The Dark World of Cosmetic Cruelty
- Ronghe Chen
- Jan 28, 2022
- 2 min read
Like many teenage girls, I use makeup on a regular basis. I spend a lot of money on cosmetics, hair dye, and beauty products. However, every time I shop, I do some conscious thinking: is this product cruelty free?
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In the cosmetic industry, animal testing is defined by Cruelty Free International as “any scientific experiment or test in which a live animal is forced to undergo something that is likely to cause them pain, suffering, distress or lasting harm", including inhalation of toxic gases, injections, and radiation exposure. Sometimes these animals are even killed! One particularly graphic example of a practice that is potentially life-threatening to animals is called "lethal dose" tests, where animals swallow a certain amount of cosmetic ingredients in order to determine how much of the ingredients can kill it! The LD50 test, which aims to determine how much of a product can kill half the animals tested, claimed the lives of a whopping TWO TO FOUR MILLION ANIMALS EACH YEAR!
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More and more people around the world are paying attention to the unethical practices behind the scenes in the makeup industry. In fact, some countries, such as the European Union, India, Israel, and Norway have banned animal testing completely! However, the United States is not so progressive when it comes to these matters. But this does not mean that we haven't taken any steps at all. 20 years ago, almost all makeup products were tested on animals, but now, almost none are. This drastic improvement is caused by the drive of scientists to change the world for the better, to put in the work to develop alternatives to animal testing.
Which companies test on animals?
If a product is marketed as "cruelty-free" but is made in China, chances are, it's not. This is because China requires animal testing in makeup products! Such brands that pay for tests on animals in China include:
L'Oreal
Estée Lauder
MAC
Lancôme
Maybelline
Rimmel London
Revlon
Bobbi Brown
Sephora Collection
Which companies do not?
Although many of these brands are on the more upscale side, for those of you who are conscious of saving money, some of these brands show that it is possible to buy ethical makeup from a drugstore at a cheap price.
Some examples include, but are not limited to:
e. l. f.
Covergirl
Winky Lux
tarte
Burt's Bees
Too Faced
Wet n Wild
Smashbox
Urban Decay
Anastasia Beverly Hills
Due to the development of new scientific methods and tools, the need for animal testing has been significantly reduced. An example of an alternative is in-vitro testing, where human cells are grown in a lab to test on. Human tissue samples can also be used, and are often obtained from surgery, or after a person has died. Computer models can also be used to conduct experiments on measuring the toxicity of a makeup product. These scientific advances are our pathway to a cruelty-free future.
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