Is Dermalogica Cruelty Free? Not if China is Involved!

Dermalogica is the latest in a string of companies to fumble with its animal testing claims due to relations with China.  Leaping Bunny recently removed the company from its cruelty free list strictly due to their ties to the Chinese market.  Having used their products before, I was disappointed to hear about this.  I sent Dermalogica an email to get a response about selling in China and to confirm that this was the only change to their animal testing policy.

September 25, 2012

“To whom it may concern:

I have been a happy consumer of Dermalogica products for some time but I wanted to better understand the company's animal testing policies due to some recent news. Does Dermalogica test ingredients or finished products on animals? If Dermalogica is a subsidiary, does the parent company test ingredients or finished products? Does Dermalogica hire a third party to animal test finished products or ingredients on animals? Also, does Dermalogica direct sell to China or any other country which requires or reserves the right animal test products sold in the country?”

September 26, 2012

“Thank you for your interest in Dermalogica.

Dermalogica does not, and has never, engaged in animal testing. We go to great efforts to ensure that our supply chain and ingredient suppliers uphold our values. We have recently become aware that the Chinese government now requires animal testing of cosmetic products as part of their product import registration process. Dermalogica does not condone animal testing, and is in the process of actively withdrawing our product registrations and undertaking the necessary actions to suspend our distribution to the Chinese market. We urge the Chinese government to consider non- animal, humane forms of safety testing.”

I find it odd that Dermalogica is claiming they were not aware of China’s animal testing policies.  Firstly, because they are a large company that surely has the capacity to hire lawyers and whoever else to check up on this for them, and secondly because so many other companies have been very publicly experiencing the exact same issue recently.  However, I have to agree with the prominent opinion that Dermalogica was so focused on their suppliers not testing that they lost sight of all other aspects of the cruelty free equation. 

I will be emailing Dermalogica again in the next few months to see what changes have been made since they wrote that they are actively working to remedy this problem by “withdrawing our product registrations and undertaking the necessary actions to suspend our distribution to the Chinese market.”