The LUSH Policy Against Animal Testing

Stopping all animal testing is something we care passionately about.

We have worked towards this for years and been at the forefront of the campaigns to prevent cruel, unnecessary testing.

We believe that there is no way to justify testing cosmetics or any of their ingredients on animals.

The only way to check that they are safe for humans is to test them on humans. So this is what we do. We will not buy any ingredient from any company which currently carries out any animal testing at all. Not a penny of our money - your money too - goes to any company which carries out animal testing.

We believe that this is the only worthwhile position to adopt and we urge all cosmetics companies and anti-cruelty organisations to adopt this policy. If we can persuade a company which tests on animals to stop testing then we will buy from them as soon as they stop. If a company we buy from starts to test again then we will no longer buy from them.

There are alternative tests which can be used. In the past, members of the LUSH team have persuaded two ingredients manufacturers to stop animal testing completely. We did this by pointing out the alternatives and by offering to buy their products from the point at which they stopped. However, if this is an issue which is important to you too, you may have seen that our policy is listed by some anti-cruelty organisations as 'unsatisfactory'. This is why we want to explain our position. We do not operate a fixed cut-off date or a moratorium. We do not think they work. It focuses attention on the ingredients, not on the company that makes them. These policies don't stop companies testing on animals; they just give the more cynical cosmetics companies a way to get round the rules. They are all about the past; they do nothing to change the present or the future. There are well known cosmetics companies which comply with all the anti-cruelty organisation's standards and are still buying ingredients from companies who carry out animal testing.

How? Some examples: Cosmetics companies can buy those ingredients which are not tested on animals from organisations which still animal test other ingredients. Cosmetics companies can still satisfy the anti-cruelty guidelines if they use ingredients which are not tested for cosmetics purposes but are still tested on animals for food use. This includes colour. Colours must be re-tested if a food company wants to increase the level which they are using.

Why bother? Surely we ought to be campaigning to reduce artificial colour levels in food, not using it to justify animal testing. The money you spend on cosmetics which have the right to carry an official anti-cruelty mark may be going towards paying for animal tests. We don't think this is right. We think that everyone should adopt our policy. Do not buy from companies which carry out, fund or comission any animal testing.