Is Urban Decay Cruelty Free and Vegan? (Updated for 2020!)

April 22, 2020September 20, 2020 4 min read

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Urban Decay is a popular American makeup brand, most known for their Naked Collection, but is Urban Decay cruelty free and vegan?

Is Urban Decay Cruelty Free?

Yes, Urban Decay is Cruelty-free! None of Urban Decay’s ingredients, formulations, or finished products are tested on animals, anywhere in the world.

However, it should be noted that Urban Decay is owned by L’Oreal, a parent corporation that does test on animals when required by law.

Urban Decay has confirmed they do not test their products on animals, nor allow others to test on their behalf, and they require their suppliers to certify that the raw material used in the manufacture of their products are also not tested on animals.

I also asked Urban Decay if any of their products are sold in stores in mainland China or any other country that may require animal testing and they responded saying “please be advised that none of Urban Decay’s products are sold in China.”

Below is a screenshot of what is currently stated on Urban Decay’s website:

Urban Decay Acquired by L’Oreal

In 2012, Urban Decay was acquired by L’Oreal, a corporation that does test on animals where required by law.

Many cruelty-free consumers have since chosen to stop buying from Urban Decay as they feel their purchases are indirectly supporting and funding more animal testing done by their parent company, L’Oreal. To read more about some of the reasons to buy or boycott cruelty-free brands owned by a non-cruelty-free parent company, check out this post here.

Although Urban Decay is owned by L’Oreal, Urban Decay remains committed to being a cruelty-free brand.

Urban Decay has met all of our criteria in our Cruelty-Free Checklist and is included on our List of Cruelty-Free Brands.

You can find Urban Decay’s cruelty-free products at Sephora, Ulta, and Nordstrom.

Is Urban Decay Vegan?

Not all of Urban Decay’s products are vegan as some of their products contain beeswax, carmine, lanolin, or other animal-derived ingredients but Urban Decay does have some vegan products.

Please reference below for a list of Urban Decay vegan products.

Urban Decay Vegan Product List

Below is a list of Urban Decay’s products that are suitable for vegans and do not contain any animal-derived ingredients or by-products.

You can also find out which of their products are vegan on their website.

Face

Eyes & Brows

Lips

This vegan product list is updated as frequently as possible, please be aware that formulations may have changed since the publication of this post. If you have new information to suggest one of the above products isn’t vegan, please email me at [email protected] to let me know.

Is Urban Decay Ethical?

Based in: US

Products Made in: Urban Decay can’t specify where their products are made, stating “Please be advised that our products are created all over the globe, making it difficult to know where exactly a certain product is manufactured.”

Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to find any public information on Urban Decay’s sustainability and environmental initiatives.

Giving Back Initiatives: Urban Decay launched, The Ultraviolet Edge, our global initiative to empower women by helping to fund organizations that fight for the rights of women everywhere. Urban Decay claims they have donated $1.28 million to women’s empowerment nonprofits. In addition, by purchasing their Fix Eyeshadow Primer Potion, you’re helping to provide literacy programs and microloans to women in Uganda. However, I no longer see this product available for purchase on their website. Not sure if they’re sold out or this program is no longer running.

Response to Mica Sourcing: When I emailed Urban Decay to ask whether the Mica they use in their cruelty-free makeup products is ethically sourced without the use of child labour, they responded stating:

“We suggest you refer to the Inside our Products website which has more information on the Mica we use in our products.”

https://inside-our-products.loreal.com/active-ingredients/mica

I hope this article helped you to understand Urban Decay’s cruelty-free and vegan status and by choosing cruelty-free together, we can help end animal testing for cosmetics once and for all!

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1 Comment

Kelly KBeauty
April 23, 2020

Thanks for posting an Urban Decay list. I’ve been using them for a long time now. I know they have certain shades of eyeshadow, and certain shades of Vice lipstick that are vegan. Do you think you’ll be able to update the vegan list with those products soon? Thanks in advance!

Is Urban Decay Cruelty Free and Vegan? (Updated for 2020!)

Is Urban Decay Cruelty Free?

Urban Decay Acquired by L’Oreal