Is CeraVe Cruelty-Free & Vegan? Do They Test Products On Animals?

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Is CeraVe cruelty-free and vegan?

This has been a question that is surrounded by a lot of confusion. In this post, I will try my best to share all the info that I found about CeraVe’s cruelty-free and vegan status.

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About The Brand: CeraVe

CeraVe is a beauty brand started by three dermatologists who came up with a ceramide-based skincare line. The USP of the brand being its simplicity and effectiveness. They launched just three products in the beginning,i.e., cleanser, moisturizer, and cream.

Gradually they started adding more products to the skincare line and were soon acquired by the Cosmetic Giant L’Oreal. L’Oreal then introduced Cerave in the Chinese market and other overseas markets.

Is CeraVe Cruelty-Free?

Now let’s get back to our basic query, is CeraVe cruelty-free?

When you hop onto the FAQs section on the official CeraVe site, you can see this:

Are CeraVe products tested on animals?

No, CeraVe products are not tested on animals and they are cruelty-free.

source: CeraVe’s website

Initially, looking at this, I got happy too. But after digging a little deeper, I discovered that this was far from reality.

Some brands can get cruelty-free status despite them testing their ingredients or final products either themselves or via a third party or even if they sell their products in countries like China and Brazil where animal testing on imported products is necessary.

Thus CeraVe is not cruelty-free because they continue to sell their products in China and Brazil.

There is a possibility that this brand might test its products on animals in certain countries. If they don’t do this themselves, there is a chance that they may do this by means of suppliers or third parties.

Is CeraVe Vegan?

Only several products from the CeraVe brand range are vegan.

The rest are not vegan, because some of the ingredients they include in their creams include by-products such as sheep’s wool, cholesterol, and glycerin, whereas their CeraVe Mineral Sunscreen Stick contains beeswax.

This brand is not 100% vegan, however, they have announced that they are working to replace all their non-vegan ingredients by 2021 which they include in their products with vegan ingredients.

Does CeraVe Sell Products In Mainland China or Brazil?

CeraVe does sell its products in mainland China and Brazil.

This makes it even more possible that this brand has tested before, or does test its products on animals because mainland China has been required to test products on animals by law before selling them for many years.

Now, even though this law is being taken down as of recent, products that claim that they are meant to help with acne, anti-aging, or skin whitening, are still required to be tested on animals.

Thus there is a possibility that CeraVe might test on animals if required by law in certain countries.

Is CeraVe Owned By Any parent Company?

CeraVe is owned by the parent company L’Oreal.

Even though L’Oreal does say it is a cruelty-free brand and that it does not test on animals, it continues to sell its products in mainland China and Brazil, where they are required to test specific products.

So even though L’Oreal may be cruelty-free in a lot of countries, some of their products that sell in China might be tested on animals as required by law.

As well as that, L’Oreal does include some non-vegan animal-derived by-products in their ingredients, however, a lot of the products from their line are vegan.

Best Cruelty-Free & Vegan Brand Alternatives For CeraVe

For people like me, who do not want to purchase products from lines that are not fully vegan or cruelty-free, they can choose from other brands such as instance:

Drunk Elephant
Aveda
Dermalogica
The Ordinary
Paula’s Choice
First Aid Beauty
Ole Henriksen
Glossier
Dermalogica
e.l.f. Cosmetics
Yes To
Pacifica
Paula’s Choice
Curology
Juice Beauty
Biossance
Indie Lee

These brands claim to be beneficial for the skin while being 100% vegan, and without testing their products on animals, making them cruelty-free.

Dupes Of CeraVe’s Best Products

If there is a certain product that you adore from CeraVe and are looking for a dupe, here are some dupes that I found to be the closest:

- CeraVe Moisturizing cream ->Ceramedx Ultra-Moisturizing Cream