“The Estee Lauder companies do not test on animals and we never ask others to do so on our behalf. If a regulatory body demands it for its safety or regulatory assessment, an exception can be made”

This is the statement that Noleen Sliney read to me when I asked her if major labels tested on animals. We both agreed – it was the most CYA statement we had ever heard. Estee Lauder (along with many other mainstream brands) sell their products in China. To sell products in China, the Chinese regulatory bodies make you test on animals before you can put your product on the market. So Estee Lauder, explain yourself please.

Outside of our opinions on animal testing, (The Clean Hub doesn’t allow any brands into their program that do test on animals) what we think is a huge problem with the statement above is the lack of transparency from a trusted brand. Just be honest with us as consumers. I mean, the two statements are clearly an example of an oxy moron. Not to mention that it is ambiguous, misleading, and only contributes to the green washing confusion that is rampant in the beauty sector. No wonder we have trust issues.

As I chatted with Noleen about her work at Noleen Smiley Makeup and how she helps her customers find beauty products that fit them as well as navigate cruelty free beauty, I asked if she would come onto the Clean Chat podcast to help myself (and hopefully you) learn how to decipher what is truly cruelty free, as it is not as straightforward as I thought.

In the podcast we discuss how parent beauty companies, (such as Estee Lauder and Revlon) can influence the brands that they own to test on animals. Noleen has a robust list of all of the parent companies that test on animals as well as a list of the companies that they own that test on animals. You should definitely check it out. You can download it here!

We also go over the differences between the most popular cruelty-free logos such as the CCF Rabbit, Leaping Bunny, and PETA.  They all are doing their part in identifying cruelty free brands, but have different levels of requirements which are always good to know from a consumer and brand stand point.

We hope you enjoy the podcast. I had a fab time recording it and had to try hard not to giggle too much.  For a robust list of cruelty free brands, download Noleen’s Cruelty free guide here, or check out her website here to get in touch.

Listen to the podcast below or check out the full transcript.