Saving bunnies with cruelty free skin care since our founding

Webinar by Reviva Labs recorded April 13, 2022 - What do all those symbols mean? And what exactly is cruelty free? Learn how Reviva has always worked to make life better for our furry friends.

Reviva Labs has been committed to using cruelty-free ingredients and methods since our founding in 1973. We’ve always believed that you can be kind to your skin while being kind to animals. And we wish everyone felt the same about our furry friends.

Sadly, using animals as test subjects has been going on for a very long time.  The first known record of animal testing dates back to the 2nd century BC in Greece.  Experiments on animals were conducted as a way to understand the anatomy and biological systems of animals as well as humans. This practice continued for centuries in the name of scientific progress.  

It wasn’t until the mid-nineteenth century that things began to change.  During the Victorian Era many animals became household pets.  Dogs, cats and even birds were celebrated in art and literature during this time.

Dogs were thought to have the virtuous characteristics that echoed the values of the Victorian human world.  They were steadfast, loyal and courageous. Due to this increasingly popular idea of keeping pets in the home, a wide scale opposition to the poor treatment of animals began to take hold in society.

While the Victorians’ emotional attachment to their pets helped create some animal protection laws, it would take nearly 100 more years for real change to happen. 

In 1980, animal rights advocates successfully campaigned to get large cosmetic companies to stop animal testing.  By 1991, a new Center in Europe was created with the mission to oversee the development of alternative test methods to replace the use of animals. Following Europe’s lead, Canada and the United States formed the Coalition for Consumer Information on Cosmetics in 1996, which manages the popular Leaping Bunny Cruelty-Free certification program.

But the outright ban of all animal testing for cosmetics didn’t really take hold until 1998 – a full 25 years AFTER Reviva Labs was founded. The UK was the first to ban animal testing for cosmetics products and ingredients and was followed by Israel, the European Union, Norway, India, New Zealand, Taiwan, Turkey, and South Korea. 

While the United States has yet to pass federal legislation to prohibit cosmetics animal testing and the sale of animal-testing cosmetics, states have been taking matters into their own hands. 

Reviva Labs, which was founded in New Jersey and has proudly operated here for nearly 50 years, was very pleased with our state’s most recent effort to ban testing.  As of March 1 2022, a new law went into effect that will actually extend the existing ban on animal testing on cosmetics.

While cosmetics manufactured in New Jersey were already prohibited from being tested on animals, this new law expands the ban to cosmetics sold in New Jersey even if they’re tested out-of-state.  This finally closes a loophole that had left our furry friends vulnerable. 

Reviva Labs proudly displays the Beauty without Bunnies Peta symbol on all our products.  This certification program is recognized as a quick way of shopping cruelty-free. This PETA Bunny logo means that companies have pledged to PETA that they will not conduct, commission, or pay for any tests on animals.

So, if you want to be confident about whether any part of a skincare product you’re purchasing has not been tested on animals – look for the Bunny.

As stated earlier, Reviva Labs does not and never will test on animals.  But you should know that attitude transcends our business.  Walking through our offices, you will come across plenty of family photos of both furry and non-furry kind.  And, over the years Reviva has supported numerous animal charities, such as Best Friends Humane Society and the Marine Mammal Stranding Center in Brigantine, NJ.

So, if you believe as we do – that great skin care can be, and should be, animal friendly – then Reviva’s the brand for you.

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