Now that April has passed and the Easter bunny is gone, let’s have a grown-up conversation about other bunnies. When you think of testing makeup products on animals, don’t be naive. This procedure is not simply putting blush or mascara on adorable baby bunnies to enhance their beauty.

There are things about this method of testing beauty products that society does not know and attention needs to be brought to this matter. Animal testing is when certain animals such as dogs, cats, bunnies and rats are used for painful procedures done in order to ensure safe products for human usage. As a society, we should be acting upon this issue that often goes unnoticed by many. 

To give you a better understanding of this atrocious procedure, let me paint a  picture for you. What I will describe is referred to as the eye irritation/corrosion test. 

This procedure consists of a substance being placed in one eye of a rabbit who is then restrained, preventing it from a natural response to irritation. Scientists then observe the rabbit for a period of 24 hours for up to two weeks. After this procedure is complete and industries have gotten their results, the animals are generally decapitated and killed.  

Animal testing is morally wrong and inhumane. I cannot wrap my head around humans torturing animals in order to make a profit from these beauty products. Think about it, such a pure and small animal being tortured so we, humans, can wear beauty products to look good. The beauty for torture tradeoff doesn’t seem too appealing to me.  

Many countries have taken note of this issue and began banning all sale of animal-tested cosmetics, however, this isn’t enough. Numerous countries still have not addressed this issue and continue the sale of these types of cosmetics. By banning them at stores, makeup industries will feel a financial decline and hopefully reverse this method of testing. 

There are many ways we, as people not affected by this cruelty testing procedure, can bring awareness to this issue and help it come to an end. The first thing we can do is boycott makeup brands that aren’t animal cruelty-free. Some of these brands being Nars, Benefit, MAC, Maybelline and many more. These brands will suffer substantial damage if consumers stop purchasing products which will incentivize them to change their business. 

We rarely think about how everyday products we use come to be, however, through the act of buying these things, we disregard the lives of millions of tester animals. Not only is this practice cruel, but completely inhumane, and it must come to an end.

So I will leave you with a piece of advice, may you choose to follow it or not. Every time you go out to purchase makeup for a night out with friends, or cosmetic products for your everyday life, double-check the box and make sure the brand is cruelty-free. If it is, great. If it is not, place it right back on the shelf and walk away.