Animal testing?

[Phteven]

Other than L'Oreal which companies test on animals?
I'm pretty uninformed on animal testing. I just look on the label and check that it says not tested on animals or cruelty free etc but it occurred to me tonight as I was putting Mr 3 to bed that just because a company doesn't test its shampoo on animals doesn't mean that its eye liner is cruelty free and maybe I should be more proactive. Instead of just looking at each individual product I should be looking at the actions of companies across all their products.
Please educate me.

Are you all beginning to understand why DH won't do the shopping with me lol?

[krysalyss]

There is a website which lists them all. Someone will probably know it off the top of their head but I will try to find it.
It is choose cruelty free (dot org dot au). And it has them listed under different categories eg. vegan/animal testing

Also something that happens is a brand (eg. body shop) will not test on animals but the parent company (L'oreal) may. Or the company may outsource the animal testing of individual ingredients and therefore can still claim no animal testing on the product. That is why the choose cruelty free website is good for helping to choose.

[Lulu]

L'o do not test on animals and haven't for the last 20 years or so.

[Lulu]

I's say a CRAPLOAD of detective work would be needed to sort out who does what. Years and years ago, I avoided Bic and Silkience as I saw some footage from their labs. Bunnies and monkeys etc - but I imagine those companies don't even exist as they did back then....

[krysalyss]

L'o do not test on animals and haven't for the last 20 years or so.

I am not sure that is true. In 2007 they decided they would start moving away from animal testing by using engineered human tissue. But it hadn't happened then - it was a future statement. So am not sure if it has even happened yet.

[Phteven]

Thanks Lulu, I didn't know that. Which brings me to another thing I was musing on.
If I open a company tomorrow I can research which ingredients are safe then I could use them and say that my company is cruelty free because I have never tested on animals but really I could be using ingredients which were derived from animal testing 20 years ago. If so is my company really cruelty free?
I know. It's a moral question not a legal one because obviously I would be stupid not to say cruelty free under those conditions.....

[Lulu]

I don't even GET the stoopid animal testing anyway. The Silkience hairspray being tested - 2 monkeys in a perpex cage and 8 cans of hairspray emptied into the cage.
Eyeliner - tested on bunnies with their eyes held open and the stupid fricken eyeliner right against the eye....scuse me whilst I scream.

ETA - Bron, if you paid for the research done 20 years ago, I'd say that would be a problem. However, I CAN see you testing your product on your friends instead.

[Astrid]

One downside of the Cruelty free website, the companies on there pay to be there. Some companies are now choosing to now pay the fee in order to keep their pricing reasonable. So just because they are not on there, or are no longer on there does not mean there is something wrong with them.

[Phteven]

However, I CAN see you testing your product on your friends instead.

ooh that's a good idea - if I send you some hand-cream could I get you to rub it into your eyeballs repeatedly and let me know if it smarts

[Cassius2]

Also something that happens is a brand (eg. body shop) will not test on animals but the parent company (L'oreal) may. Or the company may outsource the animal testing of individual ingredients and therefore can still claim no animal testing on the product. That is why the choose cruelty free website is good for helping to choose.

This is what i was going to mention. there is a big brand in italy that claims to be cruelty free but its INGREDIENTS are sourced from companies that use animal testing. it is so depressing.

that said, my friend who worked for l'oreal was adamant that they no longer test on animals, but in all honesty, i am not risking it. so that means no garnier, maybelline or l'oreal etc etc.

[krysalyss]

One downside of the Cruelty free website, the companies on there pay to be there.

I checked that and have been told by CCF that to be accredited there is no fee - they just need to fill in a questionnaire. (I think they need to sign something saying that what they declared is accurate). If they want to use the CCF logo on their products then they do need to pay. Probably a good way to do it actually so smaller companies can still get accreditation.

[Astrid]

I checked that and have been told by CCF that to be accredited there is no fee - they just need to fill in a questionnaire. (I think they need to sign something saying that what they declared is accurate). If they want to use the CCF logo on their products then they do need to pay. Probably a good way to do it actually so smaller companies can still get accreditation.

Thanks for the clarification.