CoverGirl becomes largest makeup brand to go cruelty free

CoverGirl cosmetics on Monday became the biggest makeup brand to go cruelty-free and completely eliminate animal testing.

The beauty company announced that it has received certification for eliminating animal testing from every step of its productions process.

{mosads}Cruelty Free International (CFI), which sets the industry’s cruelty-free standards, awarded CoverGirl the “Leaping Bunny” certification, which means they are certified as cruelty free by the animal rights group. 

The logo will be featured on all CoverGirl products.

Beauties we have MAJOR news: COVERGIRL does not test on animals and now we’re Leaping Bunny certified by Cruelty Free International, which means we’re Cruelty Free across ALL our products, EVERYWHERE we’re sold! #COVERGIRLCrueltyFree pic.twitter.com/mTitDm13OM

— COVERGIRL (@COVERGIRL) November 5, 2018

“The Leaping Bunny certification of CoverGirl marks a new milestone in this area as the largest makeup brand to be certified cruelty free after having met our rigorous criteria,” CFI CEO Michelle Thew said in a statement. “It demonstrates how it’s possible to be an accessible and innovative brand without inflicting suffering on animals.

Ukonwa Ojo, chief marketing officer of consumer beauty for CoverGirl’s parent company Coty, told USA Today that every brand can follow suit.

“If we can do it with our size and with our capability and with our complexity … every brand can do this,” Ojo said. “If we all do it together, we can all envision a cosmetics industry and world that is free from unnecessary animal testing.”

Coty, which owns other cosmetics companies like Max Factor and Rimmel, has had a longstanding policy against testing on animals, USA Today reported.

It takes months, however, to receive the “Leaping Bunny” stamp of approval from CFI.

CoverGirl needed to prove that all the hundreds of third-party suppliers associated with the brand’s products and ingredients did not test on animals.

Coty aims to have a second brand declared cruelty free by 2020.

Individual states and animal rights activists have been pushing for legislation to block animal testing.

California became the first state to approve such a measure in September when Gov. Jerry Brown (D) signed a bill banning the sale of cosmetics that undergo animal testing.

The bill prohibits manufacturers from trying to “import for profit, sell, or offer for sale” any cosmetic that is tested on animals. The law goes into effect Jan. 1, 2020.