Last week the European Union made it official, outlawing the testing of cosmetics products on animals. In the U.S., it’s still voluntary.
Tabs has a background in science, but he thinks times have changed. In many cases it’s no longer necessary to test products on live subjects because of the vast amount of research already done, and he wishes more companies would get with the program — programs like Leaping Bunny. Products with this logo are certified to not have been tested on animals at any stage of their development.
As of last Wednesday…
“… the EU has banned all animal tests for cosmetic ingredients, formulations, and final products. In addition, the sale of cosmetics and ingredients that have been tested on animals, regardless of where the testing occurred, is also prohibited, with the exception of three test areas (repeated-dose toxicity, reproductive toxicity, and toxicokinetics). The final three test areas will be banned in March 2013.”
source
Should animal testing of cosmetics be banned in America? Let me know what you think in the comments.
Loading ...Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,
Karen
This is a tough one.
I reconcile my love for cosmetics with the need to make sure they’re safe for people, but I agree with you Karen that so much testing has already been done. These chemists already know how most families of chemicals react with living tissue. Unless it’s a completely new compound, which is rare thing these days, there’s no need to test it on animals.
Cheers to the Europeans for taking the lead on this issue. Good job!!!!
I do think it should be banned here for makeup. It’s a tough issue for me because I work for a company that makes cancer drugs and other drugs and we test on animals. I am a HUGE animal fanatic so it’s very hard for me to wrap my head around it. I try and think about the humans we are saving and the fact that the animals at my company ARE treated well, unlike a lot of places. I feel like unless its savings lives, it should be banned. we don’t need animal testing for “frivolous” (ok makeup is NOT frivolous to me at ALL just had to make my point haha!) things like eye shadow, soap and Clorox wipes It’s rough 🙁
Vampy Varnish´s last blog post..Nubar Cleopatra for Spring 2009
I think that as far as cosmetics are concerned, animal testing is no longer the most effective or even the cheapest method of making sure products are safe. I never really understood it, anyway. It’s like, “Hmmm, let’s see if it hurts the bunny when we spray this hairspray in its eyes.” Newsflash, it hurts.
American companies need to get with the times. It’s just not necessary anymore, and there are plenty of companies (Urban Decay, Smashbox, MAC) that eschew testing and still create amazing products. The idea of a poor little animal suffering because of things like wrinkle cream, mascara and blush makes me sick. You don’t have to be a hard-core animal activist to agree that using animals that way is selfish and shallow.
Until the American laws change, it’s helpful to remember that voting with your wallet is still the American way! I try to avoid buying anything from companies whose practices I don’t agree with. It takes a little bit of research, but it’s not like we don’t obsess over these products anyway, lol!
Karen, do you think this will change the way some of the companies available here do business? For example, L’Oreal and Lancome (the same company, really) are two of the huge no-no brands if you’re avoiding companies that test on animals. But they’re based in Europe, aren’t they? Do you think that this law will make their products okay for us to buy? Or will they just send all their animal-tested stuff over here and only clean up their act for the European market?
It will be interesting to see how this affects us in the states.
I can’t imagine supporting a company that would choose to harm anything or anyone. I completely agree that all animal testing should be banned! Technology has come far enough so that we no longer need to engage in cruel, outdated practices. I absolutely abhore all companies that still do animal testing to the point where I stopped using all products that are tested on animals.. and that was NOT easy for me bc i love makeup! sadly that meant most drugstore products; toothpastes, aveeno, neutrogena, pantene, olay, herbal essences, the works… which really was NOT easy, especially for hair products and necessities like toothpaste, but i managed and am much happier for it. now i only use organic or vegan products, which sometimes may cost more, but at least i know my money isnt going towards supporting horrible companies (damn you, proctor and gamble!) that kill thousands of poor innocent animals.
I used to really love shu uemara, shiseido, guerlain, givenchy, lancome.. but after i found out they test on animals i stopped buying their stuff. seriously, youd think they wouldve moved on from animal testing and found alternative testing methods by now.. its not like were still in the medieval ages after all.
Hi Karen,
This is such a coincidence – just yesterday my sister and I were talking about this same issue. I was telling my sister that I like using drug store mascaras because I go through mascara so quickly but that I don’t like shelling out big bucks for them, but that you have to be careful about certain brands that still test on animals, such as Cover Girl and Loreal. So we decided to do a little research and looked online to find a list of brands that still test on animals. We were quite surprised to find that a lot of cosmetic companies still conduct animal testing. What surprised me the most is that even if a product is labeled as being animal friendly, this does not mean that the brand refrains from animal testing on cosmetics — only that this specific item was not tested on animals. How shady is that! Here is the url to the “bad list” of companies that still conduct animal testing: http://www.caringconsumer.com/pdfs/companiesDoTest.pdf. I am going to have to completely revamp my daily routine since a lot of the toiletry items I use on a daily basis are on this list from my toothpaste to my lotion. Thanks again for bringing up this important issue!
I guess everyone should read this article to have a better view on this whole issue
http://thebeautybrains.com/2009/01/19/scientists-speak-about-cosmetic-animal-testing/
A. Ozair, it’s interesting that the article is written by the very people who would lose money should animal testing be banned. Of course, that’s my speculation; they don’t give their names on the site, so there’s no way of knowing what exactly they do, whom they work for, or what their standing in the scientific community is.
They make the assertion that no new cosmetics will ever be able to be made without animal testing. But there are already alternative methods, including synthetic skin prototypes, computer modeling, and human clinical studies. Check out Altweb, the program run by the John Hopkins Center for Alternatives to Animal Testing for articles, FAQs, and the most current research on the topic.
of course they should be banned!! I can’t even live with myself that later to be proven as animal testing companies.. And cost is an excuse. When you see Elf, NYX, Mialni those drugstore brands, they’re not expensive, but they don’t conduct animal tests. It’s so cruel the fact that they would shave animals hair and spray chemicals or spray something directly in their eyes. What have we done?? Poor animals 🙁 🙁 🙁
I just feel the need to reiterate that I am strongly PRO animal (I have 3 cats and a dog) and against animal testing for all products, especially makeup which isn’t a necessary thing like medicine.
Having said that though, people should also understand that sometimes testing is necessary in order to make certain drugs and until they can find a real replacement it is necessary to save human lives. I know it’s horrible to think about, but if your mother, husband or daughter had breast cancer or non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma and they needed a cancer medication, would you deny it to them because it was tested on animals?
John Hopkins Center for Alternatives to Animal Testing makes this claim below on their site (note the *Alternatives do not necessarily mean to not test at all.) They understand that in some cases, unfortunately, a human life is more valued than an animal life, right or wrong.
Mission
* Promote and support research in the development of in vitro and other alternative techniques.
* Serve as a forum to foster discussion among diverse groups leading to creative approaches to facilitate acceptance and implementation of alternatives.
* Provide reliable information on the science, philosophy, and public policy of alternatives to academia, government, industry and the general public.
* Educate and train in the application of alternatives.
* Alternatives are defined as new methods that refine existing tests by minimizing animal distress, reduce animal usage, or replace whole animal tests.
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Actually, plenty of medicines have passed animal testing only to go forth and kill humans. Animal testing is obsolete, like Loni said in comment 8.
We’re not talking about medical treatments. We’re talking about makeup. Nobody said anything about banning animal testing in medical labs.
Hello Dear,
I luvs my animals. Dear Hubby and I are vegetarians for way too many years (35 to be exact). We owe much to our dear animal friends who have sacrificed their lives to give us food, clothing, medicines, protection, and love. How about this instead? We take those wonderful executives say from AIG. They have my pension or what’s left of it. Add Bernie Madoff, too and probably many others who are hiding in the woodwork, starting to smell what’s coming. I think that maybe we could do the cosmetic testing on them instead of the poor animal folk. hahahaha
PS: Can you imagine someone doing cosmetics tests on your poor TABZ:(
Just so you all know…
Loreal/Lancome abolished animal testing in their products in 1994.
I used to work for them until recently.
Anyone who’s interested can find out if a makeup company tests on animals – I keep a list, right now I have over 350 companies – of makeup that does not test on animals, and I also have vegan cosmetics listed. It’s at http://www.MyMakeupMirror.com
Namaste,
Suzann