By Emma Greenberg ’18

“An animal test is 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,” Cruelty Free International said. Animal testing is a practice that must end. Animals are spending their life being abused in a testing facility, all because you wanted that lipstick shade or the newest foundation. Is your makeup really worth the pain you’re causing to thousands of innocent animals?

I had thought that animal testing was an old practice that ended over 20 years ago, but it turns out that several of my (former) favorite brands still partake in this practice. Some of the biggest perpetrators are L’Oreal, Maybelline, Almay, Revlon, Rimmel and CoverGirl. High-end brands are perpetrators too. According to P.E.T.A., a nonprofit organization for animal rights, popular brands such as Benefit, Bobbi Brown,  Lancome, Estee Lauder, Smashbox, Marc Jacobs and, surprisingly, Bare Minerals, a brand that advertises itself as a clean-living makeup company, all test their products on animals.

While many of these brands claim to be cruelty free, there are various loopholes. Many big name brands get products from smaller companies; therefore, they are not affiliated with them and can distance themselves from the smaller distributors. In 2000, according to P.E.T.A., L’Oreal requested animal test data on at least one ingredient from a supplier. Makeup brands can get away with animal testing because they may not be testing final products on animals, but they can still test ingredients on animals.

The biggest loophole involves China. Cosmetic companies cannot be classified a cruelty-free brand if they sell their products in China. China has laws that require makeup and skincare companies to do mandatory animal tests to see if the product is safe for human use (even if the product had already been approved for human use in several other countries), or else it cannot be sold anywhere in China. Therefore, withdrawing products from China can help companies avoid testing products on animals.

This is not me being a crazy animal rights activist who thinks that every animal on earth is endangered. This is me saying that there is a problem with forcing an innocent animal to spend its life in a facility being tortured. Anyone who buys a cosmetic product should educate themselves on the brand and their animal cruelty policy. An easy way to identify a P.E.T.A. verified cruelty-free company is by looking for a bunny symbol on the packaging of a product. Consumers can also visit the blog crueltyfreekitty.com to see if the brand falls under the umbrella of cruelty-free.

When I first made the switch to buying only from cruelty-free brands, I can admit that it was inconvenient. But in the grand scheme of things, I know that I’m doing the right thing by not supporting brands that test on innocent animals.