Today I'm going to attempt to summarize some of the research I've been doing into cruelty-free cosmetics. If you are new to the cruelty-free club then be prepared for a few difficult truths to swallow as I'm sorry to say that you will probably feel betrayed by some of your most beloved brands, and if you are not new to this, then I'm sure you are as sick as I am of the complete and utter mine-field that is the world of research into cosmetics companies that do and do not test their products on animals.
Now before I go any further, it is important that I clear a few things up:
Firstly, a cosmetics company stating on their website that they do not test on animals means nothing. The company may employ third-parties or other companies to test their ingredients or products on animals, meaning they are still allowed to say that they are cruelty-free because they technically aren't the ones doing the testing. Technicalities aside, however, they are: the products you buy have been tested on animals and the money you use to buy those products will subsidize animal testing. That alone should be enough for you to not consider a brand cruelty-free.
Secondly, cosmetics companies are required by Chinese law to have their products tested on animals before they can be sold in China. There are other countries that also adopt this law but the mega-market of China makes it tantalizingly tempting to big-time money-making cosmetics-giants. Many companies drop their cruelty-free status to get a slice of this this lucrative market and in short, are more concerned about the money in their pockets than innocent animals. That doesn't sound very cruelty-free to me.
Now here's where things get just that little bit more confusing: thirdly, some companies are owned by giant cosmetics conglomerates, known as parent companies, that do conduct animal testing. I don't think there is a right or wrong answer when it comes to buying from these companies and it's a very grey area for me. Put it this way: do we take a point of having nothing to do with either of the companies, regardless of whether the 'child' company is cruelty-free, OR do we support the cruelty-free companies owned by the cosmetics conglomerates as another way of making a point? For example, The Body Shop, known as a serious advocate for cruelty-free beauty, is owned by L'Oreal, a company definitely not for the cruelty-free list. The decision is up to you.
You can find below two lists: one compiled of companies that I have found to be cruelty-free and another of companies that I do not consider to be cruelty-free. This is not a list of companies that are vegetarian and vegan friendly - I'll deal with that in another post - but even though a lot of them are, it's still worth checking the ingredients anyway. Here we go!
Cruelty-free
This is an on-going list of companies that I have personally researched and concluded that they do not test on animals. I would not put any company on this list I would not purchase from myself:
- Barry M
- Urban Decay - owned by L'Oreal
- Superdrug
- Kiko
- Lime Crime
- Butter London
- Liz Earle - owned by Avon
- The Body Shop - owned by L'Oreal
- NYX - owned by L'Oreal
- Illamasqua
- ELF
- Charlotte Tilbury
- Models Own
- Sleek
- Beauty UK
- Too Faced
- LUSH
- OGX
- Nails Inc
- Soap & Glory - owned by Boots
Not Cruelty-free
We would be here forever if I listed all the cosmetics companies that test on animals, but here are some well known names that you should be aware of:
- MAC
- Estee Lauder
- Yves Saint Laurent
- Bobbi Brown
- Rimmel
- Bourjois
- Maybelline
- Garnier
- Revlon
- MaxFactor
- Avon
- Sally Hansen
- Clinique
- Dior
- Chanel
- Simple
- Lancome
- Collection Cosmetics
- Neutrogena
- Michael Kors
- Elizabeth Arten
- Clarins
- Giorgio Armarni
- L'Oreal
- Essie
- Vaseline
If you would like to know the cruelty-free status of a company that I have not mentioned, or would like further information on any of the companies listed above, simply comment below and I will get back to you as soon as I am able!
If you've made it this far, thank you so much for reading!
See you soon,
Bye!
Georgia xo
No comments:
Post a Comment