KILLERS: The use of makeup is widely known through the world, but what is behind the creation and approval of these brands is selectively shared to the public.
By Kaley Pederson, Staff Writer
To speak for plenty of women and young girls everywhere, makeup has become an essential product within society due to insecurities. As much as women love makeup, most women also love animals and would never consider hurting an animal; as common sense dictates, one typically does not do that. Well, based on factual encounters with makeup organizations, a great majority of popular makeup brands are tested on animals.
Activists are doing what they can to ban testing on animals: as of March 2013, according to the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (RSPCA) has proclaimed that it is illegal to sell “products that have been or contain ingredients that have been newly tested on animals,” in the European Union. On the other hand, the United States Humane Society found that the Chinese government requires “mandatory animal testing on all cosmetic products.” In some cases, the product could take the shelves in Chinese stores without being tested and the government could take it off the shelf to personally test it per regulations they placed. Various countries are trying to ban or limit animal testing from their products. The United States currently does not hold a high stake in makeup or the testing of makeup on animals.
The way that companies test makeup and other products on animals, according to the US Humane Society, is by conducting 1) “Skin and eye irritation test where chemicals are rubbed onto the shaved skin or dripped into the eyes of restrained rabbits without pain relief” 2) Through “repeated force-feeding studies lasting weeks/months to find signs of general illness or specific health hazards such as cancer or birth defects, and 3) by testing a “widely condemned ‘lethal dose’, where animals are forced to swallow large amounts of test chemicals to determine how much causes death.” It is truly mortifying that companies utilized in everyday lives are conducting these gruesome tests behind the scenes.
Companies that are affiliated with animal testing include Avon, Benefit, Burberry, Clinique, Calvin Klein, Chapstick, Chanel, Covergirl, Estee Lauder, Maybelline, Victoria Secret, Dior, Dolce and Gabbana, MAC, Tom Ford, Sephora, Saint Laurent, etc.. This list could continue on to fill at least seven more pages, so it is strongly encouraged that this generation BE THE CHANGE; Millenials are accomplishing great movements, and this should be one of them. Innocent animals do not deserve to be tortured because someone wants a $75 bottle of foundation. Plenty of other great companies can supply one with cruelty-free products; companies that do not animal test include Lush, Anastasia, Urban Decay, Too Faced, and Hourglass.