Choices made by consumers are very important as it is them who make up the market. As many organic products stores open, against animal testing products (the real ones) appear on the market as well to meet consumers’ demand.

Nevertheless it is important to note that ALL the products you can find on the market have been tested on animals unless it is clearly stated that neither the product nor the ingredients it contains have been tested on animals, or they should carry a label against animal testing (you can find a list of labels and logos to lift any misunderstanding on our website and others).

Luckily, all everyday use products can be found in their “against animal cruelty” version, and you can even make some of them yourself! By doing something kind for animals you can also contribute to kindness to your body and planet as most ethical brands include a maximum of natural ingredients in their products and try to avoid chemicals.

Here are two reliable lists which can help you find brands respecting animal rights. Most of these brands can be found in organic stores or on the internet; some of them can even be found in supermarkets.

• One Voice have issued a list of approved brands stamped with their label. This label guarantees that neither the product nor the ingredients it contains have been tested on animals. Approved brands are regularly tested to check whether they respect their ethical contracts. You can choose between 2 category lists: brands list or products list. (http://www.one-voice.fr/fr/page/label-one-voice)

• International Campaigns offer a french 3 categories brands list (body and face care, cosmetics, cleaning and maintenance products), certified against animal testing. Those brands have stated by writing that neither their products nor the ingredients they use have been tested on animals. International Campaigns do not publish lists with brands they have doubts about or brands belonging to companies that test their products on animals. You can also find a page dedicated to homemade cosmetics on their website (in french).

With the 76/768/CEE guideline prohibiting sales of cosmetics tested on animals, passed on 11th March 2009, many people believe that the products they can find in supermarkets have turned ethical.

We encourage you to keep using products listed on the websites quoted above.

Watch out!

Non-tested “formula” or “product”: this can mean that their ingredients were actually tested on animals! It is forbidden to test ingredients or products on animals since 11th March 2009 (see regulations)

“Dermatologically tested”: only means that the product was tested on skin, whether it is animal or human skin is not clear. Many brands play on words or terms to lure consumers.

“Ingredients”: some products or cosmetics not tested on animals can contain animal by-products. If you want to be 100% sure make sure that the product is completely vegan.
“Organic”: doesn’t mean that the product was not tested on animals! Organic means that a percentage of its ingredients comes from organic farming. Even sales assistants can get it wrong.

Examples of ambiguous products:

Nuxe© test their products on dead animals (rabbits’ retinas)

Ecover© test their products on water fleas (a 4 mm crustacean) and on rabbits’ red cells. Furthermore this brand has agreed not to use ingredients tested on animals in the past 4 years which means that they can use substance tested on animals more than 4 years ago.

The Body Shop© and Sanoflore© do not test their products on animals but they both belong to L’Oréal. The latter is one of the biggest companies that test on animals. It is also because of L’Oréal© that guidelines prohibiting tests on animals were postponed.