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BECCA Acquired by Estée Lauder: Cruelty-Free Status At Stake

by Suzana Rose

May 22, 2018

Estée Lauder just acquired BECCA, a beloved cruelty-free brand. Before the acquisition, BECCA was 100% cruelty-free and had no plans of entering the Chinese market, where animal testing is required by law for cosmetics.

Spread the word.

It's still unclear whether or not BECCA will remain cruelty-free after the acquisition, but it doesn't look promising.

Estée Lauder is pushing for the global expansion of the brand, and as you know, China is a huge market for cosmetics.

Here's the statement from Estée Lauder chief executive Fabrizio Freda:

"We believe Becca Cosmetics is ready to be leveraged further.

We are well positioned to add amazing resources in social media, product development, research and development, and access to suppliers around the world. The other big resource is the access to global markets."

They also claimed that the Asia-Pacific region is a key to this expansion.

The last cosmetics brand bought by Estée Lauder was Smashbox back in 2010. Smashbox lost its cruelty-free status when it started selling products in mainland China, where animal testing is required by law. Even though they eventually pulled out of China, Smashbox still technically "tests on animals where required by law".

We're hoping that BECCA will retain its cruelty-free policy and ethics, and won't be passed down the "unless required by law" of its parent company.

Read more at The Business Of Fashion.

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+ Show Comments (22) - Hide Comments (22)
  • Phaedra Dresch says:

    Thank you for helping me choose skincare and makeup that is cruelty free.

  • Elizabeth says:

    They just want money !!! Becca cosmetics don’t let them take over your brand El is not trusted. Your products probably won’t even give people glow,coverage etc anymore if you allow them to over take it. They just want money its your bussiness becca. Don’t let it go down the drain.

  • Erika B says:

    So sad that so many companies are selling and selling their souls so to speak, what about your consumer base that made you and trusted you? I know it’s about $$ but most of these products are pricier than non Cruelty-Free, it’s a betrayal to the animals and their consumers!
    🙁

    What I don’t understand is I am sure the US, Canada as well as other countries that are Cruelty-Free with these products, make a higher quality and safer product than you would find in Mainland, so why still test?? Why not test on a human panel?

  • Sango says:

    So disappointing! Estée Lauder keeps ruining great cruelty free brands by taking them over. I won’t be buying Becca anymore.
    As well as smashbox, and Mac. 🙁

  • julie says:

    Are people aware that almost all medically associated charities fund animal experiments? I found out by accident and was appalled. no need for it.they will never receive anything from me again.

  • Brittni Herrera says:

    so have they officially become not cruelty free??

  • I know what you mean! They just paste whatever they believe to be relevant, because they don’t understand your question. Dealing with crappy customer service can be pretty frustrating.

  • Karen says:

    And now Too Faced joins Estee Lauder.

  • Kelly says:

    Nooo! This brand quickly became one of my favorites. Once again.. 2 steps forward and 5 steps back. Disappointing.

  • Hannah Peavy says:

    BUT I LOVE BECCA THIER HIGHLIGHTERS ARE BOMB NOOOOOOOOO
    ESTEE LAUDER NEEDS TO STOP BUYING MY FAV BRANDS I already had to quit smash box and MAC for Pete’s sake L’Oreal and Estee Lauder just want the entire makeup industry I s2g…

  • Charlie Stout says:

    NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO PLEASE LET THIS BE WRONG.

  • CarolCats says:

    Oh, no! I had planned to purchase the Becca eye shadow palette this weekend. I refuse to purchase any cosmetics owned by the huge parent companies that sell cosmetics to China. I am certain that other cosmetic companies feature eye shadow palettes as attractive as Becca. Physicians Formula sells a nice eye shadow quad; I have used this same quad for the past several years.

  • shannon says:

    Just when I was considering purchasing their products then I saw the news…. It makes me so sad.

  • Monique says:

    This is so angering, why are these brands selling out left and right! It’s like you finally find a cruelty free brand that you like and then its only a matter of time before they become popular enough to sell out to a larger company.

  • Alcid Jacobs says:

    This makes me so mad. Becca is a brand I love and support and they are going to lose so many customers after selling out to Estee Lauder, including me. I really enjoy their concealer and matte foundation, but now I will not be repurchasing it and will have to find another alternative.

  • julia ❀ says:

    NOPE NOPE N OPE

  • PanyaV says:

    Honestly, with the direction BECCA was already headed [new inferior formulas, collabs with shady people, etc.], I’d already started avoiding the brand. So this isn’t surprising that yet another brand has put profit over morals.

  • cat's got cream says:

    I am so annoyed at this I can’t even find words. I am currently writing up my own cruelty-free brand list for my new blog and this could not have happened at a worse time. I really loved their highlighters and was about to buy a new one, glad I didn’t yet.

  • Jordana R says:

    This is so sad. I only started using BECCA products a few months ago and they had quickly become one of my favourite cruelty free brands. They have been telling people on social media that they’ll be remaining cruelty free but I seriously doubt it. That statement from Lauder doesn’t sound too promising either does it 🙁

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