MAC Cosmetics Is No Longer Cruelty-Free

MAC Cosmetics Is No Longer Cruelty Free

Is MAC Cosmetics no longer cruelty-free? For a long time, one of the most well-known cruelty-free brands has been MAC Cosmetics. It was also a common rumor in the vegan community that all of their products are also vegan. Sadly, things have changed and MAC Cosmetics is no longer cruelty-free.

Known for their bright and bold collections as well as their wide range of classic shades, MAC seems to have something to offer to everyone. This is why they have been such a popular and iconic brand over the years. They have always heavily marketed that they are cruelty-free as well. Sadly, the MAC Cosmetics cruelty-free stance has changed. Keep reading for more details.

Is MAC Cosmetics no longer cruelty-free?

MAC Cosmetics is not cruelty-free.

MAC Cosmetics is owned by Estee Lauder. This cosmetics giant has openly tested on animals for a long time and has recently come under fire for conducting secret tests on cosmetics in China. It was this controversy that sparked me to check in with MAC about their status as a cruelty-free company who offers vegan options. By some standards, MAC being owned by Estee Lauder is enough to not consider them cruelty-free. However, I’ve always found it best to support the cruelty-free brands and let people make their own decisions about the parent companies.

Sadly, in my recent response from MAC, I noticed a change that affects their status as a cruelty-free company. In order for Logical Harmony to promote a company as cruelty-free, I want to make sure that there is no testing on animals at any point during the production of the products or in the materials used to create the products. This includes by the company itself or third parties that may provide ingredients. If a company can’t give a straight response to those questions, I don’t endorse them and I don’t feature them on Logical Harmony.

Normally I post the entire email response from companies, but this email from MAC has a disclosure that prohibits me from doing so without permission. I have emailed asking for permission to copy the entire email but have received no reply. So I am only going to re-post one sentence here, and it’s the only sentence that matters.

M.A.C has a longstanding policy to not test on animals, nor ask others to test on our behalf, except when required by law.

“Except when required by law” is a phrase often used by brands who are selling their products in markets, such as China, that do require animal testing to sell there. Since these tests are done by a 3rd party, the brands often still try to claim to be cruelty-free. This means that MAC, long known for being cruelty-free, does test on animals. I emailed them back asking for clarification on what the terms for “required by law” are but have not received a reply. I also noticed that while PETA has endorsed them in the past, MAC has been removed from their list of companies who don’t test on animals. It’s not on the list of companies who do test, but it being removed from the don’t test list says a lot.

Because of this response, Logical Harmony will no longer be featuring any MAC Cosmetics products. All previous posts featuring MAC will be deleted or have the brand removed from the post. This just shows how important it is to support the vegan cosmetic companies out there. Cruelty-free may mean no testing on animals, but there are animal ingredients used in the production that do cause harm to animals to produce. “Cruelty-free” is far from actually being free from cruelty to animals. Cruelty-free products are featured on Logical Harmony as a step for people who are concerned about becoming animal-friendly but aren’t ready to transition to vegan cosmetics.

So what can you do?

  • If you are concerned about buying cruelty-free cosmetics, please no longer purchase MAC items.
  • If you are a cruelty-free blogger, please don’t feature MAC on your blog anymore. Please do a post about their change in testing policies and spread the word to your readers!
  • Promote this post on social networking sites to let your friends know!
  • Let your friends who use MAC know about the change!
  • I urge you to contact MAC yourself and ask them to change their stance on animal testing!

I also urge you all to consider trying cruelty-free brands. There are so many out there who produce amazing products without any harm to animals!

94 Comments

  1. Hi,

    Great post and great blog.

    I edit a cruelty free beauty product website (Venus Loves Virgo) and thought I would add my two cents.

    I recently found out MAC went back to animal testing and was so mad. I actually never really liked them (MAC) that much because of the high price and the same boring colors they would reissue every season. Plus other brands have better less expensive stuff.

    I occasionally receive products for review or as gifts and someone sent me some MAC Extra Dimension products which I will not review or swatch. Most of my members know not to send me animal tested products but sometimes people send me tings anyway.

    What confused me was the label on back that said Made In Italy. I suspect because it’s a baked product and only Italy bakes cosmetics. So, they are not just manufacturing in China? Are some of the items cruelty free?

    In any case, I no longer buy MAC and will not until they change the policy back to cruelty free. Sometimes I wonder if they were ever truly cruelty free

    What was even more hurtful to me was finding out Smashbox is no longer cruelty free! That pissed me off!

    Thanks for letting me vent.

    XOXO

  2. Peta recently notified supporters that Mary Kay and Avon are no longer cruelty free either. I guess this is because they are now selling in China which has laws REQUIRING animal testing before the products can be sold in the Country…..so unfortunately they are doing it. China market may be the same reason MAC is now contributing to the cruelty too?!

    1. I believe that access to the consumer market in China is the reason for the change with MAC, and nearly all other Estee Lauder brands as well. It’s sad to see that they would rather make more money than be ethical.

  3. Thank you for this. I recently did a post on one of Mac’s lipsticks. I will be adding the disclaimer you had posted to my post. Boo 🙁 on the matter. I hope Mac starts adapting to the new technology that is out there.

  4. thank so much for this info.
    I bought mac makeup about 5 days ago still haven’t used it which is a good thing because now that I know that they change to testing on animals I’m going to return it ( I hope I get my money back )
    its a big disappointment that they change to hurting animals because I did like them a lot.
    Greed changes integrity, honesty……..which is really sad!
    well I am now going to start looking for another cosmetics……cruelty-free of course!
    thank you again
    take care
    xoxo

  5. MAC, you got it all wrong. There are NO LAWS that require the testing of household products and beauty aids on animals.

    You are on my black list now. I will be sure to share this information with EVERYBODY that I can.

    I hope you go belly-up.

    1. I guess in China there are laws that require it and apparently the market there is large enough to be worth the change to them. 🙁 I feel like they are going to lose a lot of customers over this. Thank you so much for sharing this information! I think it’s so important to let people know the truth!

  6. Just to clarify.. MAC was never 100% vegan. I know some of the lipsticks aren’t vegan and obviously the brushes aren’t even close to vegan.

    I’m glad people are finally talking about the animal testing issue. I read about the EL statement last year but none of my MAC-loving friends believed MAC could have anything to do with it.

    1. Yeah, I knew that MAC being all vegan was always a rumor. However, it’s one that a lot of people believed so I wanted to address it in this post as well.

      What’s crazy is that while EL has been testing for a while, the MAC change is recent. I really thought that they wouldn’t change their stance. 🙁

    1. To a lot of people, PETA’s lists of companies who do and don’t test still hold strong. Referencing those lists is quite different from anything related to PETA’s actions or campaigns. I felt that it was important to mention that PETA removed MAC to help give my statements more backup. None of the information was from PETA.

    2. Really??? I find it shocking that people make statements like this when PETA is able to provide information that benefits consumers so they can make educated ethical decisions. Not sure what contribution you have ever made to the cosmetics industry or animals for that matter?? Unless you are part of the population that doesn’t really care. I don’t support PETA but I started using their list when I decided that an animal should not have to suffer so I can wear makeup of all things. How selfish of us as humans to not care about suffering for the sake of beauty. Also the author never said anything about supporting PETA she only referenced it..

      1. I think that the lists from PETA are a great resource. Especially for those just starting out on a cruelty free or vegan lifestyle or those who want a quick way to check on things.

        1. I’m almost 40 years old and mac has always been cruelty free. I’m pissed!! I have so many mac products. I will simply take them all back to mac for recycling and will never use them again. They are going to hear from me. I guess from now on I will only use smaller companies. I’m really tired on this happening. I’m a faithful customer of urban decay, mac, smashbox and I feel betrayed.

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