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Home » Cruelty Free » Is COSRX Cruelty Free and Vegan? (2024 Update)

Is COSRX Cruelty Free and Vegan? (2024 Update)

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COSRX is a Korean skin care brand that is 100% cruelty free. However, not all of their products are vegan-friendly. 

Keep reading to learn everything you need to know about COSRX.

You can find a list of the best COSRX products at the end of this post.

Let’s dive right in!

Is COSRX cruelty free? Are COSRX products tested on animals?

COSRX doesn’t test on animals and is 100% cruelty free.

  • COSRX’s finished products aren’t tested on animals by anyone, anywhere in the world
  • The ingredients used in their products are never tested on animals by anyone, anywhere in the world
  • Third parties never test COSRX products on animals
  • COSRX is not sold in mainland China, or in any country where animal testing is still required by law

COSRX doesn’t have any cruelty free certifications, which isn’t uncommon for Korean brands.

Let’s take a look at the details.

Is COSRX sold in China?

No, COSRX products are NOT sold in physical stores in mainland China.

Why can’t cruelty free brands sell in mainland China?

Animal testing is still happening for products sold in physical stores in mainland China.

Pre-market animal testing is required for all special-use imported products, and non-routine post-market testing on animals may also be done in cases of customer complaints.

However, please keep in mind that this doesn’t apply to products sold in stores at the airports, or in Hong Kong.

Also, products can be sold online and shipped to mainland China without being tested on animals.

Is COSRX owned by a parent brand? If yes, is it cruelty free?

COSRX doesn’t seem to be owned by a parent company.

Some sources suggest that it’s owned by an individual, Sanghoon Jeon.

Additionally, the owner of the COSRX Trademark is Sang Hun Jun (which seems like an alternative spelling of Sanghoon Jeon).

To summarize: The conclusion from my research is that COSRX is not owned by a parent company. 

Is COSRX vegan?

COSRX is not 100% vegan. Some of their products are vegan, but COSRX is not a completely vegan brand.

One of their star ingredients in a large number of their products is snail mucin, which obviously isn’t vegan. 

If you’re concerned about this ingredient, it seems that there are ethical ways to extract snail mucin:

A CosRX spokesperson told the K-beauty blog The Klog that its mucin is sourced from a company called CoSeedBoPharm Co. “The snails are placed over a mesh in a dark and quiet room,” a CosRX spokesperson told the website. “For about 30 minutes, the snails are left alone to freely roam the net, leaving mucin in their trails. Throughout the process, there is no external process applied to the snails or the mesh to force mucin production.”

Source: The Outline

Although the extraction process they described isn’t too unethical, snail mucin is still an animal by-product, so it can’t be vegan.

Best COSRX products

COSRX is one of the cult Korean skin care brands, and offers a wide variety of skin care products.

They’re mostly famous for their award-winning acne treatment products.

However, their offer also includes serums, lotions, cleansers, and more.

If you have acne-prone skin, you have to check out the COSRX Acne Pimple Master Patch which is the product that won the Teen Vogue Acne Award in 2017.

Also, make sure to check out these COSRX best selling products on Amazon:


Now, I’d like to hear from you.

Have you tried any K-Beauty products? If so, what are your favorite brands? 

Tell me in the comments below!

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