If you prefer your lashes lush and also your bunnies un-contoured, there are plenty of makeup brands you can support that are cruelty-free – from individual brands that don’t test on animals (which means they don’t retail in mainland China, products must have been tested on critters in order to be sold in bricks and mortar stores) to full-on, ground-up, for-real vegan, no animal products at all companies.
Now CoverGirl has become the biggest brand ever to cop the Leaping Bunny cruelty-free certification from Cruelty-Free international. It’s a strict process to get that happy little hare on your marketing material, including intensive ingredient and supply chain audits, as well as ongoing regular audits to ensure compliance.
It’s not just for coconut-scented ranges mixed up in your crunchy cousin’s bathroom sink – cruelty-free has for years now been a major selling point for some of the industry’s most high-status brands, from Chantecaille and Kat von D to Anastasia Beverly Hills and Bite Beauty.
But what if you don’t have $38 to drop on an eyebrow pencil or a lip balm, but you do have, y’know, principles? Finding quality products amongst the monster global brands in the local Amcal that look as good in a selfie as they do on your Good Place points ticker is tough.
The animal-based and animal-tested products that have historically been used in cosmetics weren’t just there for funsies. If pulverised sea-otter eyelashes gave your kohl eyeliner the best smudge and thus an edge over your competitors’ formula, in they went, and the hot babes buying your products were either none the wiser or didn’t care.
That’s why the CoverGirl news is definitely a win – the industry’s moves against the practice, and the market sentiment and activism driving increasing transparency, are a positive step overall. It’s good to see it matters enough to even mainstream buyers in this beauty-obsessed era that a company with CG’s rep would jump through those pesky vegans’ hoops to get it done.
But it’s worth keeping in mind that even if you’re stoked you can finally rediscover that surprisingly good $11 sheer foundation you wore in your school plays – and support one of the few mainstream brands keeping up with Fenty in the shade-range arms race – CG’s parent company Coty still has a way to go on animal testing.
Its other beauty brands – including Clairol, OPI, Max Factor, Rimmel, Sally Hansen, Natural Instincts, Wella, and Vidal Sassoon – and fragrance brand licences – including Hugo Boss, Dolce & Gabbana, Gucci, Escada and Lacoste – are all listed by PETA as being animal tested (or unreported).
Whether this is happening in the research and development phase or just as a regulatory check so they can be sold in mainland China doesn’t really matter – it’s still happening.
While it’s committed to making at least one more of its brands cruelty-free certified within the next two years, Coty is still benefiting from animal testing every time it sells someone a bottle of Gucci Flora or a box of Nice & Easy.
This means buying CoverGirl makeup is kind of like buying your free-range eggs from a producer that also sells cage eggs: the product you’re purchasing may be a little more aligned with your values, but the company getting your money, not so much.