsoever.
However, when you head over to the Environmental Working Group website and take a look at their Skin Deep project, a lot of concerning information about CeraVe is revealed.
Let’s take their SA Cream for Rough and Bumpy Skin, for example.
Scientists at EWG reviewed the product label and found that, according to their data and that of government and health agency assessments, there are some ingredients in this cream that probably should not be.
One such chemical is PROPYLPARABEN – parabens have been proven to cause developmental or reproductive toxicity, the potential for endocrine disruption, and also potential damage to the environment (ecotoxicology).
This doesn’t necessarily mean you’re going to become seriously ill if you use this cream, so don’t freak out. Do some research, read up on the risks, examine the evidence for yourself and decide whether continued use is worth it.
There is certainly scientific evidence to suggest that this and other ingredients in CeraVe skincare have the potential to be toxic, so it’s up to you to inform yourself.
