The Wonder Seed is a skin and hair care line with 25 years of experience in natural body care, botanicals, and aromatherapy. While we know that it's eco-conscious and natural, we want to see if it's also vegan and cruelty-free.
The Wonder Seed is cruelty-free. It doesn't conduct animal testing on its products, nor does it distribute its cosmetics where animal testing is required by law. The Wonder Seed is also 100% vegan – it doesn't use any animal-derived ingredients.
The Wonder Seed was founded in 2009 by Theresa Ruiz-Hellings – an avid believer in the healing effects of virgin organic hemp seed oil.
Theresa uses hemp seed oil in all of her products to fulfill various needs. This includes skin conditions like psoriasis and eczema, or even just to manage your skin health.
The American-based company worked with Hemp Seed Oil for its multiple benefits long before it was a trending ingredient. The anti-inflammatory, anti-aging, soothing, and balancing properties of hemp oil in a clean formula make The Wonder Seed stand out.
Before deciding on what to buy, here's what you need to know about The Wonder Seed's current animal testing policies, vegan ranges, formulation, and sustainability.Is The Wonder Seed Cruelty-Free and Vegan?
The Wonder Seed is 100% Cruelty-Free
It does not:
The Wonder Seed has a firm stance on cruelty-free beauty, and it shows. They are also not owned by a parent company that permits animal testing when required by law.
Unfortunately, they do not have any cruelty-free certification and are not backed by European anti-animal testing laws.
There are no legal constructs to verify what "cruelty-free" means or ramifications if these "points" are not followed.
But there is some promising news.
The Wonder Seed is Vegan
Let's give The Wonder Seed a moment of appreciation because this clean skin, body, and hair care brand is entirely vegan. It does not use any animal-derived ingredients in any of its products.
It's worth knowing that The Wonder Seed is the exception and not the rule.
Most mainstream skincare brands are not 100% vegan. These are certain animal-derived ingredients to look out for in general:
If you're interested in their best vegan products or finding vegan brand alternatives – keep reading or click on this link: The Wonder Seed vegan products.
Animal Testing Policy and History
The Wonder Seed does not share their animal testing policy, but they did respond to an email saying they have been cruelty-free since day one. The Wonder Seed has never conducted animal testing and never will.
Cruelty-Free Status in 2022
Here is a screenshot of The Wonder Seed's official statement regarding its cruelty-free policies and vegan products, taken from their website:
Certification
The Wonder Seed has no cruelty-free certification. Although they claim to be cruelty-free – there's no third party there to confirm it.
It would be nice to see more certification from The Wonder Seed since they are proudly cruelty-free.
While you might know PETA very well – it surprisingly doesn't hold the strictest cruelty-free regulations. So having certification from an association like Leaping Bunny or Choose Cruelty-Free, is ideal.
Certification from Leaping Bunny is ideal because it holds rigorous standards and does regular audits to ensure they are upheld.
Leaping Bunny certification proves that:
If you see a bunny stamp on the back of your product bottle – that's an excellent sign. But don't be fooled by the image itself. A lot of brands are using fake logos to mislead consumers.
Do your homework and see which products are genuinely cruelty-free first. This article will help you: Which Cruelty-Free Logos Can You Trust?
Is The Wonder Seed Sold Where Animal Testing is Required By Law?
The Wonder Seed does not distribute any of its products to China or any country that requires animal testing on cosmetics by law.
China has a shocking track record. It is the country with the most animal testing globally, with over 20 million animals used per year.
While The Wonder Seed's hemp is grown in China, the raw ingredient does not get tested on animals at all.
However, if you live in China or are concerned about its cruel beauty policies, there are a couple of loopholes. Here's how to find cruelty-free cosmetics in China: Are Cosmetics Made in China Cruelty-Free?
What Wonder Seed Products Are Vegan?
The Wonder Seed has a range of vegan for body, face, and hair. It prides itself in developing a product with you (the consumer) and the planet in mind.
To save you some time, here are some of its most popular skincare products:
For a complete list of The Wonder Seed vegan products, you can find everything on their website.
Vegan Alternatives to The Wonder Seed
The Wonder Seed is a top-quality, cruelty-free, vegan, and natural brand.
We would gladly add all their products to our shopping carts!
It's great to see that no matter how much it continues to expand – its ethical values around holistically clean beauty don't waver.
But, if the brand is not accessible in your area, here are some vegan alternatives to check out:
Is The Wonder Seed Natural and Organic?
The Wonder Seed is all-natural. They start every product with a base of virgin organic hemp seed oil and call themselves 'clean.'
The Wonder Seed might use some additional organic ingredients. But, it is not certified organic, nor does it advertise itself as an organic brand.
Clean vs. Natural Ingredients
The term "natural" is not regulated for cosmetics and skincare. In other words, it doesn't hold one specific meaning.
Usually, it means a product is free of certain more toxic synthetic ingredients, including parabens, phthalates, sulfates, and more. But people also interpret "natural" to mean ingredients of immediate plant origin.
Here's the thing: "natural" doesn't mean it's good for you. Take gluten, for example. It's a natural protein found in wheat that certain people are highly allergic to. Even topical application can lead to terrible health issues.
If a synthetic ingredient is "clean," it is safe and non-toxic for us. Its purpose is to preserve the stability of a beauty formulation.
A few naturally-derived The Wonder Seed uses to enhance its cosmetics include:
Does The Wonder Seed Use Safe Ingredients?
While The Wonder Seed may not have a ranking page on Skin Safe yet, we can confirm that the brand takes ingredients seriously.
As a natural brand, they cannot use harsh chemicals or allergens.
All products are free of parabens, gluten, sulfates, artificial colors, and fragrance.
We reached out to The Wonder Seed to find out if their products are free of allergens. Here's what founder Theresa Hellings had to say:
"We have had rare reports of allergic reactions to our products, mostly the English Daisy items, since daisies can be an allergen. Those reports are very rare, though, so I'd still say that overall our entire line is very allergen-friendly."
Reading the ingredient list is crucial because The Wonder Seed is not 100% hypoallergenic or non-comedogenic, and they do not claim to be.
However, certain products are specifically for these concerns, so make sure you buy what your skin needs.
The EU/UK Have Stricter Ingredient Regulations
As a conscientious shopper, you must read up on any brand's ingredient list before you make a purchase – especially if you live within the United States.
This is because the FDA has only banned or restricted 11 harmful chemicals from cosmetics within the country. Europe and the UK, on the other hand, have banned 1,328!
Since The Wonder Seed is a natural brand that does not use common allergens or toxins – you don't have to worry too much.
For good measure, here are some of the ingredients you really want to avoid with skincare:
Are Cruelty-Free Ingredients Safe?
If you're worried about how safe it is to use cosmetics not tested on animals – please relax and take a sigh of relief.
There is no reason why cruelty-free products shouldn't be just as safe as anything tested on an animal.
Not only is it easy to test ingredients without using animals altogether, but there are so many pre-approved ingredients you can use to make cosmetics that there really is no need.
If you're interested, here's more on the subject: Are Cruelty-Free Cosmetics Safe?
Is The Wonder Seed Sustainable and Ethical?
The Wonder Seed has some strong sustainability and ethical initiatives as it ties in with the company values.
As it stands, the brand:It's no secret that the world has a huge waste problem, and cosmetic brands are only making it worse by using unsustainable packaging and harmful ingredients.
Some of the ways The Wonder Seed is taking strong environmental accountability are by:
Final Thoughts
The Wonder Seed goes to impressive measures to consider various ethical factors while making natural, earth-friendly products.
The fact that they are cruelty-free is a step towards a more sustainable future in cosmetics.
We appreciate their and openness to the public about its testing, purchasing, and distribution policies. It's refreshing for a brand to be so honest.
We also love the fact that The Wonder Seed is also entirely vegan. For a small, independently owned brand, they do as much as possible to do business sustainably.
We'd love to see them gain cruelty-free accreditation to go with all of this.
