Clean at Sephora, Leaping Bunny; efficacy-led
| Ingredient transparency | Full ingredient list read and categorised |
| Ownership | Independent and bootstrapped since launch in 2009; no outside investment or acquisition found. Founder Sunday Riley remains CEO. Company profile data (Tracxn, April 2026) lists ~295 employees and no funding rounds or M&A activity, consistent with continued independent ownership. Still trading. |
| Cruelty free | Yes |
| Vegan | Partial |
| Organic | No |
| Certifications | Leaping Bunny: confirmed via the certifier's own brand page (leapingbunny.org/brand/sunday-riley) as 'Certified since 2019,' logo user. PETA: confirmed via the certifier's own page (crueltyfree.peta.org/company/sunday-riley/), 'Yes, Sunday Riley Modern Skincare is cruelty-free.' Both genuine, this is a real double-certification, one of the few in this batch of 8. not vegan-certified as a whole range (the brand's own site says most products are vegan except those containing honey/beeswax; no independent vegan registry confirms this product-by-product). not B Corp, not COSMOS, not Ecocert, not NATRUE, not EWG Verified, not USDA Organic, not Soil Association, none found despite 'Always Clean' marketing language. |
| Good On You | It's a Start |
| External ratings | Good On You 'It's a Start'; Clean at Sephora |
| Caveat | In October 2019 the FTC charged Sunday Riley Modern Skincare and its CEO over staff posting fake five-star reviews on Sephora.com between November 2015 and August 2017, hiding their identities and removing negative reviews. A consent order was finalised in November 2020. Its Leaping Bunny and PETA cruelty-free certifications are both genuine. |
| Reports note | <p>2019 FTC fake-reviews settlement; no COAs</p> |
Claims made for this brand that could not be confirmed in a certifier's own register. A brand website is a claim, not a source.
Sunday Riley markets itself, and is widely covered, as an authentic, customer-loved prestige brand, but this needs a major caveat: in October 2019 the FTC charged Sunday Riley Modern Skincare, LLC and CEO Sunday Riley with directing employees, between November 2015 and August 2017, to post fake five-star reviews of the brand's products on Sephora.com using fake/hidden identities, to have other staff do the same, and to remove/hide negative reviews; when Sephora deleted the fake reviews, the company obtained an ExpressVPN account to disguise further posting. The FTC finalized a consent order in November 2020 (no fine, no admission of wrongdoing required, and two FTC commissioners publicly dissented, calling the settlement too lenient). This is a government-substantiated finding, not a rumor, and any 'organic'/authentic five-star reputation tied to that 2015-2017 period should not be repeated at face value. Separate from the certifications above, this is the single biggest reputational strip in this brand's file.
Leaping Bunny certified since 2019, logo user https://www.leapingbunny.org/brand/sunday-riley
PETA cruelty-free confirmation https://crueltyfree.peta.org/company/sunday-riley/
FTC final consent agreement re: fake Sephora reviews, Nov 2020 https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/news/press-releases/2020/11/ftc-approves-final-consent-agreement-sunday-riley-modern-skincare-llc
FTC original complaint, Oct 2019 https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/news/press-releases/2019/10/devumi-owner-ceo-settle-ftc-charges-they-sold-fake-indicators-social-media-influence-cosmetics-firm
Independent ownership / employee count https://tracxn.com/d/companies/sundayriley/__MthmDXd-PhQ4qXQS0wOdxJEXxBc-YtjtZDVk75xG37k
Why there is no score: Partial read. No score is published. Ingredient lists were obtained for 30 products, but the brand's product listing did not respond when the total catalogue size was measured, so the share of the range covered is unknown. Without a denominator a percentage would be meaningless.
Last checked 22 July 2026.
We analysed 30 Sunday Riley products, categorising every listed ingredient by function, origin (raw natural, naturally derived or synthetic) and safety concern. This is not the whole catalogue, so it is reported as a partial read. Percentages show the share of each formula that is natural or naturally derived.
Most common flags: PHENOXYETHANOL, ALCOHOL, DIMETHICONE, POLYSORBATE 20, DISILOXANE, POLYSORBATE 60, LIMONENE, CITRUS LIMON (LEMON) PEEL OIL, BENZYL ALCOHOL, CETYL PEG/PPG-10/1 DIMETHICONE, POLYSILICONE-11, POLYMETHYLSILSESQUIOXANE
Coverage: Ingredient lists were read for 30 products. The size of the full catalogue could not be established, so no average is shown.
Analyst note: Ingredient lists were read for 30 products. The brand's total catalogue size could not be measured, so the share of the catalogue covered here is not known.
| Product | Natural | Ingredients | Flagged |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tidal Deep Hydration + Plumping Serum | 100% | 12 | 0 |
| Instant Gratification Exfoliate + Brighten | 89% | 55 | 6 |
| Home + Away Brighten, Revitalize + Glow | 81% | 27 | 5 |
| Day + Night Brighten + Plump | 100% | 36 | 6 |
| Detox Darling | 90% | 29 | 2 |
| AI | 89% | 46 | 2 |
| Breakout Breakup | 86% | 35 | 4 |
| Peacekeeper Acne Treatment Serum | 86% | 42 | 3 |
| A.M. Weekend Getaway | 91% | 54 | 4 |
| Aquamarine Melt Hydrating Gel-Balm Cleanser | 87% | 39 | 3 |
| C.E.O. Body Butter | 91% | 32 | 1 |
| P.M. Weekend Getaway | 79% | 56 | 8 |
| Saturn Sulfur Spot Treatment Mask | 86% | 29 | 4 |
| Go To Bed With Me | 79% | 56 | 8 |
| Wake Up With Me | 91% | 54 | 4 |
| B3 Nice 10% Niacinamide Serum | 88% | 49 | 5 |
| Jewel Box | 81% | 27 | 5 |
| C.E.O. Afterglow Brightening Vitamin C Gel Cream | 82% | 33 | 6 |
| 5 Stars Eye Serum | 79% | 39 | 6 |
| Power Of 3 | 79% | 56 | 8 |
| Pink Drink Firming Resurfacing Essence | 91% | 54 | 4 |
| Ice Ceramide Moisturizing Cream | 90% | 51 | 2 |
| C.E.O. Glow Vitamin C and Turmeric Face Oil | 100% | 30 | 0 |
| A+ High-Dose Retinoid Serum | 100% | 10 | 0 |
| Good Genes Glycolic Acid Treatment | 77% | 30 | 3 |
| Juno Antioxidant + Superfood Face Oil | 100% | 15 | 0 |
| Ceramic Slip Cleanser | 90% | 29 | 1 |
| U.F.O. Acne Treatment Face Oil | 100% | 33 | 0 |
| Luna Sleeping Night Oil | 100% | 19 | 0 |
| C.E.O. Vitamin C Rich Hydration Cream | 85% | 48 | 6 |
Full ingredient breakdown
The full ingredient by ingredient breakdown of all 30 Sunday Riley products (1125 ingredients, each categorised by function, origin and safety concern) is free with an account.
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