Wednesday, March 6, 2013

The Balm Cosmetics - Yes, they really are CF!


This is a bit different than my normal posts, but I think it is an important one. I know that when contacting companies about their cruelty free status, sometimes they don’t get back to us, or their reply is confusing. I have contacted The Balm on two separate occasions, and both times they got back to me promptly and with an answer that I feel is pretty clear. It is my belief that they do not test on animals. I believe that each person has to make her own decision about how they want to read into company’s replies to these types of inquiries.  I decided to post the exact wording of their response to my inquiry so that you can decide for yourself.  I have removed the name of the woman who replied for privacy purposes. 


This e-mail was sent to me today at 1:34PM:


Hi Liza,

I can tell you for certain that theBalm does NOT have an office in China, and we do not have any vendors in China that sell our products. Our site ships internationally, including to China, but they are not tested on animals here or in any other country. I hope this clears everything up. Please let me know if you have any more questions.

[Name Removed for confidentiality]

theBalm

Here is another message I received from them on January 20th of this year:

-------- Original message --------
Subject:RE: Product question
From:The Balm Info <info@thebalm.com>
[My personal email address removed for privacy]

Hi Liza,

Thanks for your email. We do not test our products on animals.

Suppliers of raw materials used in our products certified that they have not been tested on animals since December 31, 1990 and our products have not been tested on animals.

Thanks for sending us your information, we will definitely check out your blog!

Thanks,

[Name Removed for confidentiality]
 

11 comments:

  1. The suppliers do not test, but a third part?

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  2. It's my understanding that products directly sold and marketed in China are required by Chinese law to be tested on animals (both ingredients and products are to be tested). If you're able to directly purchase from a website, then I would assume they are testing on animals. E.L.F, Urban Decay, Too Faced, etc. aren't shipping to China from their website so they aren't directly sold to China. They are well known cruelty free companies.

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    Replies
    1. Hi Celia, I hope you don't mind me replying to your comment but I just wanted to point something out. If a company is selling to China via an online service they legally don't have to test their products on animals. They only have to test if the store has a physical presence in the country (or possibly the international ports too).

      I'm aware that your comment is quite old now, so you may be aware of this, I just wanted to comment so that anyone reading this was also informed.

      Kelly
      thevegantaff.com

      Delete
  3. However, they do use carmine in their bettyloumanizer, which is from insects, so no they are not cruelty free

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  4. However, they do use carmine in some of there products, which is derived from insects. Therefore, they are not cruelty free.

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  5. Hi Luna. Thanks for reading. By "cruelty free" I meant that their products are not tested on animals. you are correct they are not a vegan brand. I apologize if my post was unclear.

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    Replies
    1. Carmine is pretty much animal cruelty because it's made from 1000s of crushed female insects. :( I know the subject is on animal testing, but what about the insects that become the colour in your lipstick?

      Delete
  6. It's true that China requires animal testing before the product can be sold in that country, so I find it suspect that The Balm stated it as they did. These companies are feeling the heat about animal testing anywhere in the chain of the production, marketing, and selling of their products, so they use tricky wording to get around it to appear to be telling the truth. I hope The Balm is cruelty-free because I love their eyeshadows.

    ReplyDelete
  7. NOT CRUELTY FREE! It appears Japan and China want any beauty products that are IMPORTED into their country to be tested on animals.
    So based on the company's statement- they would NOT be cruelty free since this is an export of cosmetics from the USA and by default- you must have items tested in order to be sold.

    ReplyDelete

Comments/Questions are highly encouraged. However please refrain from posting links to other sites. I cannot always respond personally to every post, but appreciate and read them all.