Today I’m wondering, are your cosmetics animal friendly? I am not really a huge make up fan. Part of that is because I have stupidly sensitive skin, part of it is laziness too. The main thing that puts me off make up is the black hole that is animal testing.

I am vegetarian and have been for all of my adult life (20 ish years now). I am the annoying veggie who refuses to eat fish, gelatine, animal rennet etc. I do eat dairy products and eggs, but I avoid wearing leather.

Recently, I have become painfully aware of the fact I look like death. Surviving on minimal sleep has more than zapped any glow I may have had. The bags under my eyes have got so full I need to part ex them for suitcases. This has made me want to start wearing a bit of make up, just so I don’t terrify the locals! This got me wondering, are my cosmetics animal friendly?

Are my Cosmetics Animal Friendly?

I decided to do a bit of googling to see which brands were completely bunny friendly, and I found nottested.co.uk. It is a UK website, which clearly shows which UK companies are currently bunny friendly, those who do test on animals, and the sly dogs in the middle, who make it impossible to be sure.

flat lay of make up and brushes. Are your cosmetics animal friendly?
Are you wondering are your cosmetics animal friendly?

This blog post is just a little eye opener for my readers into which UK trading cosmetics companies are still testing their products on animals. Hopefully it’ll help you see which cosmetics animal friendly status is genuine, and which are not.

I have to be clear and say that most of these companies only test on animals when the law requires they do so – which usually means they sell in their products in China, where animal testing is still mandatory. (Animal testing was completely banned in the EU in 2003, but companies can currently still sell their animal tested products here).

Which Brands are Cruelty Free?

So… Here are some of the companies who still test their products on animals.

  • Avon
  • Estée Lauder (They own Bobbi Brown, Clinique, MAC)
  • L’Oreal (They own Diesel, Essie, Garnier, Lancôme, Maybelline, Ralph Lauren, Urban Decay)
  • Proctor & Gamble (They own Hugo Boss, Lacoste, Max Factor).
scientist injecting a bunny. These are not cosmetics animal friendly.
If they are tested on animals, your cosmetics animal friendly claims are false.

This list is just a small sample of the companies still testing on animals. Please click on the above link to view the entire list.

C1B413CE 1B21 866F 3223E30B8DA53EC0 lIf you want to be certain the products you are using are 100% cruelty free, there are a couple of things you can do.
1). Shop at Superdrug, Lush or The Body Shop – they guarantee all of their products are cruelty free.
2). Look out for the Leaping Bunny Logo (near the barcode on cosmetics). This is the international logo which proves the product is 100% cruelty free.

The Grey Area

One thing to note is that The Body Shop is owned by L’oreal. The Body Shop has built its reputation on being a natural, cruelty free brand. It is owned by the company who are trying to get the EU ban on animal testing overturned. The same applies for Garnier. Don’t even get me started on Younique!

They plaster the leaping bunny over all of their products because they don’t test them on animals. However, their parent company, L’oreal does. So I guess this is the point at which you need to decide whether you are happy to use a brand which lines the pockets of a board who are happy to test on animals or not.

flat lay of cosmetics animal friendly
Are your cosmetics animal friendly?

What Next?

As it stands, this Month (March 2013) is meant to see the sale of animal tested products banned in the EU. This means that cosmetics companies who subject animals to horrific tests will not be allowed to sell their products on European shelves. I wouldn’t hold your breath for this happening.

I think the time has come for me to dump my make up bag and start again. While factoring in whether each cosmetics animal friendly and cruelty free status.
I hope this information has opened your eyes to just how many companies are still testing on animals.

(This is just beauty products – there are hundreds of toiletries and household products which are tested on animals too).

This is not a sponsored post. Just me…. rabbiting on about something I am passionate about.

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