We’re not cool with cruelty — but we’re still lagging behind the rest of the world. In March 2013, the European Union banned cosmetics tested on animals. Since then, Norway, Israel, India, and New Zealand have set similar restrictions ; and Canada, Brazil, South Korea, and the U.S. have all introduced bills for ghosting out the practice. Last year, even China lifted its notorious mandatory animal-testing rules for domestic, “ordinary” cosmetics — though it's still required for “special-use” products, like hair dyes, perms, straightening treatments, antiperspirants, and sunscreens. With the rules evolving all the time, here’s what you need to know now to make an informed decision. Coconut oil is pretty damn versatile, but it’s hardly cutting-edge technology. If consumers want new beauty products with innovative ingredients, they have to be tested for safety first. Thank the FDA for that. Since 1938, the group has been charged with enforcing the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FD&C Act) and related statutes. That’s largely a reaction to 100+ people killed in 1937 — many of them children — after ingesting an untested wonder drug called elixir sulfanilamide that had a bit too much in common with antifreeze. You’d think the Act would be a series of laws outlining specific safety standards, but it's mostly about selling adulterated or misbranded cosmetics across state lines. It turns out, the FDA doesn’t actually require animal-testing or pre-market approval of cosmetics except for color additives used in hair dyes. It’s up to companies to prove their safety, and “in many cases, the only substantiation the government accepts is animal-testing,” says cosmetic chemist Perry Romanowski, cofounder of The Beauty Brains . “Any new molecule, such as the new sunscreen agent Mexoryl SX , has to be tested.”