Rihanna has confirmed that her newly released Fenty Beauty makeup line is 100% cruelty-free.
And while this may come as exciting news for Rihanna fans, animal activists, and makeup-lovers, this means Rihanna fans living in China won’t be seeing Fenty Beauty coming to a store near them anytime soon.
China still requires mandatory testing on all skincare and makeup lines. That means any brands sold underneath corporations that sell in China undergo animal testing in at least one phase of the research cycle. These corporations include L’Oreal, Estee Lauder, Shishedo, and Proctor and Gamble.
These companies don’t outright claim that they engage in animal testing; however they state, “If a regulatory body demands for its safety or regulatory assessment, an exception can be made.” Companies can also list their products as “cruelty-free” if they don’t test in the final research phase, but still test at another point in the process.
It is estimated that China uses over 300,000 animals for testing, and after the animal is used for the test, it often is killed. While there are alternative methods of testing for beauty products, including 3-D tissue models, China is still learning to use these methods. The Chinese government has also moved to accept safety data collected through the 3T3 Phototoxicity assay which measures the safety of a chemical after exposure to light. This method is a great improvement as it doesn’t use animal testing, but it still isn’t in wide use in China.
Though Fenty Beauty can’t completely stop animal testing in China, choosing to not sell in China to maintain its cruelty-free status is a huge step. Fenty Beauty can actually claim the cruelty-free label because animal testing isn’t allowed in any step of the quality testing process. Pop Sugar reached out to Fenty Beauty representatives and they confirmed that the brand isn’t available to be sold or shipped to China.
Fenty Beauty joins Marc Jacobs Beauty and Kat Von D as a 100% cruelty-free brand, and we are loving it!
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