By Sheila Arkee
Okay, ladies & gents, it’s time to dish at our weekly open post. Pour the coffee, pull out the tiramisu, we’ll be here for awhile.
Earlier this week Urban Decay Cosmetics announced that they would start selling their products in China, effectively ending their cruelty free distinction.
In a nutshell, they are no longer cruelty free because China requires animal testing on beauty products. You can read about this in detail over at My Beauty Bunny, which has a great summary of this change.
While Urban Decay says they’re making this change to a) make money (can’t blame them for being honest) and b) to hopefully make a stand against China’s policies, the response from the beauty community hasn’t been so positive. This isn’t the first time in recent months that a cosmetics company has gone non-cruelty free – MAC did so recently, as well.
I’m interested in finding out what you guys think of these changes – will you still continue to buy products from companies that give up their cruelty free distinction?
Adding in my thoughts – It’s important for me to mention that this isn’t an exclusively cruelty free blog. Urban Decay has made a decision to expand their business following a decision that many other companies have and will make. Personally I find it hypocritical for company that’s built their brand and consumer expectations on a cruelty free platform to willingly give it up. Like mentioned in the comments, why not take a stand against China’s policies by standing up to what you’ve built your business around?
I am a bit confused as to how changing their business methods to include animal testing is making a stand against china’s animal testing policies.
The fact is that their compliance in an effort for increased profits in no way makes a stand against animal cruelty.
That confused me too.
To be honest, I don’t own a ton of Urban Decay products. The ones I’ve had, I liked. Its not the fact that they aren’t cruelty free any longer; a lot of companies do the same thing to sell in China. What really bothers me is that they had always been so vocal about their opposition to animal testing, but apparently it’s ok if they can make more money and *maybe* (but not likely) change things. So hypocritical, so annoying.
It’s seriously hypocritical and a little shocking to me. When you build your biz on being cruelty free and then bail for a buck , what gives?
I know that the massive Chinese market is for companies and I hate to see them compromising their core values for the money.
Google publicly stated that they would not allow China to censor its content and threatened to pull out as a result. I think it’s incredibly important that companies stand by their principles (whether it be censorship, or animal rights, or anything else).
In a word: NO. I actively seek cruelty-free brands, and AVOID those that aren’t.
I absolutely DO NOT believe in the position that UD has taken. Regarding their statement that “change cannot and will not happen by outside pressure alone in a closed market” (from Phyrra at http://www.phyrra.net/page/2#ixzz1xGTulCH), I say isolate the Chinese market, rather than tossing your beliefs out the window to sell there: stand up with other companies and REFUSE to offer your products anywhere that still needlessly tests on animals!!
Animal testing aside, there was also mention in UD’s press release about women’s rights being one of their core beliefs. Um…China’s oppression of women is disgusting. It’s absurd to say that bringing your company over to China is going to do a lick of change in the GOVERNMENTS policies on women’s rights. Urban Decay is JUST trying to make more money, which is understandable. Putting out a press release (definitely an afterthought) that insults our intelligence as consumers was probably the stupidest thing they could have done. I will continue to use and enjoy the UD products that I already own, but I won’t be purchasing anything else.
Every makeup line I love is selling its soul to the devil (in this case, China) to make money. I won’t buy from UD anymore. That’s for sure. And I will denounce them. Like others, I will continue to use what I’ve already purchased but will buy nothing else from them and will not recommend their products to anyone. Thank you for “outing” them!