Friday, May 10, 2013

Does Tarte Test on Animals?



So Tarte… I’ve never actually purchased any of their products, but I was interested in picking up their vegan BB cream after swatching Too Faced’s orangey one that I had to pass on buying. While Tarte is not a 100% vegan company, they do have a section on their website for their vegan products.  Although it is not an extensive collection, it is enough to point out. So BB cream lust led to this email which I assumed would come back with a clean bill of health.  However, I became increasingly incredulous as I wrote this post.

April 11, 2013
“Could you please provide some more information about Tarte's animal testing policy.  Does Tarte animal test products or contract a third party to animal test on their behalf?  Does Tarte sell to China or any other country which requires animal testing of beauty products?  Is Tarte owned by a parent company?  Are any of Tarte's products free of animal ingredients and suitable for vegans?
Thank you for your help”

April 12, 2013
“Thank you for contacting tarte cosmetics customer service. tarte cosmetics is not owned by a parent company. We are a cruelty free brand recognized by PETA that does not support animal testing or work with companies that do. Also, our products are not sold in China. The only vegan products we offer are located on the vegan friendly cosmetics page offered on tarte.com. These products are free of beeswax, stearic acid, and carmine, this page will also be updated this summer. Please email me if you have any other questions. Thank you!”

Tarte did not respond to whether their ingredients or finished products were tested, instead simply stating that they are on PETA’s list which I find to be a bad judge of cruelty free status.  To get on this list a company must state that they do not test ingredients or finished products nor have a third party test on their behalf.  However there is no independent audit or proof of these claims as with Leaping Bunny certification.

I emailed back to get clarification:

April 25, 2013
“Thank you for responding to my original animal testing questions.  However, I find being on PETA's cruelty free list rather inadequate.  Does Tarte animal test ingredient and/or finished products or contract them out to a third party?  I would appreciate if you could clearly answer all parts of this question.  I recommend that Tarte look into getting free Leaping Bunny certification.”

April 26, 2013
“Tarte does not test any ingredients or finished products on animals nor do our suppliers or manufacturers. Please email me if you have any other questions. Thank you.”

Whenever I have encountered this type of response in the past, trouble usually follows or claims are quickly proven false.  Even in my follow up email they did not answer my question about contracting out to a third party to animal test on their behalf.  Why would a company that offers a vegan selection of items not have their animal testing policy response in order?  To me, the whole response and approach is purposely misleading.

While I obviously have no proof that Tarte is animal testing, the parallels between their incomplete responses and those of companies who have recently decided to revert to testing are too similar for me.  I very clearly asked questions, and to disregard them shows, at minimum, a lack of respect for consumers.  

I will not be purchasing anything from Tarte.

8 comments:

  1. Thank you for looking into this. It is so difficult to get straight answers from all of these cosmetic companies. I will not be purchasing from Tarte either. Does Leaping Bunny check into companies to make sure that the company does not contract out to third parties?

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    1. Thanks so much for doing this research! I was considering buying some Tarte mascara but since they are not on CCIC's Leaping Bunny list I felt that I should contact them before purchasing their product- which, after reading your article, I will not be doing! To answer LC Robert's question about Leaping Bunny- They state that in order for a company to be on their list, the company must pledge that they must "not conduct or commission animal tests." (See source http://www.leapingbunny.org/images/cciclist.pdf) I would think that the word "commission" covers the 3rd party aspect. They also audit the companies that take this pledge, so their honesty is verified through the audit. I agree with Rebekah that PETA's list is inadequate and I find Leaping Bunny to be my primary source of information regarding cruelty free companies.

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  2. They answered your question and I think you are being unfairly suspicious. They do not test on animals, their ingredients are not tested on animals, their suppliers are not tested on animals, they do not associate with companies that test on animals, they do not sell in china where it is mandatory that products are tested on animals, tarte is not owned by a parent company, they are their own corporation. I have spent enough time researching tarte and their animal testing policy to know that they are firmly against animal testing.

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  3. Just checked their "vegan" cosmetics, and a few items (I noticed their cheek stain first) has carmine (CI 75470) in it. DOH! I just e-mailed them about it. C'mon, Tarte!

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    1. Ugh, Jasmine. That is disappointing to hear. I think it happens a lot that companies don't consider insect ingredients as animal ingredients.

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  4. I'm suspicious too. On the website it states: we never test our finished product on animals. So, does this mean that the product is tested on animals until it is a finished product? And on the box it states cruelty free (with bunny ears) but no Leaping Bunny. And I can't find Tarte on the Leaping Bunny website. Are they 100% cruelty free?

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  5. I think that sometimes things can just accidentally be overlooked, whether that is from leaping bunny or from the tart company its self, we can't fully know. Sometimes people can also forget something in an email if they are not directly looking at it, so taste may just not have remembered a question while answering. I think as vegans/vegetarians/cruelty free activists we should consider all plausible factors and not be to quick to judge anyone or anything. So if you decide to use taste because you feel that their answers are good enough,then others who do not feel the same way should not judge them. Also making a transition to cruelty free products is a hard one to make. I still likely have many that are cruelty because I am someone who is just starting, learning all of the companies is no easy task. Let everyone learn at their own rate and don't judge people for not knowing, you may not know how hard they are trying.

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  6. I think that sometimes things can just accidentally be overlooked, whether that is from leaping bunny or from the tart company its self, we can't fully know. Sometimes people can also forget something in an email if they are not directly looking at it, so taste may just not have remembered a question while answering. I think as vegans/vegetarians/cruelty free activists we should consider all plausible factors and not be to quick to judge anyone or anything. So if you decide to use taste because you feel that their answers are good enough,then others who do not feel the same way should not judge them. Also making a transition to cruelty free products is a hard one to make. I still likely have many that are cruelty because I am someone who is just starting, learning all of the companies is no easy task. Let everyone learn at their own rate and don't judge people for not knowing, you may not know how hard they are trying.

    ReplyDelete