The truth about animal testing for cosmetics

Apparently, animal experimentation to test cosmetics and the toxicity of their ingredients is a thing of the past. However, there is still much to be done; despite laws and social pressure, more than 100 million animals suffer through experiments worldwide to test cosmetic products, since there are countries […]

certificado PETA cruelty-Free and Vegan

Apparently, animal testing for cosmetics and the toxicity of their ingredients is a thing of the past. However, there is still much to be done; despite laws and social pressure, more than 100 million animals suffer through experiments worldwide to test cosmetic products, as there are countries that not only do not prohibit it, but require it.

The long-awaited ban

In the EU, the ban on testing finished cosmetic products on animals finally came into force in September 2004, and the testing of ingredients was banned in March 2009. The second phase of this long-awaited ban was implemented in 2013 and affects all products that had to undergo toxicity testing. This phase has a 10-year transition period, meaning some of these practices can continue until 2023.

In other countries such as the US, Canada, or New Zealand, these procedures are beginning toward a total ban, although it will be years before it becomes effective.

What do these animal tests consist of?

Many people still believe that testing cosmetics on animals means trying a cream on their skin, but nothing could be further from the truth. They are authentic, day-after-day tortures in which they are subjected to skin or eye irritation, poisoning, mutagenic damage... and many of them die. In fact, studies end when 50% of the population subject to the study dies. This is how the Lethal Dose 50 of a substance (LD50) is calculated. In 2012, an activist supported by Humane Society International (www.hsi.org) publicly underwent the tests that are routinely performed on animals to prove the toxicity of conventional cosmetics. The result was a massive awareness campaign and a video that went around the world due to its obvious cruelty.

Are these tests reliable?

The use of animals to test whether a product can be irritating, toxic, poisonous, or carcinogenic is unreliable, as there are substances that do not affect animals but have proven harmful to humans. In many of these experiments, the result is that the product's toxicity is "acceptable" for humans. And here the obvious question arises: do we want to consume products that have an "acceptable" toxicity? Wouldn't it be more logical for cosmetics to be toxic-free? If we did not consume cosmetic products with toxins, there would be no animal testing, nor would we have ingredients in our body that pose a health risk.

The Cruelty-Free and Toxic-Free movements are bringing about a change in the industry. Not only to make it more sensitive to a totally inhumane practice, but to make it safer and healthier.

Herbera Principles

At Herbera, we are not only against animal experimentation, but we declare ourselves enemies of any type of cruelty against them, including in the extraction processes of certain ingredients. That is why, in addition to being Cruelty-Free, Toxic-Free, and Bio, we are a Vegan cosmetic brand, forming part of the list of cruelty-free cosmetic companies and endorsed by the certifying body PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals). Because it is not necessary for others to suffer for our well-being, and because we want to be as respectful to your skin as we are to the rest of the planet.

#herberaseplanta

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