Testing on animals started in the United States in 1938 when the FDA passed a law requiring all drugs must be tested on animals to assure these drugs are safe for human consumption. Since then all new drugs been tested this way.
Although the law only applies to medical drugs, many companies test other products such as cosmetics, cleaning products and pesticides on animals.
For cosmetic tests, bunnies, mice, guinea pigs and monkeys are used the most.
These animals are put into small cages, tortured and blinded. They live in constant fear and often die from these experiments.
The most stunning fact is that animal testing is not only cruel but also unnecessary.
- Today we already have thousands of ingredients that are proven safe.
- Because animals and humans are genetically different, the results from testing are not even accurate.
- The FDA does not require cosmetics to be tested on animals. As a matter of fact the FDA supports finding ways to assure the safety of products without testing on animals. However, all over-the-counter medicines or their ingredients are tested on animals as required by FDA.
- There are other methods of testing, using computer simulation to replicate human tissue on microchips. We can easily use new technology to replace animal testing.
Many countries all over the world like India, Israel, Norway and the European Union have already banned animal testing for cosmetics.
Unfortunately many products are being manufactured and or sold in China where animal testing is required by law. An estimated 300,000 animals die in Chinese labs every year. According to PETA, cosmetics like Dior, Estee Lauder, Gucci, Bliss, Benefit and Clinique sell their products in China and therefore must be tested on animals.
The only way this barbaric practice will change is if we all take a stand against it.
The best way to do this is to buy products that display cruelty-free logos and support laws that will prohibit the selling of products that are tested on animals.
By supporting companies that are cruelty-free, we are sending a powerful message to the whole cosmetics industry. They must know that they will lose our business unless they stop testing on animals.
In my skin care studio, I like to ask my clients what products they use at home.
All of my clients do not support testing on animals but unknowingly use products that do just that.
So please look for the cruelty-free bunnies logos below which assure a product is cruelty-free.
I am also including a list of companies that still test their products on animals.
Please check your make-up bags and cleaning supplies to see if you find any products that you use are on this list and please replace them with the ones that are cruelty-free.
In next few months I will tell you about upcoming legislation to ban animal testing and how we can support them.
To Your Health!
Margaret
Companies That Still Test on Animals (and associated brands):
- Alcon Labs
- Allergan, Inc.
- Almay
- Always
- American Beauty
- Answer
- Aramis
- Arm & Hammer
- ArmorAll
- Arrid
- Avon
- Axe
- Aziza
- Bain de Soleil
- Ban Roll-on
- Banana Boat
- Bausch & Lomb
- Benckiser
- BenGay
- Biotherm
- Block Drug Co. Inc.
- Bobbi Brown
- Bounty
- Boyle-Midway
- Bristol-Myers Squibb Co.
- Bumble and Bumble
- Cacherel
- Cargill
- Carpet Fresh
- Carter-Wallace
- Charlie
- Chesebrough-Ponds
- Church & Dwight
- Clarion
- Clairol
- Clear Choice
- Clinique
- Clorox
- Commerce Drug Co.
- Coppertone
- Coty
- Cover Girl
- Crest
- Dana Perfumes
- Darphin
- Dawn
- Del Laboratories
- Desitin
- Dial Corporation
- Diversey
- Donna Karan
- Dove
- Dow Brands
- Drackett Products Co.
- Drano
- EcoLab
- Eli Lilly & Co.
- El Sanofi Inc.
- Elizabeth Arden
- Erno Laszlo
- Estee Lauder
- Faberge
- Fantastik
- Fendi
- Final Net
- Finesse
- First Response
- Flame Glow
- Flirt!
- Garnier
- Giorgio Armani
- Givaudan-Roure
- Glade
- Glass Plus
- GlaxoSmithKline
- Good Skin
- Grassroots skin care
- Helena Rubinstein
- Helene Curtis Industries
- Herbal Essences
- Huggies
- ISO
- Ivory
- Jhirmack
- Jo Malone
- Johnson & Johnson
- Johnson Products Co.
- Jovan
- Kaboom
- Keri
- Kimberly-Clark Corp
- Kiton
- Kiwi Brands
- Kleenex
- La Mer
- Lab Series
- Lady's Choice
- Lancaster
- Lancome
- Lava
- Lever Brothers
- Lipton
- Listerine
- L'Oreal USA
- Lubriderm
- Lux
- Lysol
- MAC Cosmetics
- Mars (candy company)
- Mary Kay
- Matrix Essentials
- Max Factor
- Maybelline
- McNeil Nutritionals
- Mead
- Michael Kors
- Missoni
- Mitchum
- Mop & Glo
- Nair
- Naturelle
- Neutrogena
- Neutron Industries, Inc.
- Ojon
- Olay
- Olean
- Orange Glo
- Origins
- Oscar de la Renta
- OxiClean
- Pantene
- Parfums International
- Pearl Drops
- Pennex
- Pfizer, Inc.
- Phillips-Van Heusen
- Pine-Sol
- Plax
- Playtex Corporation
- Pledge
- Polident
- Ponds
- Post-It
- Prescriptives
- Prestige Brands
- Prince Matchabelli
- Procter & Gamble Co.
- Quintessence
- Raid
- Ralph Lauren Fragrances
- Reckitt Benckiser
- Redken
- Resolve
- Revlon
- Richardson-Vicks
- Sally Beauty Supply
- Sally Hansen
- Sanofi
- SC Johnson & Son
- Schering-Plough
- Scotch
- Scott Paper Co.
- Scrub Free
- Sean John Fragrances
- Sensodyne
- Signal
- Smashbox Cosmetics
- Snobal
- SoftSheen
- S.O.S.
- Splenda
- Stanhome Inc.
- Sterling Drug
- Suave
- Sun Star
- Sunsilk
- Tampax
- TCB Naturals
- Tegrin
- 3M
- Tide
- Tilex
- Tom Ford Beauty
- Tommy Hilfiger
- TRESemme
- Trojan
- Truvia
- Ultima II
- Unilever
- Vaseline
- Vichy
- Vidal Sassoon
- Visine
- Vivid
- Warner-Lambert
- Westwood Pharmaceuticals
- White Shoulders
- Whitehall Laboratories
- Windex
- Woolite
