Beauty behemoth Covergirl has officially made the leap to cruelty free. The company announced that it has eliminated animal testing from every step of its production process, and celebrated by sending stuffed toy bunnies to media and influencers. To earn the Leaping Bunny certification, Covergirl reportedly underwent an extensive audit. Parent company Coty had to prove that not only is Covergirl cruelty-free, but so are all of its third-party ingredient suppliers. The certification comes from Cruelty Free International (CFI), a globally recognized third-party monitor. To keep it, Covergirl also agreed to ongoing independent audits of its supply chain.
Covergirl is the latest company in a long list of those making the leap to cruelty free cosmetics. Hourglass even changed its logo to include a bunny, to signify the change. But in terms of scale, Covergirl converting to cruelty free is a big deal. They are now out in front of other companies like MAC and NARS (which do not own animal testing facilities, but consent to the practice to sell in certain countries), who continue to fall out of favor in the beauty community. Coty, which also owns Max Factor and Rimmel, has plans to convert another brand to cruelty-free in the near future.
The move to go cruelty free is another notch in Covergirl’s belt, which has often found itself proudly in a team of ‘firsts.’ The company was celebrated for making Queen Latifah, a plus-size woman of color, a spokesperson and eventually the face of a curated cosmetics line. Years later, Covergirl made headlines for bringing Youtube sensation Nura Afia on as the first Hijabi spokesperson. This latest move all but guarantees that Covergirl will remain a darling in the beauty industry by constantly evolving with its customer’s needs and concerns.