My mother had some Avon perfumes which were gifted to her by her aunts from abroad. At the time Avon used to package their perfumes in a collectable perfume bottle in the shape of for example an owl, a clock, a lady or a lamp, etc. Around 9 years ago, when I started supporting Avon, I noticed that they had stopped producing such collectables. Which kind of was a pity as nowadays perfume bottles are too basic. Not only they stopped the collectable perfume bottles but in 2012, the cruelty-free community no longer considered Avon as cruelty-free. The reason is that they started to sell in Mainland China, at the price of losing their cruelty-free image.
Is Avon certified cruelty-free?
It seems that since it has stopped testing on animals in 2019 and has been acquired by cruelty-free company Natura & Co, PETA decided to give Avon a chance by listing them in a new list. Usually, PETA had two lists one for companies that test on animals and one for companies that are cruelty-free. However, recently it decided to create a list of brands that are in the middle. The companies that are “Working for Regulatory Change” list. This means that the brand is not testing on animals and it also means that Avon is not certified cruelty-free.
Does Avon test on animals?
“No. We were one of the first companies in the world to stop animal testing 30 years ago and in 2019 became the first global beauty company to end animal testing across all its brands by stopping animal testing for China.”
The answer sounds confusing. They say that they stopped animal testing 30 years ago, then they stopped it again in 2019 for China. So somewhere between 30 years ago and 2019, they were testing on animals again. As I have mentioned earlier this happened around 2012. So between 2012 and 2019 Avon was testing on animals as the Mainland China authorities required it. 8 years of torturing animals, just to increase profits. However, around the end of 2019 Avon does not test on animals anymore.
Is Avon owned by a certified cruelty-free parent?
Since January 2020, Avon has been acquired by Brazilian PETA-certified cruelty-free company Natura & Co. The same company that recently acquired The Body Shop. So now yes, Avon is owned by a cruelty-free parent brand.
Does Avon sell cosmetics in China or any other country where animal testing is required?
Avon has been selling in the Mainland China market since 2012 and is still at it. So yes, Avon sells in Mainland China.
What is Avon’s cruelty-free status?
They are working to become cruelty-free but until they are cruelty-free I would not buy any Avon products. Since I could find them listed in a middle list on the PETA website, I can’t claim that they don’t support animal testing and I can’t claim that they do. So I would consider Avon a grey area brand until PETA updates Avon’s status.
Is Avon vegan?
Avon is not vegan. Maybe they have some vegan products, but I wouldn’t be looking into it just yet.
Which brands should I support instead?
If you are looking for a brand that is serious about its anti-animal-testing policy. Check my list of brands that are against animal testing.
Source: Avon Animal Testing Policy and Avon Mainland China Website at 1.11.2020