Is Bioderma Cruelty-Free?

☠️ Bioderma is NOT cruelty-free in 2023. Bioderma allows its products to be tested on animals when required by law, including when selling in stores in mainland China.

Bioderma’s Animal Testing Policy

When asking, does Bioderma test on animals? We must look beyond to ensure none of Bioderma’s ingredients or suppliers test on animals. And they don’t sell in any country or under conditions that may require animal testing by law.

To assess whether brands are cruelty-free, I always start with the company’s official animal testing policy on their website.

On Bioderma’s website, the brand states its parent company, NAOS’s animal testing policy. NAOS claims it adheres to the regulations and does not perform animal testing in the development of its products.

However, as you continue to read their animal testing statement, it’s stated that the company sells its products in China and “respects local regulations.” — where “the Chinese authorities carry out additional tests in Chinese state laboratories on a random basis” and they have no handle on this.

That’s because most cosmetics sold in stores in mainland China are required by law to be tested on animals.

See below for a screenshot of what’s currently stated on Bioderma’s website:

Is Bioderma Sold in China?

Yes. Bioderma states in its animal testing policy its products are commercialized on the Chinese market.

In addition, I found Bioderma’s Chinese website, which also proves the brand is selling in China.

I also emailed Bioderma asking if they sell their cosmetics in China. Bioderma responded and confirmed their cosmetics are indeed sold in China stating,

“Thank you for your interest in Bioderma.

For the development of its cosmetics products, Bioderma does not test on animals. In addition, every product respects a rigorous formulation chart, guaranteeing the greatest dermatological security.

Bioderma sells certain products in China and we can assure you that they have not been tested on animals and never will be.

However, the Chinese authorities can decide, on their own, to test beauty products themselves before allowing them to be sold in their country. But we don’t interfere in any way in the process and this is under no circumstances our will, in our values or our responsibility.”

NAOS and Bioderma also state this in their animal testing statement:

“Currently, China is completely revamping their Cosmetic regulations and the nearly final CSAR (Cosmetic Supervision and Administration Regulation) provides that products with a compliant Safety Assessment – very close to the European standard – will not require animal testing anymore.

We are confident that soon, our Safety Assessments will be sufficient in the sight of the Chinese authorities to completely eliminate their need to randomly test our products on animals.”

Notice how they say, “we are confident that soon, our Safety Assessments will be sufficient” — I’m glad to hear that Bioderma and NAOS recognize that their Safety Assessments will meet China’s standards, but unfortunately, it’s not enough to qualify their cosmetics to be exempt from all animal testing in China at this time.

Bioderma must prove that it only sells ‘general’ cosmetics in China and have a policy where if its products require post-market animal testing, the brand will recall its products rather than allow them to be tested on animals.

Follow the highlighted lines in the graphic below to see why most cosmetics sold in China (like Bioderma and NAOS) are still required by law to be tested on animals in 2023.

Because Bioderma has decided to sell in mainland China stores, they must consent and pay to have their products tested on animals. That’s why most cosmetics brands selling in mainland China cannot be considered cruelty-free in 2023.

Although Bioderma may not be conducting these animal tests themselves, they knowingly allow Chinese authorities to test their products on animals in order to sell in China.

For those reasons, we would not consider Bioderma to be cruelty-free by our standards.

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Cruelty-Free Policies

Many truly cruelty-free brands have chosen not to sell their products in China under conditions where animal tests may be required. Unfortunately, Bioderma refuses to do the same and therefore cannot be considered cruelty-free.

At ethical elephant, we always assess a company’s cruelty-free policy using our Cruelty-Free Checklist. This ensures no animal testing was performed by the brand itself, its suppliers, or by any third parties, including when required by law.

See below for our complete cruelty-free checklist. Since Bioderma already does not meet the last two, we cannot classify the brand as being cruelty-free.

Is Bioderma Certified Cruelty-Free?

Bioderma is not certified cruelty-free by any third-party cruelty-free certifications like Leaping Bunny or PETA.

Since Bioderma is not certified cruelty-free by a third party, no one is substantiating or auditing Bioderma’s cruelty-free commitments and claims.

Is Bioderma Owned By A Non-Cruelty-Free Parent Company?

Yes. Bioderma is owned by NAOS, a parent corporation that still engages in animal testing in 2023.

Some cruelty-free consumers may choose to purchase and support cruelty-free brands owned by animal-tested parent corporations as they hope it will convince the parent company to become cruelty-free.

But in this case, Bioderma is NOT cruelty-free, and neither is its parent corporation, NAOS.

Does Bioderma Test on Animals?

To wrap up, Bioderma allows its products to be tested on animals when required by law, like when selling in China. Therefore, we would NOT consider Bioderma to be a cruelty-free brand.

Currently, Bioderma is on our List of Brands to Avoid – Animal Tested.

Is Bioderma Vegan?

❌ Bioderma is NOT vegan. Bioderma does not claim or market itself to offer any vegan-friendly options. And since Bioderma engages in animal testing in some capacity, we wouldn’t consider any Bioderma products vegan anyways.

“However, some of our products contain ingredients of animal origin, such as beehive products like royal jelly or propolis from the beehive or marine plankton. For each of these ingredients, we make sure of the perfect traceability, the responsible and ethical character of the supply chains and check their quality, their reproducibility, and their purity. To complete these requirements, we do not use any raw material that comes from animal or plant species protected by the Washington Convention (CITES) or that have caused the death of an animal.”

In order for products to be considered vegan by ethical elephant’s standards, the products and their ingredients must not be tested on animals anywhere in the world. Also, they must not contain any animal-derived ingredients or by-products.

Cruelty-Free Alternatives to Bioderma

Looking to switch to cruelty-free brands? Here are some cruelty-free and vegan-friendly options that are similar to Bioderma:

• The Ordinary *owned by Estee Lauder – 100% Vegan
• Derma E – 100% Vegan
• Dermalogica *owned by Unilever – some vegan options
• Bliss – some vegan options
• Murad *owned by Unilever – some vegan options

Or check out our list of cruelty-free & vegan micellar cleansing water!

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