Is MAC Cosmetics Cruelty-free?

Is MAC Cosmetics cruelty-free?

One of the brands that people ask me about the most is MAC. They ask, is MAC Cosmetics cruelty-free? The answer is no. However, if you look at the information that MAC presents on their website, it is very misleading. Most people would think that MAC is cruelty-free.

MAC Cosmetics is not cruelty-free.

Allow me to explain to you why MAC Cosmetics is not cruelty-free.

As you can see, MAC claims they don’t own any animal testing facilities and they don’t ask others to test for them. This claim is false, because MAC is selling in China. MAC relies on the Chinese government to test their products so that they can be sold in the Chinese market.

MAC’s claim about ‘we love our fans and never want to exclude them anywhere’ is a bullshit claim because they’re trying to shift the focus of China off of the Chinese Government and onto your average Chinese citizen. This is not the fault of the Chinese people and they should not be demonized, which is what I’ve seen people do online.

The reason there is still animal testing in China is that the government allows it and has not decided that the other methods of testing are viable. The Chinese government is trying to keep their citizens safe.

MAC can claim that they don’t own any testing facilities, and they may not, but by choosing to continue to sell in China, they are continuing to have their products tested on animals.

Is MAC PETA Certified?

No, MAC isn’t PETA certified. While I don’t consider PETA’s cruelty-free logo to hold much weight, even PETA doesn’t believe the bullshit that MAC is serving.

Is MAC Leaping Bunny Certified?

Leaping Bunny is the gold standard for cruelty-free. MAC is not Leaping Bunny certified. MAC would have to prove that they are not testing on animals anywhere in the world to be Leaping Bunny certified and MAC can’t do that right now.

Why do you care about MAC?

MAC Cosmetics selling in China was the catalyst for me to go cruelty-free in 2012 (see my handwritten letter to MAC). Many bloggers who went cruelty-free around the time I did, immediately stopped because they didn’t want to lose MAC as a PR contact.

Ray, my husband, introduced me to MAC in 1999 and I fell in love with the brand and makeup. Ultimately, MAC Cosmetics is indirectly partially responsible for me starting a blog. I do long for the day when MAC is cruelty-free again, because they were the first makeup brand I fell in love with.

I hope that someday MAC decides it cares about animals again and stops testing on animals. It makes me sad that they try to just place the blame on China, when it’s clearly a decision they made to sell in China.

What Can I Do?

If you are someone who loves MAC Cosmetics, reach out to them and ask them to get Leaping Bunny certification! Ask them to stop selling in China. Or ask them to sell in China the way Nudestix does (with their own local factory) so that they are exempt from animal testing. There are different options that MAC could choose to implement.

What alternatives do I have to MAC?

I’ve got over 1000 cruelty-free brands on my cruelty-free beauty brand list that I update all the time! Find a new cruelty-free brand to love!