Is Benefit Cosmetics Really Cruelty-Free?

Benefit Cosmetics is one of those brands that many people just assume is cruelty-free for some reason. Maybe it’s the way the advertise themselves with so many bright colors and dainty patterns, but looking past all of the loopy fonts on their website reveals their confusing stance on animal testing. I was reading through their FAQ when I found what looked to be a relieving answer to the question “Do you test on animals?”

Above is a screenshot directly from the Benefit website, they clearly state that they do not test products on animals and are even going a step further to eliminate animal testing in general. For a lot of people this would be convincing enough to assume that this company is cruelty free, but with further research I found this statement to be quite misleading.

With a little bit of digging I found that Benefit sells their products on the Chinese Sephora website. Previously, China was one of the few countries that required by law, all cosmetics be tested on animals in order be sold in the country. However, in July of 2014 this restriction was lifted for Chinese companies. This looks like a step towards ending animal cruelty, but it still required all imported cosmetics to be tested on animals to be able to be sold in China (animal-ethics.org). This means that all companies not based in China would have to have their products tested on animals to be sold in the Chinese market. Benefit Cosmetics is based in San Francisco, California, so I think it’s safe to say they do partake in animal testing, at least under their name, because they  sell their products in China.

Although it seems that Benefit is free of animal testing in America, they are not as dedicated to ending animal cruelty as they would like the general public to believe on their confusing and misleading FAQ. If they really did care so much about not testing on animals don’t you think they would opt out of selling in China like other companies such as LUSH and Urban Decay?

Cruelty Free Alternatives: 

• TooFaced
• Anastasia Beverly Hills
• theBalm
• Tarte