For more than two decades, Revlon was a member of PETA's Caring Consumer program and refused to allow animals to be poisoned, burned, and blinded in tests of its products. But the company is now on the "Do Test" list after Revlon started selling products in China where animal tests are required for most cosmetics. Although PETA has asked Revlon numerous times to come clean about whether it is paying for animal tests overseas, the company won't say—which, to us, says it all. We are now stepping up our involvement with Revlon in a very different way—we're headed to the company's boardroom.

We bought stock in the company because as shareholders, we can demand transparency about animal testing activity and also work in yet another way to get the tests stopped.

We've also set up an action alert that our supporters can use to e-mail Revlon and tell the company that consumers have a right to know whether its makeup is being tested on animals. Supporters can then tell everyone they know not to buy Revlon products until the company cleans up its act.

Many compassionate companies, including Paul Mitchell and Urban Decay, have held true to their cruelty-free principles and will not sell their products in China because they do not believe in funding animal tests. PETA is helping to fund scientists working with China to help the country institute non-animal tests, and until those tests are available, Revlon should pull its cosmetics off Chinese shelves, too. In the meantime, conscientious consumers can shop from a long list of companies on PETA's cruelty-free list that don't harm animals at home or abroad.

Update

Great news! Following thousands of your e-mails and talks with PETA, Urban Decay has announced that it won't sell its products in China until non-animal testing methods are accepted there. We are delighted that Urban Decay is staying true to its ethic of producing top-quality products without harming animals—even though it means giving up a market share in China—and we're pleased to return the company to our list of cruelty-free companies! 

The following was originally published on June 7:

After years of touting its "no animal testing" policy, Urban Decay has let down caring consumers everywhere. The company opted to start selling its products in China even though Chinese law requires that cosmetics companies pay for many of their products to be tested on animals in Chinese laboratories before they can be marketed in that country.

For each test required by the Chinese government, superior non-animal methods are available. PETA has jump-started the effort for acceptance of non-animal tests by awarding a grant to the Institute for In Vitro Sciences, which is working with scientists and regulatory bodies to replace animal tests in China. Thanks to the work of these PETA-funded scientists, the Chinese government is now poised to accept its first-ever non-animal test for cosmetics ingredients.

Urban Decay has long held a spot on PETA's list of cruelty-free companies and offers an extensive line of vegan makeup, but it has turned its back on animals. Urban Decay could delay its entry into China, but the company is putting profits over principles.  

Thanks to guidance from PETA-funded scientists, Chinese officials are now in the final stages of approving the country's first non-animal testing method for cosmetics ingredients.

stefan1234/iStockphoto.com

The 3T3 Neutral Red Uptake Phototoxicity Assay, which tests chemicals for their potential toxicity when they come into contact with sunlight—and which is already in widespread use in the U.S. and the E.U.—is expected to be accepted in China by late summer.

Last summer, when we discovered that China was requiring animal tests for cosmetics to be funded by cosmetics companies—including Avon, Estée Lauder, and Mary Kay, which for years had been on PETA's list of companies that don't test cosmetics on animals—PETA awarded a grant to scientists at the Institute for In Vitro Sciences. These scientists traveled to China several times to offer their expertise and guidance in replacing animal-based tests—which are cruel and unreliable—with non-animal alternatives.

PETA is delighted to have helped jump-start the acceptance of non-animal tests in China and congratulates Chinese officials for acting swiftly to implement the first in a wide range of non-animal tests!

I could go on and on about the reasons why animal testing is archaic and unnecessary, but instead of babbling like a brook, I'm just going to leave it at Exhibit A: the technological breakthrough at Hµrel. This company relies on its expertise in engineering and cell cultures to provide scientists with alternatives to animal testing. Hµrel has developed a three-dimensional surrogate human liver that scientists can use to study the breakdown of chemicals in the human body. This in vitro (test tube) human cell–based technology effectively mimics human organs and can be used to test cosmetics, drugs, and chemicals. By providing an accurate substitute for countless animals who are experimented on and killed each year, Hµrel's 3D liver not only marks a major advancement in the scientific community, it has also made Hµrel the recipient of our Proggy Award for the Best Scientific Innovation of 2010—the first Proggy of the new year!

examiner / CC

We're not the only ones wowed by Hµrel's humane technology. The folks at L'Oréal are so impressed with the potential of this human surrogate that they're collaborating with Hµrel to develop a model to test chemicals for their potential to cause skin allergies. Allergic reactions in the skin involve the interaction of cells from two tissues—skin and lymph nodes—and this has complicated efforts to develop a non-animal model. Hµrel's technology is perfectly suited for this complex task, and an accurate, non-animal skin sensitivity test will ensure consumer safety without harming animals.

Fortunately for us, many companies out there have ditched animal testing for good. So tell us, what cruelty-free companies are you supporting?

Written by Logan Scherer