By Laura Spencer
Editor
Chief Colossal beauty retailer, Sephora, carries the most sought-after high-end cosmetics brands. Shelves are filled with a multitude of hues, that
almost appear seamless from one brand to the next. The retailer serves as a wonderland to beauty gurus and novices alike.
We are living in the dawn of the selfie-ready era. How-to videos on YouTube have given the modern shopper the confidence necessary to splurge on beauty items that did not exist ever before in the U.S.
But, shopping responsibly for brands that do not test their cosmetics on animals is a challenge that seems to have not grown or changed as much as other areas in the beauty industry. NARS, once a cruelty-free line of cosmetics, made the decision in 2017 to begin selling their products in China, where animal testing is required for certain products. NARS fills shelves in Sephora, cosmetics brands that are deemed cruelty-free sit right
beside brands that are not.
There is almost nothing that allows consumers to easily distinguish between a line of cosmetics that tests on animals and a line that does not.
The lucrative Chinese market has enabled companies to step backwards from their cruelty-free status. This is likely due to the fact that the market was assessed to be worth $29 billion in 2016, according to Euromonitor.
By law, China requires animal testing on all cosmetics sold within its country. It seems the only way around this law is by selling products online only in China, and shipping them there from another country.
“As a vegan brand, we are really not cool with animals getting sprayed in the face,” said Phoebe Song to CNBC reporters, who owns Snow Fox
Skincare. “It sucks, because China is a huge market … it’s a lot of money.”
But, of course a lot of larger companies will set ethical and moral reservations aside in order to access China’s massive market.
“People are becoming more aware that what they put on their skin seeps into their skin.
“There’s definitely been a rise in demand for natural products,” said Eleanor Dwyer to Washington Post reporters, a research associate at Euromonitor studying the beauty industry.
Even standing in Sephora, spinning countless tubes of lip gloss, eye-liner, and mascara between your fingers looking for a cruelty-free indication is
not an effective way of determining whether or not a certain cosmetics brand tests on animals.
Kat Von D has been a long-time avid supporter of veganism, and her line of cosmetics reflects that as well. Kat Von D cosmetics are on People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA)’s list of cruelty-free brands, and they are not sold in China. However, the popular Kat Von D “tattoo liner” has no cruelty-free indication on the packaging whatsoever.
PETA’s list of companies that do and do not employ animal testing can be an easy way to verify ethical and informed shopping decisions. However, marketing and deceptive language that certain companies use is able to effectively trick their own consumers into thinking the company is cruelty-free.
Michelle Larner, a makeup artist in New York, revealed to the New York Times that products claiming to be “all natural” bring about reasonable confusion to consumers. “I saw a few brands that fall into the ‘natural’ range that I just assumed would be cruelty-free,” she said to New York
Times reporters. “Everything I use, from mascara, toothpaste, deodorant and feminine products were on the list. Even my laundry cleaning products are on this ‘yes’ list.”
California legislators have officially banned the sale of animal-tested cosmetics, which will effectively take the guess-work out of shopping. When the law goes into effect on Jan. 1, 2020, it will be “unlawful for a manufacturer to import for profit, sell, or offer for sale” animal-tested cosmetics. Violations are punishable by an initial fine of $5,000, and an additional $1,000 fine each day the offense continues.
It is the obligation of the manufacturer to ensure that their products are safe before marketing, according to the FDA. The manufacturer is able to use the testing they deem “appropriate and effective” for establishing safety.
The absolutely archaic methods that manufacturers employ during animal testing includes exposing animals to radiation, injecting or force feeding animals substances that may be harmful, surgically removing animals’ organs in order to deliberately cause damage, etc.
Certainly there is a lot of energy being put into manufacturing a safe cosmetics product. However, adverse reactions may occur nonetheless. This is due to the fact that chemicals can produce different responses from one
species to the next. Beauty tutorials are constantly flooding Pinterest and
YouTube every day. When beauty gurus recommend their favorite products, consumers retreat to their nearest Sephora, or other cosmetics retailers.
Products have hit shelves that were once considered too niche for U.S. consumers. BB creams and CC creams have long been used in South Korea, but only recently made their debut in the U.S., according to a Washington Post report. While cosmetics companies are turning higher profits, and selling more products than ever before, it is time that they consider a more ethical, responsible approach to their own products.
“It takes five minutes to go through [PETA’s] list,” said Kristin Bauer, actress and animal-free spokeswoman, to New York Times reporters. “Sometimes the non-tested are more organic and natural. Sometimes they’re even cheaper.”
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