YOU probably think that testing beauty products on animals is a thing of the past.

The days of rabbits having shampoo dropped into their eyes, or shaved lab rats having makeup applied to their bare skin are long gone, right?

9 Bunnies are often used in animal testing Credit: Getty - Contributor

Well, the truth is that not only does this sort of testing still exist in 2018, but some of your favourite brands could be being tested on animals in China, right now.

Government animal testing is the price that the likes of Clinique, Lancome, Kiehl’s, L’Oreal Paris, Olay, Nivea, Mac, Creme de la Mer, Dior, Caudalie, Benefit and many, many more knowingly pay for access to the Chinese beauty market.

These brands don't do the testing themselves and it's not happening in the UK, where animal testing has been banned since 1997.

In fact, all major beauty brands say they are staunchly against animal testing - but they can't escape it when they start selling in China, where the law requires all imported beauty products to be tested on animals by a government health agency.

9 This rabbit has had shampoo dropped into its eyes as part of the testing process Credit: PA:Press Association

Under Chinese legislation, any beauty product manufactured outside the country must be tested on animals before it hits the shelves - and that could include products by your favourite cruelty-free brands.

And any cosmetic sold there, regardless of where it’s made, can be subject to additional government testing, which may include testing on animals.

It’s true that the companies don't carry out the tests themselves, but basically any beauty brand that wants to sell to China accepts there's a possibility their products will be tested on animals - and they pay the regulatory fees which fund these tests.

And for many animal-loving beauty fans, that’s simply a technicality — and not one they’re prepared to overlook.

9 Dior sells to a Chinese market - meaning animal testing is a possibility Credit: Dior

9 Nars faced a backlash due to plans to sell in China Credit: NARS

When, last June, makeup brand Nars announced plans to move into China, their fans took to social media saying they were "disappointed", "disgusted", "heartbroken" that a brand that had previously touted itself as “cruelty-free” would “condone such miserable, ugly, barbaric tests.”

“Social media has forced a certain amount of transparency on the industry,” says Jane Cunningham of BritishBeautyBlogger.com.

“People know that it’s not essential to test cosmetics on animals, they can easily find out when brands are colluding with this practise, and they won’t just be vocal about it, they’ll vote with their feet.”

9 The campaign against animal testing has seen a rise in vegan cosmetic products Credit: AFP

Heart-touching moment 156 dogs are freed from an animal testing facility

Customer Backlash

In fact a customer backlash can change things — in 2012, after a public outcry, cosmetics brand Urban Decay backtracked on their plans to move into China.

But why ARE so many brands prepared to risk their reputation in the rest of the world?

The answer boils down to money: China is a huge market for the beauty industry.

9 While Kat Von D make-up is vegan, it is owned by a company which sells in China Credit: Kat von D

9 L'oreal has come under fire on social media due to selling in China Credit: Rex Features

In fact, in 2016 a Morgan Stanley report states that China is now “the world's largest beauty market”, representing almost 20 per cent of the global market.

That makes it a bigger market than the US (around 17 per cent) and way bigger than the UK (just under four per cent.)

And if you want to put a cold hard cash figure on it, research firm Mintel forecasts that China's beauty retail market will be worth over £38 billion by 2020.

Vegan beauty With the rise in veganism, consumers don’t just want cruelty-free, they want vegan too. In fact, in the last year, sales of high end vegan products have leapt by 38 per cent according to researchers. That means more and more people are searching out products without common cosmetic ingredients such as honey, beeswax, silk powder and lanolin. Increasingly, brands are stepping up to the challenge — all of the brands on our cruelty-free list have vegan products (some are flagged on the websites, others you may have to email to ask) while e.l.f. and Skyn Iceland sell only vegan products. Expect to see more brands taking this route as demand for vegan beauty soars.

Colossal cosmetics brands

All of the major companies we spoke to for this article said they believed that eliminating animal testing entirely was the right thing to do, and that they were committed to working with the Chinese authorities to show them that there were reliable, non-animal alternatives to prove the safety of cosmetic products.

And if you don’t like it, you can of course boycott companies who sell in China, but that’s not as straightforward as you'd think.

9 Urban Decay doesn't test on animals, but other brands under its parent company do

Not least because about seven global companies own around 200 of the world’s biggest brands.

So you might buy Urban Decay (cruelty-free logo, not sold in China), but it’s owned by L’Oreal who own other brands, such as Maybelline, La Roche-Posay and Kiehl’s that are sold in China.

Or eco-loving brand Aveda, not sold in China but owned by Estee Lauder Companies (ELC).

That'll be the Estee Lauder that's one of China's biggest beauty brands.

It’s also why fans of “cruelty-free” company Deciem, who make The Ordinary, Niod and Hand Chemistry, were furious when they took investment from ELC last year.

9 Rats are among the most common animals used in testing, alongside rabbits Credit: Getty - Contributor

Even vegan Kat Von D’s beauty line is problematic for purists.

It’s owned by a company called Kendo, which is a part of LVMH, a mega company whose Dior perfume goes down a storm in China.

You might think that the cruelty-free Leaping Bunny symbol was a pointer, but actually that can be awarded to brands who sell in China, as long as they are manufactured there and are one of the products that doesn’t require pre-sales safety testing on animals.

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That’s because Cruelty Free International, the organisation behind the certification, says: “Although in theory possible, post market surveillance is something we have yet no real evidence of taking place.”

And almost all “cruelty-free” certifications look at just the individual brand rather than the parent company, meaning you could be buying a brand that’s classed as cruelty-free and making money for a company that does sell in China.