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L'Oréal Boycott
L'Oréal - The Lowdown
L'Oréal say: "L'Oréal voluntarily stopped animal testing on its entire range of cosmetic products in 1989."
However, under EU legislation, ALL newly developed ingredients still have to be tested on animals, where no alternatives exist. And, as the world's largest cosmetic company, L'Oréal has been at the forefront of developing these new "innovative" ingredients for decades.
Some Fact and Figures
- L'Oréal have a huge share of the personal care market in Europe and 15.9% of the global market [2007]
- In 2007 alone, consolidated sales of L'Oréal products amounted to €2,039 million (to put this into perspective, that's more than the GDP of some lesser developed countries!)
This dominant share of the global market and huge profit margins, comes at a high cost however. L'Oréal attribute their success to their innovative ingredients, and it's these very same ingredients that necessitate even more animal testing.
Revolutionary Skincare
- For over forty years, L'Oréal have invested heavily in Research and Development. Every year, 3-4% of consolidated sales are invested in Research and Development. In 2007 this equated to €560 million.
- L'Oréal's innovations, in recent years have included "revolutionary" anti-aging skincare to skin lightening agents, slimming patches to "nutriceuticals".
L'Oréal Brands and Subsidiaries
| Cacherel | Matrix |
| Diesel | Maybelline |
| Biotherm | Ralph Lauren |
| Garnier | Redken |
| Georgio Armani | Soft Sheen Carson |
| Helena Rubenstein | Shu Uemera |
| Inneov | The Body Shop [acquired in 2006] |
| Kerastase | Vichy |
| Kiehls | Viktor & Rolf |
| La Roche Posay | Yves Saint Laurent [acquired June 2008] |
| Lancome |
Alternatives Investment
As the EU ban on the use of animals for cosmetics testing approaches, the cosmetics sector has stepped up efforts to find animal replacements. This is welcome, though long overdue.
However, recent figures from the Dr Hadwen Trust estimate that L'Oréal spend just 0.2% on average of global sales on replacing animals in testing.
In 2006, L'Oréal acquired Skinethic, a company that has been developing skin and tissue models to replace animals since 1992. With the 2009 ban on animal testing approaching, this is a shrewd business move.
And Finally...
- L'Oréal justify their use of animal tested ingredients, claiming that: "Companies
manufacturing all types of products containing chemical substances, with no exception,
can... only use ingredients which have undergone compulsory safety tests."
- This statement leads the consumer to believe that animal testing has nothing to do with the cosmetics companies, and lays the blame squarely on legislation. The statement completely fails to recognise that it is possible to produce new products using tried and trusted existing ingredients, and this doesn't necessitate further animal testing.
- For a list of compassionate companies (and there are many!), please see Naturewatch's Compassionate Shopping Guide 11th edition.
