Benefit Cosmetics LLC is a cosmetics brand founded in 1976 by sisters Jean and Jane Ford in San Francisco, USA. The brand focused on creating lip tints until 1989 when their product catalog was expanded. Two years later, Benefit opened up its first US department store, located in New York City.
Benefit became international in 1997 when it expanded to London. Soon after, the brand launched its website and started selling online. In 2003, its first boutique that specialized in brow shaping was opened in San Francisco, US.
Today, Benefit’s products can be found worldwide. Apart from its department stores, you can buy items from Benefit in several retail stores such as Sephora, Douglas, Arnotts, and Boots Pharmacy. The brand won several awards and public praises for its products, and it even won one Guinness World Record – they completed 382 brow waxes in just eight hours!
Is Benefit Cruelty-Free?
| Not sold in China? | No |
| PETA Certified | No |
| Leaping Bunny Certified | No |
| Has vegan products | No |
| Not owned by a Parent Company that does Animal Testing? | No |
Benefit is not cruelty-free.
The brand itself doesn’t test on animals, and it claims to be committed towards the elimination of animal testing. It’s one of the “Fund for Alternatives to Animal Testing” supporters, and it’s a participant of several studies regarding alternative testing methods.
Benefit does pay a third-party to conduct animal tests on their behalf in countries where testing is required by law. At the same time, it never clarified whether or not its ingredients are cruelty-free or tested on animals; the same goes for its suppliers.
Suppose you like Benefit’s products but can’t support a company that isn’t cruelty-free. In that case, you can always try to contact its representatives and politely ask them to change the company’s cruelty-free policy. Just remember to be respectful, as hate speech never accomplished anything.
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Are Benefit products sold in China?
Yes, Benefit’s products are sold in mainland China.
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What is the Deal with China?
Even though animal testing is proven to be an unnecessary and unethical practice, some countries still require it by law. This is the case with the second-biggest market in the world, China.
China requires any beauty product to be tested on animals before allowing importation and being sold in Chinese stores. Any company or brand that makes the decision to sell in China has also decided to test on animals – either by themselves or, usually, by paying a third-party company to test on their behalf. This is the main reason why a lot of brands can’t achieve a true cruelty-free status. After growing public outrage, China did lift some regulations in 2014, which allowed certain beauty products, such as shampoos and other skincare items, to be imported without testing, but this is still a small percentage.
A lot of brands that claim to be cruelty-free are being misleading thanks to these laws. Even if a brand doesn’t conduct animal testing on its own, by deciding to take the opportunity and sell in countries such as China, it is allowing a third-party to test the final product on animals. This is why PETA and the Leaping Bunny Program have forbidden brands that they certify to expand their market in this direction – and rightfully so.
A lot of companies are working with the Chinese government on lifting these regulations, and legislation was proposed in 2019 that should stop mandatory animal testing. However until today, no substantial progress has been made in this regard, we continue to wait patiently.
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Is Benefit Vegan?
No, Benefit is not vegan. Almost all of its products contain some animal-derived ingredients or animal by-products, such as beeswax, lanoline, or carmine. Even if there are some items with all plant-based ingredients, they aren’t labeled accordingly. You would have to look at the ingredient list of each individual product. As the brand isn’t cruelty-free, we don’t think it’s worth it.
Who owns Benefit and does the parent company test on animals?
Since 1999, Benefit is owned by LVMH, a French multinational company, and conglomerate that is not cruelty-free. LVMH was formed when fashion houses Louis Vuitton and Moet Hennessy merged. The company owns more than 70 brands, and almost none of them are cruelty-free.
What products does Benefit sell?
The first product Benefit sold was a lip tint and a blush named “Rose Tint.” The product was initially created as a nipple tint for one exotic dancer. This anecdote itself helped Benefit with their advertisements. Even today, this tint is one of its bestselling products, and it can be found under the name “Benetint.” Apart from that, Benefit sells all kinds of makeup products, such as lipsticks, foundations, mascaras, and eye shadows.
In 2001, Benefit expanded and created a bath and boudoir line, called Bathina. It also owns several accessories lines, as well as fragrances and skincare.
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