We hate the idea that, in order to create a mascara that thickens and lengthens our fabulous lashes, poor, defenseless animals had to endure testing. We absolutely hate it. However, while it's easy for us to tell the cosmetics companies that they need to find an alternative, doing so isn't as easy as all that. There wasn't an approved alternative to animal testing until now.Yes, there were companies with cruelty-free products, but what that really means is that they're not testing anything new -- however, what they are using has already been tested on animals and approved. Now, however, the FDA, EPA, and CPSC have all approved two new alternatives to animal testing for eye damage.
The two methods are bovine corneal opacity and permeability (BCOP) assay and the isolated chicken eye (ICE) assay, and they should significantly reduce (and hopefully, eliminate) the need for animal testing for eye products, especially those products expected to cause the most pain. And while these methods do use animal tissue, it is tissue from animals who have already been slaughtered for food.
We wish it hadn't taken so long for this step to be made, but we're happy to see it finally happen. Now we can only hope that animal testing alternatives will be approved for damage to areas other than the eye soon!