Benefit Cosmetics is Not Cruelty Free

Benefit Cosmetics is Not Cruelty Free

If there is a company with a public stance on animal testing more confusing than Benefit Cosmetics, I’ve yet to find it. It’s taken me over a year to find a stable and steady stance from this brand. When Logical Harmony first changed to being a vegan beauty blog, I received six different replies from Benefit about their stance on animal testing. Six! That was enough for me to assume that they were not a company I wanted to support, but until I had something stable, I wasn’t comfortable posting about them on Logical Harmony.

Continue reading Benefit Cosmetics is Not Cruelty Free!

When you go to Benefit’s FAQ page, they have a published stance on animal testing there.

Benefit does not test our cosmetic products on animals. When selecting the ingredients to be used in our cosmetic products, Benefit requires raw material suppliers to provide safety information based on scientifically accepted alternative testing methods that meet international safety standards and regulations. Benefit products must meet both consumers’ needs and consumer safety, while respecting animal life. Benefit continues to strongly support & favor alternative testing and is committed to following all animal testing laws and regulations in order to ensure our products’ safety for the end consumer

At first glance, many people assume that the above statement means that Benefit is, in fact, a cruelty free company. They talk about respecting animal life, and start the response by saying that they do not test on animals. They even mention their ingredient suppliers. However, “international safety standards” is what caught my eye and prompted me to do more research.

After a bit of digging, I discovered that Benefit is not a cruelty free brand. Their products are for sale on the Sephora China website. China is one of the few markets that require that beauty products be tested on animals before they can be sold there. You can read more about this by reading Animal Testing and China. By selling in China, Benefit shows that they are not completely doing their part to respect animal life and be cruelty free.

This is a perfect example of how brands often use confusing wording in their statements in order to confuse consumers. Since there is no regulation of the term “cruelty free”, it makes it easy for brands to claim this status when they are still conducting animal testing in some way, or permitting it to be conducted on their behalf. Before I switched to a vegan lifestyle and was not as savvy about checking the cruelty free status of brands, Benefit was my favorite cosmetic brand. I’ve frequently gotten emails from readers asking me to include Benefit in my cruelty free lists, or asking me about their stance on testing. Since I could not get a steady response, I wasn’t comfortable addressing the brand in any way. I am incredibly disappointed that this company would choose to mislead consumers in this way.

I urge you to reach out to Benefit Cosmetics and let them know how you feel about their stance on animal testing. Especially if you were a consumer that, due to the statement on their own website, thought that they were cruelty free.

42 Comments

  1. This is really sad. They’d tell you it’s “just business” but we vegans have different, more compassionate priorities – and those priorities should hurt Benefit, and any other non-cruelty free company, where they notice it most…their profits. If it’s a greedy business decision to sell in China or test on animals, in general, the loss of our dollars might just get their attention! Perhaps it’s time for an online petition to draw even more attention to these companies’ deceptive practices. It would be nice to see some good effect from a boycott of these companies. Having been a vegan for 26 years, and boycotting many companies for all that time, I can tell you that only now, with our greater numbers, can we actually hope to see a good effect! Thank you for doing the research and bringing this information to light!

  2. Hi, I just want to say thanks for doing this research. I don’t know why, but I always just assumed they were cruelty free. Such a bummer, since I just bought some products from them. Just curious, you wouldn’t happen to know what other brands are doing this sort of thing, would you? I’ve been doing some research and I’m trying to make my makeup routine completely cruelty free.

      1. False advertising ugh! Never does the matter of MONEY/PROFIT take precedence over the matter of the soul! Never will I use again and I tossed away my products! No ANIMAL TESTING AS THAT EQUALS CRUELTY

  3. Hi Tashina, though I am glad that i’ve stumbled upon your blog, I am still confused on the subject of Benefit’s animal testing/animal cruelty. I am obsessed with the Hoola bronzing powder, and I am sad to hear that they are not cruelty free. I recently took a trip to the mall and decided to visit the Benefit Cosmetics bar at the Macy’s in my area. I initially went in to buy the bronzer as I had run out, but before I did so, I decided to ask the girls if they knew if the Benefit products were cruelty free and if the company tested on animals. Though they did not give me a clear yes or no, they did struggle to find a clear answer and couldn’t give me an answer other than “refer to our FAQs on the website.” As heartbroken as I was, I pulled it up on my phone and told them that the website said “No,” but that other blogs or MUAs disagreed. The girls looked completely shocked and didn’t really know what to say. Instead they tried to keep selling me other products or try to offer me way to get “free gifts with my purchase.” It is unfortunate that these girls know the answer to customers’ questions and still choose to mislead their customers. Even though they didn’t give me a clear answer, their reactions were more than enough for me. I do hope that they decide to become a cruelty free company, but until then, I will no longer support them. Thank you for your research!

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