Iâd like guys to take notice of this article too as although you donât use make-up (Jack Sparrow, Billie Joe Armstrong, Boy George and others aside) you can help to spread the word and I know youâre all lovely generous guys who buy beauty products for your mums/girlfriends/wives right?
When I wake up in the morning I, like many others, avoid all mirrors until I have foundation in hand. Ha ha, only kidding, beauty is on the inside⊠right? Sure it is but getting a helping hand from make-up couldnât hurt could it? Well unless youâre an animal anyway.
I have to admit that had never really thought about make-up being tested on animals as in the back of my mind I thought it was banned. Turns out that it is banned in the UK but itâs no problem for companies in the UK to outsource the testing to other countries where animal testing is not currently banned.
Whatâs wrong with testing cosmetics on animals anyway?
So they rub a bit of make-up on a rabbit, whatâs the problem? Well sometimes finished products are tested on animals but not in the way you might think.
In fact in one test the animalâs fur is shaved and a number of layers of skin are removed in order to emulate humanâs sensitive skin and then the product is applied. The picture below is more representative of what the cost to the animal is â
In another test ingredients or the finished product are placed directly into a rabbitâs eye to see what the effects are. Rabbits donât have tear ducts so they cannot flush the test material out of their eyes. They are observed for 21 days over which they will feel terrible pain with swelling, discharge, blistering and ultimately blindness of the infected eye.
Lethal Dosage (LD) tests are used to determine the amount of a substance that will kill a predetermined ratio of animals. For example, in the LD50 test, subjects are forced to ingest poisonous substances (through stomach tubes, vapour spray inhalers or injection) until half of them die. Common reactions to LD tests include convulsions, vomiting, paralysis and bleeding from the eyes, nose, mouth or rectum.
Animals involved in these tests are always killed; either by the effects of the test substance or by âsacrificeâ at the end of the procedure. There is no use of anaesthetic or pain relief of any kind.
All that so that we can âlook prettyâ. Every time you put make up on your face from LâOreal, Benefit, Cover Girl and many others, thousands of animals have died so that you can. That may sound dramatic but IT IS TRUE and it is dramatic â the way these animals are treated is horrendous.
European law designed to eradicate testing on animals of chemicals used in the cosmetics industry is set to be delayed for as long as four years because it is thought that alternative ways of testing the safety of ingredientsâ will not be ready in time. This directive would have banned the sale in Europe of any cosmetics tested on animals anywhere in the world.
This means animal testing is still going on in Europe and cosmetic products you buy in Europe may have been tested on animals.
There are 10,000 cosmetic ingredients on a permitted list that do not need to be tested on animals and are approved as safe. However new ingredients are still being tested on animals outside Europe and then used within the EU. (It is also thought that some new ingredients are still being tested on animals in Europe for use in household products or food and then subsequently used in cosmetic products). This means every time a company like LâOreal bring out a new product it has been tested on animals in the ways described above. Â
In America and other countries cosmetic testing on animals is voluntary and not illegal.
Some companies Use the above mentioned list of ingredients to avoid animal testing.
Below is a list of companies who told me they donât test their products (or the ingredients of) on animals and nor do their suppliers.
·        Topshop Make-up
 http://www.arcadiagroup.co.uk/fashion-footprint/code-of-conduct-and-guidebook/Guidebook-part-1.pdf
·        Coty UK
(they house brands such as Rimmel, Vera Wang and Kylie Minogue) For a full list click the link  http://www.coty.com/#/brands/browse
(only their own brands, this was part of their answer to me âThanks for contacting us about animal testing. Boots and its subsidiary businesses do not test any products or ingredients on animals, and do not commission others to do so on our behalf.â)
However I read this in an article in The Guardian newspaper â ââŠthe US mining company Rio Tinto confirmed to the Guardian that sodium borate, an ingredient used in products made by Boots, Avon and some cruelty-free firms including Burtâs Bees, and Lush, had recently been subjected to animal tests in compliance with Reach.â
I am going to ask Boots about this and I will post their answer when I get it.
·        Urban Decay do a vegan range of make-up. (Some products may contain Carmine)
Companies that DO ADMIT TO ANIMAL TESTING -
·        Lâoreal
·        Benefit
(They say on their website that they do not test their product on animals. When ask them directly they advise their raw ingredients are tested on animals which is the same thing to me to be honest.)
(they house brands such as Nice Nâ Easy, Aussie, Christina Aguilera, Pantene, Febreze and Herbal Essences) For a full list -http://www.pg.com/en_US/brands/all_brands.shtml
This was part of their answer to me â âToday, we complete more than 99 percent of all safety evaluations without testing on animals. The remaining tiny percentage comes from studies required by law or in cases where there are no alternatives available.â So one percent of their safety evaluations does involve animal testing, not one percent of their brands. This seems like all their brands therefore are tested on animals.
PETA give a full list of companies that donât test on animals but I think itâs best to contact the companies directly. Not only are you getting the answer directly yourself, youâre also letting the companies know that you donât support animal testing and that they wonât get any of your money (which really does seem to be all they care about) until they stop testing on animals. I suggest being friendly and polite when asking companies as everything goes smoother with a smile :)
Important Points to Vegan Make Up -Â
Products labelled âcruelty freeâ only means that there was no animal testing done on the ingredients or the finished product, not that it is vegan.
When a product says âno animal ingredientsâ, it doesnât mean âno animal testingâ; the product and its ingredients may have been tested on animals.Â
Some common ingredients found in cosmetics that are not vegan include:Â
* Carmine,cochineal = Red colouring made from crushed beetles. Mostly used in lipsticks and also referred as Crimson Lake, Natural Red 4, CI75470.
* Lanolin = wool fat.
* Beeswax/pollen/propolis/ cera alba/ honey = bee derived products.
* Lard, tallow = animal fat.
* Lactose/ lactalbumin/whey = milk products.
* Silk derivative
* Elastin (from cows)
If you have read all this right to the end THANK YOU and please pass this information on to those people who are not aware of it. Not everybody will read articles like this and you never know, if you tell somebody who didnât know they might stop using cosmetics tested on animals and tell somebody else :)
Iâm sorry if youâre reading this in a country that isnât the UK and some of these products have different names or donât exist at all in your country.
stormborns
vaporwave
