I know that many of my subscribers have heard about the supposed ban of animal testing in the European Union in 2013, but it is not a done deal yet. There are companies fighting to push back the date and find loopholes around the ban.

We need to raise a stink about this and let companies know that they’ve had more than enough time to adjust their animal testing policies and have more than enough safe and useable ingredients on the market that do not have to be tested on animals.

Sign this petition to have your voice heard, don’t let companies find loopholes and continue animal testing, all the while claiming they care about animal rights!

Here are other credible petitions and messages that you can sign to help support the ban and help to end animal testing once and for all!

Send Letter to European Commission President José Manuel Barroso

Sephora’s own brand of cosmetics can no longer be called cruelty-free because they decided to sell their products in China. Just relaying the message, not suprised in the least. If you want to read more, check out mybeautybunny.com. This means they are testing on animals if you are new to the animal testing regulations in that country. Unless a company is only specifically selling in Hong Kong, product testing is required if they are selling there.

UPDATE: I will no longer be maintaining a no-animal testing list on my website. This was a hard decision for me to come  to, but through my years of cruelty-free research I’ve realized that nothing is black and white in this world. You can have guidelines for researching companies, you can ask the right questions, and you may get the answer you want to hear from that particular company. My issue is that there is no one monitoring these companies, other than a few animal rights organizations and Leaping Bunny. And even then, mistakes can be made.

I’m not saying that any companies on my old list test on animals, but what I am saying is that it is up to all of us to decide what is right. If you believe what a company or corporation tells you about their animal testing policies, that is up to you. I don’t feel its my place to make judgements for everyone, especially since I can’t monitor these companies or follow up in person. Nor do I understand all the intricacies of Chinese law, which is the Catch 22 of cruelty-free research at this moment in time.

I will continue to post research on here and am currently in the process of redesigning my website. I hope to have a more organized section focused solely on animal testing research and vegan product recommendations. I will be compiling a list of products I use or have used and recommend and trust from my own research. Products I stand behind and use myself, based on my research and trust in the company. I feel this is much more attainable for me and will make my blog more enjoyable for me again. I also would like to focus more on featuring beauty DIY and provide some recipes for skincare and basic products for those who don’t have the money or ability to access cruelty-free and vegan products. These goals are in the future for my site, not quite sure when I will have them set up and time to do everything I want, but its in my future plans for Veggie Beauty.

The only animal testing list I trust is leapingbunny.org; Please ensure that you do not support 3rd party testing (leaping bunny denotes these companies in their list so you can make your own decisions).

Here are some tips I use when deciding what companies I choose to purchase with:

• Try and find Leaping Bunny approved products when possible.
• Contact companies and decide what you believe based on their integrity and the information they send you.
• Try to pick natural, vegan products.
• Avoid palm oil if possible (carnuaba wax, palmitate etc…) as it harms the earth and orangatan habitats
• Ask about 3rd party testing
• Ensure that they and no other 3rd party source tests their products and ingredients on animals.
• Inquire if the company has stores and warehouses located in China, and/or is wholesaling in China. To the best of my understanding, these products legally must be tested on animals.
• Hong Kong is the one exception the Chinese rule as they run their own government in which animal testing is not required.
• Support local and/or made in the U.S. (or other countries with stricter animal rights laws)
• Support indie companies who make quality products and don’t exploit animals.

My official statement, and what I think about supporting Urban Decay; this is an opinion and you have the right to not agree with what I’m saying:

As many of you may have heard, Urban Decay made the wise decision to forgo selling and therefore testing their items to be sold in the Chinese market. I was so relieved to hear this, but not because I plan on supporting and/or buying items from Urban Decay. I feel relieved for the thousands of animals that will be saved because of this decision. I commend them for doing this, but I am not going to forget what easily could have gone in another, inhumane direction.

Now, I leave it to all of you to decide for yourself what companies you want to support. I use my website as a tool to share info and to help people come to their own conclusions about companies. As far as my own personal views on a company, it is also my right not to buy from and/or support companies that I don’t trust 100%.

Here is why I don’t plan on purchasing from or supporting Urban Decay you may disagree and that’s your right.

1. A company that can so easily flip-flop on one of their core company values from one week to the next is not a company I care to trust or support.

2. I am trying to support more independent brands/smaller companies that have good customer service and are honest and straight-forward in their public statements, emails, and the way they run their businesses. Urban Decay has proven that they have poor customer service by having poorly prepped PR representatives and allowing them to talk down to their customers and not answer the tough questions they posed to them after the initial issue was addressed.

3. Its harder to monitor larger corporations, and if they’ve had shady behavior in the past, what’s to stop them from doing something similar in the future? The only information we have is what a company chooses to tell us…I feel that if a company breaks trust, I have a hard time taking their word, especially on something as hugely important to me as animal rights.

4. This company has proven that money is a deciding factor on whether or not they will participate in animal testing. Their core customer base are vegans/cruelty-free shoppers and they so easily threw aside our trust to make extra money. I understand that this is a capitalist economy and money is important, but if you let money be your main determinant in deciding important details about your company and decisions that degrade the core morals your company was founded on, what is the point? Integrity should be as important as the profits you earn.

5. I’m still waiting for an apology for their initial, thoughtless statement they released regarding their intentions to “change the laws” etc….while still allowing items to be tested on animals. You don’t make changes by giving in, you make changes by sticking up for your beliefs and not selling out innocent creatures for your profit margin.

These responses all come from the diligent research of Georgette (NYCGeorgette on youtube)

CVS (will be taking them off my list, they have changed their statement and it appears they may be testing on animals):

CVS statement!

Thank you for contacting CVS/pharmacy regarding our views on animal testing.

Our present policy is: “We do not use animal testing as a standard procedure for any products marketed under the CVS brand label.” In addition, we have asked our testing laboratory to seek all possible alternatives to using laboratory animals in the testing process.

We understand your compassion regarding this issue and appreciate you expressing your concerns. If you have any further questions or concerns you may contact us at 1-800-746-7287. Monday through Friday. 8:30 am to 7 pm ET. 

Have a wonderful day.

Jennifer 

CVS Customer Relations

THE VILLAGE COMPANY (will be adding to my list)

Thank you for your email. The Village Company is strongly against testing products on animals. All of our products are ‘cruelty-free’, although some products do contain animal derived ingredients such as milk protein, beeswax, etc. Most of our labels on our products clearly state this.

We are not affiliated with any companies that test products on animals. We do not have products sold in China.

I hope this information helps. If you have any further questions please let me know.

Best Regards,

Frank Klisanich

President & CEO

The Village Company, LLC.

SULA BEAUTY (will be adding to my list)

Hi Georgette,

Thank you for your email and interest in Sula Beauty!

Susanne Lang Fragrance Inc., and all of its subsidiaries, including Sula Beauty, manufactures its products in-house at our facility in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. We do not test our finished goods, nor use ingredients that have been tested on animals. Should we use a 3rd party manufacture, they follow our animal cruelty-free manufacturing standards. Our products never have been sold in China.

Thanks,

Sincerely,

Elena Breitman

MAKEUP GEEK (From Youtube) (will be adding to my list)

Our company does not test ingredients or finished products on animals. The same goes for our manufacturer.

We do not have any third-party testing on animals for ingredients or finished products

We an independently-owned company and we are not associated with any other companies that test products on animals.

We don’t sell through distributors so we don’t have Chinese distributors that would make us fall under the Chinese laws on cosmetics testing.

Hope this helps!

the MUG team

PIXI BEAUTY (found in Target)

Dear Georgette,

Thank you for your interest in Pixi! Pixi does not test any ingredients or

products on animals or hire any third parties to do so for us. Also our

manufactures do not test on animals. We are not owned or affiliated with any

companies that do animal testing. We do not have any retailers in China that sell Pixi.

Best regards,

Sara

Pixi

I was contacted by a representative from NYX and asked to amend a previous error I had made regarding a correspondence someone had sent to me. It was actually EOS’s statement regarding their involvement with selling items in China.

This is the statement that I hadn’t clarified if it was from NYX or EOS; it is indeed from EOS. I found out this info via facebook from one of my good friends, Grace through a friend of hers. That error is mine, and I will admit to it:

Dear Georgette,

Thanks for writing us. To answer your questions 1-4, the answer is no. For question #5, while we do not currently sell our products in China, they are currently available from third parties in limited distribution. As we continue to expand our business internationally, we are aware that some countries require that local labs perform tests on animals as a prerequisite to give permission for products to be sold within their countries and we actively support efforts underway to change these practices.
Regards,
Jonathan T.

This was an official and vague, but clear statement I got from another one of my subscribers from NYX when she asked about them testing/selling in China. Now, I didn’t receive this message officially, but I know and trust the person who sent it to me. Remember, to sell items in China, animal testing is required.:

Hi Gabby,

We do not test on animals as noted by our PETA cruelty free symbol. We do sell in China.

Many Thanks,

NYX Cosmetics

This was the response I got from their representive: 

To Whom It May Concern:

My name is Mason O’Brien and I am contacting you from mml pr. We represent NYX Cosmetics. We wanted to provide some information in response to your blog post about the brand and its testing on animals. NYX does not test any of its raw materials or finished products on animals. The brand feels very strongly about not testing on animals, so much so that they specifically prohibit sales of their products in Mainland China where testing on animals is a requirement to sell in the market.

It would be greatly appreciated if you could update your post to reflect NYX’s stance on animal testing.

Please let me know if I can provide any further information or answer any questions.

Sincerely,

Mason O’Brien

I’ll leave it up to you what you want to believe, but inconsistant and vague statements always give me pause and concern. This is not the first time NYX has sent me false or contradicting information. They had claimed in the past  (when I first starting doing research about a year ago) that all of their ingredients were vegan and/or synthetically derived which was obviously not true. If this was an error on the part of the PR representative, that could very well be true, but this is something that should be taken more seriously by companies. Know what’s in your products and why they are being used. Don’t make things up if you don’t know.

I am no longer calling my cruelty-free list ‘cruelty-free’..it is called no animal testing list, this should clear up any confusion people are having. Cruelty-free has been the blanket statement used to define animal testing free brands.

As a vegan, I do not believe in buying items animal byproducts because I don’t want to contribute to any animal suffering. That is my own personal version of ‘cruelty-free’ and is what I practice. I’ve always been upfront about the importance of using vegan items. I went vegan in January 2011 and learn new things every single day.

To clarify, I only personally buy and support vegan cosmetics and try to purchase carnuaba/palm oil free items. I am in the works to make my own vegan mascara this summer and this is why I started making my own lipsticks without carnuaba wax. I am doing my best to do the right thing, and I do think every consumer is responsible to do their own research into product ingredients. That is why I took the vegan products list down off my site and why I am working on revamping and reorganizing my animal testing list. It will take time, but I am trying my best. I appreciate your support and patience.

*ATTENTION: I am taking down any companies I’m not completely sure on until I learn more information on a whether companies are selling in China or not. I try my best to do research, but until companies are more transparent and honest, I can never be 100% sure of their cruelty-free status. I will do my best to post updates and my research so you can decide for yourself what you believe. If a company is vague or not forthcoming on their cruelty-free status and if they are indeed selling their items in China, I will not keep them on my list. I personally am going to be buying from more indie brands and smaller companies, because I feel I can trust their word more than larger companies and corporations. Sad, but true. 

Companies I am currently investigating and therefore taking my off list until I hear different; this does not mean I believe they are testing on animals. I simply want to do more research into their status on selling items in China and if they intend to, as this means their cruelty-free status will become null and void. Please do not ask me if I know if any of these companies are cruelty-free or not. I will post any and all responses I receive whether directly from the company or through a subscriber who contacts the company inquiring information:
CVS, Bonnebell, ELF, Wet n Wild, ALDI, CoverFX, Too Faced, Gosh, Barry M, Dermologica, Essence, Jane Cosmetics, INGLOT, Prestige, Physician’s Formula, Stila, It’s a 10, Paul Mitchell

Here is the Revlon reply I got through a subscriber (they never emailed me this because they probably know I do cruelty-free research) You decide what you think, but I think the last paragraph where they say they follow government regulations and such is telling:

Thank you for your recent comments from the Revlon website and for voicing your concern to us.

Revlon is in full compliance with all applicable laws and regulations related to animal testing. All ingredients used by Revlon and all products manufactured and sold by Revlon comply with both U.S. and European Union laws and regulations, including full compliance with all Europe-wide bans on testing of cosmetics and cosmetics ingredients using animals, which are part of the European Cosmetics Directive.

Revlon has long been an industry leader in the elimination of animal testing. In 1986, Revlon was the first beauty products manufacturer to close down its animal testing facilities completely. In addition, Revlon holds its suppliers of ingredients and components to the same standards. All chemical supplier purchase orders require confirmation by the supplier that it does not perform animal testing on materials supplied.

To assure product safety, Revlon relies on the judgment of pharmacologic, toxicologic and medical experts, non-animal alternative test methods and the established safety of formulations and ingredients. Revlon is committed to providing safe and effective products and will continue to comply with all government laws and regulations necessary to assure the quality, safety and efficacy of its products.

Thank you for your interest in our company. If we can be of further assistance, please do not hesitate to let us know.