As an avid makeup enthusiast, I do my best to buy products from brands that are cruelty-free. I find it unnecessary that big name brands are still using animals to test products that will be applied to human skin. Keep in mind, these aren’t the “lab rats” you may think they are. According to the Humane Society International animals being forced to undergo these procedures are animals that we could very well have as pets: bunnies, beagles, cats, birds, guinea pigs, and hamsters just to name a few.

Brands who test on animals have very misleading policies. For example, Estée Lauder owns MAC Cosmetics, one of the top makeup brands in the industry. If you look up their animal testing policy, it will tell you, “We do not test our products or ingredients on animals, or ask others to test on our behalf, except where required by law.”

According to the Humane Society International, the phrasing, “required by law,” means if their products are sold in countries that legally mandate animal testing like China, an exception can be made. What country still does this? Look up brands that still test on animals as of 2017.

According to the People for Ethical Treatment of Animals’ website, companies such as Maybelline, Clinique and Benefit Cosmetics all sell products in China. Therefore, they are not companies that are cruelty-free.

“We are not getting accurate results because the DNA in animals and humans are so different,” said Shannon Brigham, a local animal rights advocate who is involved in the Pacific Whale Foundation.

“Science has developed new ways to get reactions that don’t use animals at all,” Brigham said.
Using defenseless creatures that have no voice is unacceptable. I wouldn’t want my dog to have his skin burned so that I can buy a nice concealer.

“You have to make a conscious decision on what is right,” Brigham said. “Why hurt animals when the other ways are more effective?”

Dr. Elias Zerhouni, the former U.S. National Institutes of Health Director, has admitted that experimenting on animals to help humans has been a major failure. Due to scientific research, there are now many non-animal testing methods that PETA and its affiliates fund.

PETA’s website says, “A variety of cell-based tests and tissue models can be used to assess the safety of drugs, chemicals, cosmetics and consumer products.”
There are computer-based techniques as well that replace  animals by making sophisticated estimates of the chances that a substance will be hazardous by comparing them to existing substances and basing them on our knowledge of human biology.

According to PETA’s website, “Advanced brain imaging and recording techniques—such as functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI)—with human volunteers can be used to replace archaic experiments in which rats, cats and monkeys have their brains damaged.”

It is quite clear to me that the biggest concern these companies have is their business with China. Nobody wants to lose money in a profitable market.

“I think that this is an excuse for these companies; it’s easier for them not to worry about it,” Brigham said.“They’re lazy,-there are lots of other things they can do, and I am disgusted with it.”

If there are so many new ways for cosmetic companies to test their products and still be extremely successful, why shouldn’t these other countries change their laws?

The other aspect of makeup consumerism that personally aggravates me is how so many consumers say they don’t know what brands do it and that it is so hard to find cruelty free cosmetic lines. This is not an acceptable answer. We have access to the internet now; go do your research.

According to Crueltyfreekitty.com, there are several other brands that are both high-end and drugstore that are cruelty free, such as, Tarte Cosmetics, Physicians Formula and Colourpop Cosmetics.
If you still think there are a limited number of brands that don’t test on animals, there are 98 other brands on Crueltyfreekitty.com that you can choose from.

Don’t let yourself be uneducated about the things that cosmetics are doing to these poor animals. Be aware and be ethical.

Ashley Fisher
Reporter