Thursday, June 7, 2012

Urban Decay is No Longer Cruelty-Free or Vegan

UPDATE: Urban Decay listened to their current customers' outcries against selling in China while animal testing is required, and decided NOT to!  It was a great consumer victory, and my collection of 24/7 pencils was happily rescued from my garbage to be used (hopefully) evermore.

Original Post:
Yes, this sad news is resonating all over the beauty community - Urban Decay will sell in China, rendering their 16-year pledge against animal testing meaningless.  There are many places, including Urban Decay's facebook page and blog posts from far better blogs than mine, at which you can read their sorry statement, so I won't reproduce it here.  Instead, I hope it is okay if I redirect you to a very clearly-written post by Aly of Wonderland Beauty.  She isn't vegan like me but she sums up exactly why this is a betrayal of all Urban Decay fans, and not just the ones who abstain from eating meat!  We all should support companies that we can stand behind, but Urban Decay has made it opaque as to what they truly stand for.  Our guess is raking in big money, at this point.
Please sign the petition she links to for Urban Decay to reinstate its ethics!
<3 Sarah S.

35 comments:

  1. Thanks so much for posting this Sarah! And also for your comment on my blog! I just consider this so wrong for UD to say that the last 16 years of being cruelty free is meaningless, because it's not. I believe that if you start something, you have to finish it. And if they started out being cruelty free, I think they should stay cruelty free. Even though I'm not vegan, lately I've been trying to buy from brands that are cruelty free only (Makeup Geek, Glamour Doll Eyes, Fyrinnae, elf, etc) and now I'm going to have to scratch Urban Decay off that list. I'm not vegan, but I do care a whole lot about animals, since I have so many pets~ lately It's been a mission for me to try more cruelty free brands. I just can't believe that UD has done this, it's really clear to me now that they only want money, & not a good, cruelty free, business like they used to have!

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    1. Hi Aly, your post was the best I'd read on a blog. I'm sorry, it was me who said the pledge was meaningless... I don't mean that it wasn't a worthy pledge, or that not testing on animals for 16 years was meaningless. It was a great thing! The meaningless part is how easily UD gave it up. You're right - they should stick with it as a cornerstone of their company! I also admire that you're trying to buy cruelty-free (me too). Sometimes I get foreign cosmetics and I expect they're not cruelty-free, but I also haven't been told since I was 12 years old that they are pledging never to test on animals... it's really about the company's ethics and whether you can trust them, IMHO.

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    2. I totally agree! And I know that you meant that about the pledge, that's what I meant too! I'm so glad you liked the post, I was a little worried about posting it just because this stuff seems to always bring up disagreements & arguments. But I went ahead and posted it, since I care about this stuff so much, and it seemed like I got a lot of great feedback!

      -aly

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  2. I couldn't believe it when I seen it. I am so sad and upset they are so easily doing this. I have been trying my hardest to only buy cruelty free products and I know I am not perfect but I have cut out a lot of brand that I know for sure still test. I don't know all but hopefully will get it down soon. Now this one! Ahhhh I love their stuff but will not buy anything from them anymore. I can't believe how they just gave that up.

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    1. Me too, Miranda! It's such a hard blow because Cruelty-Free was such a HUGE part of their company branding. I'm crossing my fingers they will prove to us without a doubt that ending animal cruelty is still their mission so I can buy their nice products again.

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  3. I heard this and it makes me really sad, and mad...It's 21. century and it looks like we are going backward :/

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  4. This is really sad. I am not vegan and I am not necessarily a cruelty-free makeup user per se, but it really ticks me off that they claimed to be cruelty free and they pretty much just left it all behind so quickly and easily. They will be losing a lot of loyal customers because of this.

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    1. Yeah, I really think it was a poorly handled move. By the way, I have to thank you, Nancy, because it was your blog showing lots of indie brand swatches and amazing looks with them that *finally* got me try them out! I've sort of quarentined my UD stuff for now, so I'm really glad I still have Victorian Disco to play with ^.^

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  5. Oh, A step towards a decline it is:( at least high end brands should keep up the motto. they can sure afford it.
    BTW I was just wondering the other day about cruelty free products; Does that only mean they arent tested on animals or that no supplies from " living beings" are included?o.O

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    1. I agree wholeheartedly! They could afford to expand to a market besides China.
      Nothing at all from animals or insects and not tested on animals at any stage of production is a vegan product.
      Cruelty-free just means that it wasn't tested on animals. It can still contain lanolin (oil from sheep's wool - the sheep doesn't have to be hurt)or beeswax (taken from bees' nests, bees don't have to be hurt). Keratin is a protein from animal hair but the animal doesn't have to be hurt, just get a haircut ^.^
      Carmine/Cochineal (crushed bug pigments) and collagen (often from animal bones)obviously is obtained through killing but I've seen those ingredients in "cruelty-free" products so I'm not sure why there is an exception.
      Basically, cruelty-free doesn't mean completely harmless; it just means that the product wasn't tested on animals. I hope that cleared it up!

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    2. Oh! cruelty free is more of a cover up then. Not that "not testing on animals" doesnt mean anything. but if ingredients are still obtained on the cost of hurting them, it isn't actually serving the purpose. I even heard there are gelatins in some products and collagen is sure a part of many beauty products.isnt it?
      Thanks a bundle for sharing..Means really really a lot

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    3. I don't think cruelty free is a cover up. It means that no unnecessary cruelty was involved in production. I'm not sure how collagen is obtained, and I don't think I've seen gelatin in a product that was also labled cruelty free. I don't know enough about carmine production or the bugs it comes from to say whether those bugs suffer or not. The simple fact is that cosmetic products really don't need to be tested on animals because they can be tested on humans (I'm not referring to medical testing at all, because I'm not sure how I feel about that). I think it's always worthwhile to reduce the animal suffering as much as possible, even if it can't be completely eliminated.

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  6. I'm not a vegan but I do like the idea of animal cruelty-free makeup.. it's a real shame UD have turn their backs on their original principle and ethics :(

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  7. I'm not vegan, but this is anyway a betrayal. Not only because of vegan people who now can't enjoy UD products, but because UD was known for being cruelty-free brand & now they lost their 'special factor' & are just one more make up brand who gave up their values for money, probably.

    I followed you on GFC & Bloglovin.
    Stay in touch,
    xoxo
    Visit: thereviewella.blogspot.com
    P.S. Hope you'll follow back. :)

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    1. That is exactly how I feel! Such a shame. You have really great HQ pics on your blog :)

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  8. It's such a shame! Surely they are a big enough and strong enough company to be able to stand up for the message that they should have been so proud to be spreading!

    Sarah
    http://fashionismyh2o.blogspot.co.uk/
    xx

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  9. This is all kinds of lame. I wonder what made them decide to change -- I mean the real reason. Not the stupid one they give to the media.

    http://www.glamkittenslitterbox.com/
    Twitter: @GlamKitten88

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    1. Pretty sure it's money. And I get it - they're a for-profit business! I would be less bothered if they had simply admitted that the profit potential was too large to ignore and that they're very sorry and hope to be cruelty-free again in the near future. Instead, they're pretending they are still cruelty free and will "save Chinese women" or something... what a ridiculous statement.

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  10. I have to agree with everyone, seems like a betrayal and is a shame:(

    New follower:)

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  11. First MAC, now UD... WTF??? Money, money, money? I think it's sad that they wrote a complete page about this, trying to hide their true intentions (making money) behind a sad story. Hypocrite. ARGH.

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    1. I know, it's so frustrating! Saving me money, though. But really, other companies will just get my money ;)

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  12. I don't know much about this at all as it is not a debate which I follow closely but I am surprised about it. Although with the economic climate perhaps it is either that or no longer staying afloat... Ah I am sorry to hear though.

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    1. I could better understand if that were the case, but the company made no such claim. They have been doing great business in the past couple of years due to very popular palettes, so I doubt it is an issue of sinking or floating. I couldn't begrudge a brand saving it's own butt by expanding to China, but I deeply doubt that's the case with this brand.

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  13. hmm i was never keen on cruelty free makeup brands, but you're slowing enlightening me, Sarah!
    all things aside, i don't think it is right that a well-known company with a large customer base suddenly changes it's color like that. ;-/

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    1. Hi Lena! I am glad if it makes you consider the cruelty-free companies. A lot of brands I've seen you use just happen to be cruelty-free, like e.l.f.!
      I am just sad because I decided to switch to all cruelty-free, thinking that U.D. would never change. Now I have to seek out alternatives if I want to stick with it :(

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  14. thats awful! I am not vegan and to be honest I could be more selective when choosing make up brands but for them todo this undermines everything they have stood for and makes it seem like a gimmick. Oh and I'm sorry for being shocking with commenting and replying sarah! thanks for all your comments and I hope your doing great >.< xxx

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    1. Hope you are, too! It's fun to read about your experiences in Korea :) And yeah, it's just sad they've reduced the cruelty-free stance to a gimmick :(

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  15. I was kinda shocked when I first heard about it! I really don't think they can get that much business in China because most of Chinese girls don't even wear makeup! Even some girls do, they don't wear crazy colors like Urban decay has. They probably need to change all their product if they want to do very well in China...
    Not cool... feel like all they care about is money! Mot the costumers.

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  16. Please update your original post, since it is one of the first things that comes up in a Google search and the facts have changed!
    Fortunately, UD have decided to not go into China until they change their policy of cosmetics being tested on animals.
    Here's the link: http://www.peta.org/b/thepetafiles/archive/2012/07/06/urban-decay-s-decaying-principles.aspx

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  17. Please update your original post, since it is one of the first things that comes up in a Google search and the facts have changed!
    Fortunately, UD have decided to not go into China until they change their policy of cosmetics being tested on animals.
    Here's the link: http://www.peta.org/b/thepetafiles/archive/2012/07/06/urban-decay-s-decaying-principles.aspx

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    1. Good idea, I updated the post! I didn't think my little blog would come up high on a google search, to be honest.

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