‘We have only ever offered products our clients can trust and we stand by the people and partners who have made the Sephora experience what it is today’

Beauty giant Sephora has ditched mink-fur eyelashes and will only purchase synthetic or faux-fur lashes moving forward.

Sephora’s decision comes after a campaign by animal charity PETA and emails from more than 280,000 concerned shoppers urging the brand to go cruelty-free.

In an official statement to Allure, the beauty brand said: “At Sephora, we have always been committed to upholding the highest standards of beauty, and we take our responsibility to communicate transparently and honestly with our clients about the products we carry seriously.

“As we shared with PETA, earlier this year we had already decided to begin phasing mink products out of our assortment in 2020. We have only ever offered products our clients can trust and we stand by the people and partners who have made the Sephora experience what it is today.”

With this move, the French multinational personal grooming brand joins Tarte, Too Faced, and Urban Decay in ditching mink.

Cruel fur farms

PETA, who also released a graphic video to highlight the cruelty of fur farms said in a statement: “Mink fur typically comes from fur farms, where stressed minks frantically pace and circle endlessly inside cramped wire cages and many languish from infections or broken or malformed limbs.

“Some minks even self-mutilate as a result of the intensive confinement, chewing into their own limbs or tails. At the end of their miserable lives, they’re gassed or electrocuted or their necks are broken.”

Warning: Graphic content.

PETA Executive Vice President Tracy Reiman added: ““There’s no difference between a mink coat and mink eyelashes when it comes to animal suffering.

 “PETA is celebrating Sephora’s decision to join Tarte, Too Faced, Urban Decay, and the scores of other brands that know that there’s nothing beautiful about stealing an animal’s fur.”

Go fur free

The group is now calling on brands such as Velour and Lily that earlier supplied Sephora to go fur free. The animal charity added that these brands are deceiving customers by using dubious marketing tactics. It said that while Velour says its mink lashes are “ethically sourced”, Lily calls its lashes “vegan.”

• Read: Dutch parliament votes for early closure of all 128 mink fur farms following COVID-19 outbreaks

Share this story to let others know of Sephora’s decision.