OGX is NOT Cruelty-Free!

OGX allows its products or ingredients to be tested on animals when required by law including when selling in stores in mainland China.

In addition, OGX is owned by Johnson & Johnson, a parent company that is also not cruelty-free.

OGX’s Animal Testing Policy

OGX recently updated their animal testing statement on their website’s FAQ page and the new statement is very deceiving. See below for a screenshot of what’s currently stated on OGX’s website:

OGX states they don’t conduct animal testing in the research or development of their cosmetic products. And then they included a link where you can find more about their ‘commitment to safety.’

Once you click on that link, it leads you to OGX’s parent company, Johnson & Johnson’s corporate website.

And if you scroll down on this page, you’ll find the beginning of what sounds like OGX’s animal testing statement, “we do not conduct animal testing in the research or development of our cosmetics products…”

But this one is slightly different because it continues to read, “but some countries still require animal testing data to meet their own regulatory requirements.”

This is very deceiving of OGX. They’ve just changed the wording of their animal testing statement without actually making any real changes to their animal testing policy. OGX still tests on animals, but they’re just not disclosing their full policy on their website anymore.

See below of a screenshot I took from OGX’s website two years ago in 2020. See how they’ve removed “except in rare situations where animal testing is required by law or where alternatives to validate safety data do not yet exist” from their current animal testing statement?

Why does this matter?

Policies stating, “some countries still require animal testing data to meet their own regulatory requirements,” usually imply the company is selling its products in mainland China. That’s because cosmetics sold in stores in mainland China are required by law to be tested on animals.

Is OGX Sold in China?

When I asked OGX if their products are sold in stores in mainland China, they told me I can find their products in Watsons, the largest health and beauty care chain store in Asia.

This confirms OGX is indeed sold in China.

But Doesn’t China No Longer Tests on Animals?

Companies can bypass China’s pre-market animal testing by choosing to manufacture their ordinary or general cosmetics in China, but it’s not stated anywhere that OGX has taken this route.

Additionally, the possibility of post-market animal testing is not completely ruled out and may be conducted on some cosmetics sold in physical stores in China.

As of May 1, 2021, cosmetic companies can also export and sell their ordinary or general cosmetics in China without animal testing only if they meet a set of preconditions first. However, meeting these conditions has proven difficult, and it’s still unclear what exactly is accepted according to the new regulations. So there’s no word yet of any company that has successfully done so.

Follow the highlighted lines in the graphic below to see why most cosmetics sold in China (like OGX and Johnson & Johnson) are still required by law to be tested on animals in 2022.

Because OGX 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 2022.

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

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

Cruelty-Free Policies

Many truly cruelty-free brands have chosen not to sell their products in China because of its animal testing laws. Unfortunately, OGX 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, and by any third parties, including when required by law.

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

Is OGX Certified Cruelty-Free?

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

Because OGX is not certified cruelty-free by a third party, no one is looking into or substantiating OGX’s cruelty-free commitments and claims.

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

Yes. OGX is owned by Johnson & Johnson, a parent corporation that still engages in animal testing in 2022.

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, OGX is NOT cruelty-free and neither is its parent corporation, Johnson & Johnson.

Is OGX Cruelty-Free?

To sum up, by choosing to sell in mainland China, OGX must have its products tested on animals. Therefore, we would NOT consider OGX to be a cruelty-free brand.

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

Is OGX Vegan?

OGX claims to offer some products that are “free of animal by-products”, but because OGX engages in animal testing, we wouldn’t classify anything sold or produced by OGX to be vegan.

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 OGX:

Looking for cruelty-free alternatives to OGX? We recommend the following cruelty-free drugstore hair care brands:

• Cake Beauty – 100% Vegan
• Giovanni – some vegan options
• Andalou Naturals – some vegan options, check labels
• Sukin’s – 100% Vegan
• Paul Mitchell – some vegan options

or check out our list of vegan drugstore shampoo and hair product brands!