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Why Cosmetic Testing on Animals Needs to End Now.

This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at UWindsor chapter.

Cosmetic brands testing on animals is unnecessary and cruel. It’s important to educate yourself as to why it’s such a barbaric practice. Animals such as mice, rabbits, guinea pigs, and even monkeys are all subjected to brutal torment that includes chemical testing that often leaves these animals in pain and mutilated. No animal deserves to undergo such vicious testing or live such a horrific life. It needs to end now. 

No animal should suffer for the sake of humankind. Products that meet consumer safety can be achieved without the pain, suffering, and deaths of thousands of animals around the world. According to the Animal Alliance of Canada, in Canada alone the number of animals used for experimentation reached an all-time high in 2019 at a staggering number of 4,562,522. 

Alternatives to animal testing don’t jeaprodize the safety ofhumans. According to Cruelty Free International, non-animal testing methods are often cheaper, quicker, and more effective than animal testing. There are many new and innovative ways to get the same results and even more accurate ones. Skin allergy tests done on guinea pigs and mice only predict 72% of human reactions, 82% of the time. A great alternative to animal testing is using cell culture, with human cells and tissue. These cells can be used to accurately predict human reactions 90% of the time, which is a vast improvement over animal testing.

While cosmetic testing is still a huge ongoing issue across the world, over 41 countries have passed laws to either limit or completely ban the practice of cosmetic testing on animals. These countries include every country in the European Union, Australia, Colombia, the United Kingdom, and South Korea, just to name a few. Animal testing is not a necessity and it’s a practice that we could do without. Be an advocate for animals and support the cause to stop the cruel testing on animals. A great resource to educate yourself on this topic is the 2021 stop motion mockumentary animated short film, Save Ralph. The short film follows Ralph, who is a lab rabbit, as he goes through his daily routine. Throughout the film the audience witnesses the cruel experiments Ralph goes through as his narrative voice satirically brushes it off and accepts it as part of his job. This 3 minute long short film is evocative and truly demonstrates how cruel and unnecessary cosmetic testing on animals is.

Below are 5 beauty brands that test on animals and 5 alternative cruelty free brands you can support today. 

Don’t – Maybelline 

While Maybelline might be budget friendly, they unfortunately enable animal testing.  

Do – ColourPop

A great cruelty free alternative to Maybelline is ColourPop! Not only is ColourPop cruelty free, but they’re also budget friendly as well!

Don’t – Bobbi Brown Cosmetics

While Bobbi Brown Cosmetics might be famous for their foundations and primers, they’re also famous for not being cruelty free.

Do – Milk Makeup

Milk Makeup is a great cruelty free alternative to Bobbi Brown. They offer great foundations, primers, and setting sprays that are all violence free. 

Don’t – L’OrĂ©al

While L’Oréal might be a global giant, they’re still unfortunately not cruelty free

Do – Glossier

Glossier on the other hand is not only a cruelty free makeup brand, but the company has recently started diversifying their products from body lotion to perfumes. They got it!

Don’t – MAC Cosmetics

MAC Cosmetics have been known for their wide foundation shade range and lip sticks; they’re also known to test on animals in China.   

Do – Fenty Beauty 

Fenty Beauty is a great alternative to MAC Cosmetic. They not only offer an amazingly wide foundation shade range, but they’re also cruelty free! 

Don’t – NARS

 NARS might be famous for their NARS Radiant Creamy Concealer but they are also famous for testing on animals.

Do – NYX

Try NYX HD Photogenic Concealer. It’s cruelty free!

Sources

crueltyfreekitty.com

https://www.crueltyfreeinternational.org/why-we-do-it/alternatives-animal-testing

https://www.animalalliance.ca/animal-research-canada/

Ayat Ibrahim

UWindsor '24

Ayat is a fourth year English Literature student, lover of cats, food and coffee. In her spare time, she can be found either reading or watching bad sitcoms.