Animal Testing

Quinessence Aromatherapy is strongly against the practice of testing cosmetics on animals, and has held this view since the company was founded back in 1986. As a compassionate and responsible company we have always believed it to be abhorrent to use animals to test the safety of cosmetic products, especially since there have always been other, more humane methods of evaluating safety.

Since the 1980's it has been widely known that the results of product and ingredient tests on animal skin do not necessarily give an accurate indication of a possible outcome on human skin. Despite this, around the world large numbers of testing laboratories have been set up to conduct this barbaric practice on an industrial scale.

Due to our stance on animal testing, in 1986 we enforced a strict company policy regarding this important ethical issue, and we have always promised that we will never, ever, change it.

Quinessence Policy Statement

"No product, or ingredient of any product, has ever been tested on animals by Quinessence since its foundation - nor will there ever be a case to do so. Furthermore, we do not use the services of any other research establishment to conduct animal testing on our behalf, either on a product or any product ingredient.

Quinessence operates a strict policy to never purchase products or ingredients from suppliers or intermediary agents who have conducted, commissioned or been party to animal testing for cosmetics on them, since our company began.

Therefore, we require annual written assurances from each of our suppliers to ensure that the ingredients they sell to us comply with our policy, which stipulates that no animal testing is conducted or commissioned for finished cosmetic products or ingredients by the company, its laboratories or its suppliers.

Our commitment to this policy is such that if any of the ingredients we use were found not to be compliant with our standards, we would seek an alternative supplier for the relevant ingredients, or if necessary remove them from our product range."

Company Director

Natural botanical

Quinessence products contain natural ingredients that have been derived from entirely botanical origins. Every one of these vegetable-derived extracts provides beneficial healing and beautifying effects that have been employed safely and effectively for centuries on humans. Over the years, the evidence for the safety of these (and many other) botanical ingredients was claimed to be purely anecdotal - despite there already being plenty of scientific evidence to the contrary.

Today, there is now a vast amount of scientifically derived information supporting the safe use of the botanical ingredients used in Quinessence products. and most importantly, modern testing methods using computer modelling programs to predict the outcome of using cosmetic ingredients on human skin produce far more accurate results than by inflicting suffering on animals for the sake of beauty.

The fight continues

Due to the development of such software using advanced algorithms that interrogate large chemical databases, it became illegal to test cosmetic products or their ingredients on animals throughout the European Union in July 2013. This means that it is now illegal to sell or market a cosmetic product if animal testing has taken place on the finished cosmetic or its ingredients when it is sold within the EU. Sadly, animal testing for cosmetic products still continues in other countries around the world.

Every year millions of laboratory animals across the world are subjected to pain and suffering in crude and unreliable experiments to test cosmetics and household products and their chemical ingredients. Perfumes, shampoos, tooth-pastes, hair dyes, skin creams, make-up, deodorants: all of these and more are tested on animals. Quinessence continues to argue that such testing on animals is abhorrent, unethical, unnecessary and should be banned everywhere - permanently.

Organisations such as Cruelty Free International are still working to end animal experiments worldwide. They investigate and expose what really goes on in animal testing laboratories, and champion better science and cruelty-free living.

People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) has more than 3 million members and supporters, and is currently considered the largest animal rights organization in the world. PETA focuses its attention on the four areas in which the largest numbers of animals suffer the most intensely for the longest periods of time: on factory farms, in laboratories, in the clothing trade, and in the entertainment industry.

Please help put an end to animal testing in the name of beauty, and lend support to one of these, or any other organisation that fights against animal cruelty, in any form.

Copyright © Quinessence Aromatherapy Ltd 2019. Written by Sue Charles

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