Since PETA began campaigning to expose companies that conduct agonizing and deadly tests on animals, consumers have firmly supported cruelty-free businesses like those on PETA's list of companies that don't test on animals. Realizing this, some unscrupulous companies are concealing the whole truth from consumers about their animal testing policies, but you shouldn't buy their propaganda—or their products.

Recently, for instance, Shiseido announced that it would mostly stop testing on animals. While eliminating animal tests is welcome, the company added that it would continue to test ingredients on animals "where it is required by law." So money spent on Shiseido products will continue to fund cruel testing on animals in countries such as China, where animal testing is still required by the government (although PETA's working to change that, too)—meaning that the company has not eliminated animal testing entirely.

Mary Kay is another corporation that seems to be playing word games with its customers, claiming that it doesn't "conduct" animal testing. Yet while Mary Kay might not perform the tests itself, the company does pay the Chinese government to test its products on animals.

PETA has also repeatedly contacted a number of other companies that refuse to reveal their animal testing policies. These companies—which should not be considered cruelty-free until they make a clear statement on animal testing—include the following:

• Revlon 
• AmazingCosmetics
• Amway
• Elizabeth Arden
• Hello Kitty
• Jurlique
• Puig (Paco Rabanne, Carolina Herrera, and Nina Ricci fragrances)
• Talika

What You Can Do

By refusing to support companies that test on animals, we leverage our collective buying power to send a distinct message that testing on animals for cosmetics is unacceptable. To make sure that you're shopping truly cruelty-free, please check the online listing of companies that do and that don't test on animals or order your free copy of PETA's first-ever global cruelty-free shopping guide!

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!

Pop sensation Rihanna has signed on with Parlux Fragrances Inc. to create her own perfume, Reb'l Fleur. Since Parlux signed PETA's statement of assurance in 1995 pledging not to conduct or pay others to conduct tests on animals, this move is a step in the right direction toward a cruelty-free life for Rihanna. 

We sent the "Reb'l Fleur" (a nickname given to Rihanna by her grandmother) a bouquet of flowers to thank her for partnering with a compassionate company.

"Rihanna's decision to team up with Parlux is as kind to animals as her music is to your ears," says PETA Senior Vice President Dan Mathews. "By renouncing animal tests, Parlux is proving that beauty doesn't have to have an ugly side.

Sing "Live Your Life", order your cruelty-free shopping guide, and create a little less disturbia for the world, right?

Written by Joseph Mayton