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. While I’m not a vegan (my body has pitched ever-loving shitfits every time I’ve tried. I mean severe illnesses, wild mood swings etc. Not just short term either) I do my best to do as little harm as possible (no fur, and if I do have something leather it’s ancient as hell and from a secondhand shop so no company gets a profit from me). What a shame that MAC and benefit, two former favorites, do testing. I struggled with a severe depressive episode(I don’t take Big Pharma meds for my depression, only herbals now) that led to me not giving two shits about cosmetics or taking care of myself for nearly ten years. I was all set to go back to those brands, but they won’t get a penny until they and their parent company stop testing.

    I’m not perfect, but animal testing is where I draw a hard line. It isn’t necessary.

  2. It’s interesting, because one thing I’ve noticed that on Youtube for example in the comments section, everyone seems to be against animal testing. Which is wonderful, don’t get me wrong. But it’s just interesting that you’ll see people leave comments when people use certain brands, yet I can’t recall even once seeing any comments about MAC. I mean, perhaps people just don’t realize it’s changed, but I can’t believe that-it’s been off Peta’s list for ages now, this article is 2 years old-it’s definitely no secret. So it almost seems to me that when it comes to Mac, certain people that otherwise claim to be against animal testing seem to almost turn the other cheek so to speak. I know alot of people think that Mac is like the holy grail of all makeup, which it’s not IMO anyway, plus they see all these well-known beauty gurus & youtubers they love using it, & like I said, I just distinctly get the feeling that certain people just are turning the other cheek when it comes to Mac. I don’t know if it’s just me or what that feels that way.

  3. It’s an egregious breach of responsibility to our furry fellows, that a HUGE corporation would sell out like this. I know businesses are invented to make money, but if you’ve got a steady empire going like MAC did you could have probably slept easily at night knowing you were rich and cruelty-free. Some company-owners need to learn to live within their means. Animal-testing in order to make a profit? What underhanded duplicity!

  4. OMG… I just made a purchase through MAC website. I love their products and always known to be animal cruelty free. But, I noticed it doesn’t say that on their box anymore. (I think they did have a little thing before to tell you animal test free).
    Then… I searched on webs whether my gut feeling is true or not.
    OMG… Can’t believe I bought their stuffs without thinking. No more… Though, many of my cosmetics are from the time they were animal cruelty free, I won’t encourage my friends to buy them. I won’t be buying anything from them again.
    They were just fine without testing on animals. So why now? Eff Estée Lauder and MAC

  5. I just bought $200 worth of MAC products yesterday. I’m returning it all. So disappointed in this company. They have so many products that I love but sadly I won’t be purchasing from them any longer.

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  7. I’d just like to point out that it isn’t MAC Cosmetics anyone should be upset or disappointed with, due to LAW (A.K.A. RULES THAT MUST BE FOLLOWED) only specific products/ingredients must be tested on animals, it is not by the choice of the company that these tests are conducted, it’s the fact that if they were to ignore the LAW they would be sued/shut down etc etc etc. SO, how about we stop being moronic and sit back and use our brains. Just because a specific line is entirely “Cruelty Free” doesn’t mean they wouldn’t test on animals, it just means they don’t have a product that REQUIRES animal testing by LAW. If you aren’t going to purchase a product due to animal testing then no makeup brand is “safe”.

    1. Or they can CHOOSE not to sell in an area that requires cosmetics to be tested by law, like many other brands do. Nobody was forcing MAC to expand into China, they knew well that if they made that choice that animal testing would be involved. In this case, they chose to be greedy and went for extra profit, rather than sticking to their values.

  8. Shame-on-them!!!! Keeping up with the joneses now and another warped company in society! So disappointed I love MAC products but will no longer buy it! Crap!

  9. I’m very disappointed in this! And MAC mascara burns the crap out of eyes! You would think some of those poor bunnies reacted to it like me! My point, animal testing doesn’t work! Leave the animals alone! For all testing.

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