At the end of the day, all cosmetics companies have a choice. There’s a long list of ingredients that already have a history of safe use. For example, salicylic acid is a cosmetics ingredient that has been added to anti-acne formulas for years. If a cosmetics company wants to include salicylic acid in a product that they are developing, they don’t need to determine the safety of salicylic acid with new animal tests or tests of any type because it has already been confirmed by past data. Sticking to existing cosmetics ingredients is one of the best ways of becoming a cruelty-free cosmetics company, which is a company that does not test on animals at all.
Another way for companies to become cruelty-free is to use alternatives to animal testing. Over the years, researchers have had many successes with non-animal toxicology tests. For example, scientists are using in-vitro technology and constructing 3D human skin models with fibroblasts and keratinocytes. Well-known tissue models like EpiDerm from Mattek and Episkin can fully replace the use of animals in skin irritation and corrosion tests, and also produce results that are more relevant to humans.
Meanwhile, researchers have also explored other options, such as computer modeling and human volunteer studies (safe ones). Although some of these options may involve ethical considerations of their own, they are huge breakthroughs that should be taken seriously. Various studies have shown that alternatives to animal testing are accurate 80% of the time, which is significantly higher than the accuracy of animal tests.
(Institute for In Vitro Sciences, n.d.)
Besides, the cost of these test alternatives is much lower. You would think companies would just embrace these alternatives with open arms and an open mind, but no, some of the most prominent cosmetics companies refuse to make meaningful differences solely because regulators find archaic test methods to be more trustworthy. In these cases, only proper laws and regulations can change the future of cosmetic product testing.
Laws and Regulations
Various countries have put relevant laws and regulations in place to prevent further pain and suffering of animals. In 2013, the European Union banned all cosmetic animal testing regardless of the effectiveness and availability of its alternatives at that time. In recent years, countries/regions like India, New Zealand, Guatemala, Taiwan, and Israel have also decided to implement similar laws. Just this month, an updated cosmetic testing ban was introduced in Australia. While countries like Brazil and the United States don’t have national bans in place yet, several states/cities of these countries, such as California and San Paolo, have bans of their own.
According to Humane Society International, 39 countries have enacted nationwide bans of cosmetic animal testing. This is a credit to our dedicated animal rights activists, researchers, educators, and all members of the cruelty-free community.
(Caters News Agency, 2016)
In 2016, 156 beagles, who were going to be used for cosmetic product testing, were set free after years of mistreatment in an Indian lab.
But, when it comes to China, things can get a bit complicated. In China, cosmetic products can be classified into two categories, which are special products and non-special products. According to Vogue and ChemSafetyPro, special products are any products that claim to have more scientific functions. These include sunscreen, hair dye, hair removal products, deodorants, and so on. Non-special products are just ordinary beauty and skincare products, like makeup, skin moisturizers, shampoos, body wash, etc. (skin-whitening and anti-wrinkling products are not included).
At the end of 2019, Chinese Premier Li Keqiang announced that new regulations, which were originally planned to commence this April, would stop requiring animal tests for imported non-special cosmetic products (this only refers to pre-market testing, which is testing that happens before products go on sell in physical stores). However, this was unfortunately delayed because of the COVID-19 situation. As of this moment, only Chinese-made non-special cosmetic products are not tested (pre-market) on animals. But do not worry, according to Vogue, the new legislation is back on track, and soon to be implemented.
Go Cruetly-Free!
If you live in China, due to the current laws and regulations, what we can do, shopping-wise, is limited. You can help by not purchasing any imported cosmetic products in physical stores since, at the moment, they are vigorously tested. As the demand goes down, the number of imported products goes down, so does the number of animal tests carried out.
However, only buying products that are made in China is not the ultimate answer. Firstly, as clearly stated by the Chinese laws, any special cosmetic products, even ones that are made in China, are required to be tested before they are put on sale. So, currently, there are no cruelty-free options for things like sunscreens and skin-brightening serums in the country. Well, you can refrain from buying this kind of product if you have the resilience, but it is impossible for a lot of people because there may be a genuine need. Secondly, after Chinese-made non-special cosmetic products hit the shelves, there’s a chance they may be taken off and tested if there’s a safety concern. This is called post-market testing, and it’s often done without companies knowing or agreeing. Therefore, because things like this do happen, we can’t go completely cruelty-free in China.
But you can still try to reduce the damage as much as possible. If you are obsessed with your imported favorites, you can just order them online and have them shipped to China from other countries/regions. Fun fact: imported products do not need to be tested on animals as long as they are not sold in physical stores in Mainland China. You can also minimize the damage by only buying Chinese-made cosmetic products, and buying less special cosmetic products only if you can.
Keep in mind that it’s a different story in Hong Kong, Macau, and Taiwan. These regions have testing laws of their own. Cosmetic animal testing is not a requirement in Hong Kong and Macau. Taiwan has already banned it in 2019. Companies can sell in these regions and remain cruelty-free if they are.
Lush, a cruelty-free company, doesn’t sell in Mainland China, but has locations in Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan.
(Lush, n.d.)