Fighting Animal Testing

Fighting animal testing is more than just a slogan, it’s a genuine practice.

For more than three decades, we’ve been fighting against animal testing. Lush was founded on the firm belief that animal testing is cruel, inaccurate and unnecessary, and the founders of the business have dedicated their careers to eliminating animal testing in cosmetics. Lush has the strictest non-animal testing policy in the cosmetics industry. We only buy ingredients from suppliers that don’t conduct or commission tests on animals for any reason and we audit them annually to ensure they meet the standards of our policy. When we develop new products, we only test them on human volunteers.

As a result, we can proudly say that all Lush products are 100 percent cruelty-free and never tested on animals.

Our strict policy is unique, but we want our peers in the cosmetics industry and our customers to adopt the same stance. It’s no longer a legal requirement to test cosmetics and their ingredients on animals. There are roughly 20,000 cosmetic ingredients that have already been established as safe, as well as a growing number of proven, non-animal test methods that are scientifically superior, faster and cheaper than their cruel alternatives. For instance, three-dimensional human skin models can replace rabbits for skin irritation testing, and cell cultures can be used to test for sunlight-induced phototoxicity, genetic mutations and other harmful effects without ever harming an animal.

Despite these advancements, animal testing in the cosmetics industry still happens today. We’re passionate about both the quality of our products and the safety of our customers, so we comply with federal safety standards while campaigning against legislation that requires animal testing and supporting the development and validation of non-animal tests. Using our more than 250 shops in North America as a platform, we’ve spent the last 15 years raising awareness about animal testing. Since 2006, we’ve partnered with organizations like Humane Society International to lobby governments and industry to end animal testing in cosmetics all over the world.

The Lush Prize

Early in Lush’s history, our efforts were focused on our own strict policy and avoiding animal testing, but in 2012 we decided to put our money where our mouths are and created the Lush Prize.

Awarded every two years, the £250,000 Lush Prize focuses on safety testing for consumer products and complements projects that address alternatives to animal testing for medicines. We award prizes for Science, Training, Lobbying, Public Awareness and Young Researchers to continue their work developing and supporting new animal-free initiatives. This prize is a way for us to join a global conversation about animal testing and give passionate researchers and activists the opportunity to showcase and continue their work. Since its launch, the Lush Prize has awarded more than £2,190,000 to 110 winners from 28 countries.

One example of the type of work the Lush Prize supports is the development of new non-animal materials for safety testing. In 2017, Professor Jennifer Lewis of Harvard University was awarded £50,000 for her lab’s work in the science sector. Professor Lewis’ team has developed synthetic human tissues that can be used for drug safety testing, effectively eliminating the need for animals to be used for these tests. Their human kidney and heart models are currently being used for drug safety tests, and their work has been highlighted as one of the top 10 breakthrough technologies by MIT Technology Review.

Charitable Giving

Our Charity Pot Body Lotion gives 100 percent of the purchase price (minus the taxes) to grassroots groups fighting for animal protection, environmental justice and human rights. Since 2007, your purchases of Charity Pot have supported around 2800 organizations in 83 countries around the world. Through Charity Pot, we’ve been able to partner with incredible groups like Animal Alliance of Canada to further the fight against animal testing.

Animal Alliance of Canada has been protecting the rights of animals for over 30 years. Their work in ending animal testing expands across the use of animals for cosmetics testing and their No Pets in Research campaign. Every year, thousands of lost and abandoned dogs and cats are purchased by research facilities from municipal pounds and used for experimental purposes. They’re subjected to a life of pain and suffering and eventually killed.

Funding from Charity Pot supports the group as it works to hold institutions responsible for the cats and dogs being used in research and to re-home these animals, where possible.

You can join the fight to ban animal testing in the cosmetics industry by joining the cruelty-free movement.