L'Oreal
The company has invested 900 million euros (S$1.46 billion) in researching alternative methods to animal testing over the past 30 years.
Ranked No. 1 in the WWD Beauty Inc Top 100 list last year, the company has 27 brands in its stable, including Shu Uemura, Lancome and Yves Saint Laurent Beaute. The group uses predictive tools, such as reconstructed skin models and computer modelling, to test its products.
It has set up a centre for predictive evaluation near Lyon, France, which produces 130,000 skin models a year. The models are made of human skin samples that were banked and grown. These allow L'Oreal to test more than a thousand of its products for safety yearly. It sells its skin models to other companies in other sectors too.
L'Oreal is also working on Asian skin models and has shared its knowledge of alternative methods with the Chinese authorities.
Unilever
Besides food and homecare brands, the group also owns more than 15 personal care brands, including Dove, Rexona and Sunsilk.
Since 2004, the British-Dutch company has invested 3 million euros (S$4.8 million) a year in alternatives to animal testing. It has also shared its findings with government agencies. Last year, it held a joint workshop with the Chinese State Food and Drug Administration in Beijing on alternatives to animal testing for cosmetics safety assessment.
Its Safety & Environmental Assurance Centre has also published more than 300 scientific articles on the development and application of alternative approaches to consumer safety risk assessments.
Proctor & Gamble
On top of household care brands, the American conglomerate oversees more than 50 beauty and grooming labels. These include SK-II, Olay and Pantene.
P&G is investing more than US$275 million (S$343 million) in developing alternative methods. It is developing and adapting more than 50 such methods and many of these are faster than corresponding ones which use animals and are also more predictive of environmental or health effects.
Shiseido
The Japanese beauty giant announced in February that it will eliminate animal testing in its development of cosmetic products and quasi-drugs from next month, except when required by law.
Its new safety assurance system is a three-pronged approach that comprises comprehensive information analysis; alternative testing methods conducted on cells and artificial skin; and patch tests on human subjects under the supervision of a doctor.
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