This Just In: Sephora Announces It Will Stop Selling Mink False Eyelashes

In a world where positive news is all too infrequent, today we can breathe a sigh of relief that at least *some* things are going in the right direction. Sephora has just announced that it will stop selling mink false eyelashes online and in its stores. It will phase out the current mink eyelashes in stock, and only purchase and sell synthetic lashes going forward. This is in the footsteps of cruelty-free brands like Tarte, Too Faced, and Urban Decay that have committed to not using fur in their products.

Although many consumers might assume false eyelashes are made of human hair or synthetic hair, they are often made of the fur of minks. These animals are raised in tiny wire cages and go insane from confinement; like other farmed animals, they take out their distress through abnormal behaviors like cannibalism. Also like other farmed animals, their cages are ridden with waste, pests, and dead animals. After living their entire lives in such atrocious conditions, they are killed by breaking the neck, electrocution, or asphyxiation in a gas chamber.

Despite this, Sephora had marketed its mink eyelashes as “cruelty-free.” Other brands also falsely claim that minks are not harmed in the making of their products: Velour says its fur lashes are “ethically sources,” while Lilly Lashes says its mink lashes are, illogically, “vegan.”

Sephora’s announcement came as the result of a PETA campaign (yay, thanks PETA!), which exposes the cruelty of farming animals for lash products. (Click here to see the PETA announcement and video.) While the injustice of exploiting animals for food is by now, more widely known, that of farming animals for fur, wool, feathers, and leather is less accepted. We hope that this becomes an opportunity for people to understand and care about the less-known animal-derived products in their lives, like makeup brushes, down pillows and comforters, wool garments, lanolin, and countless more items.

For a fluttery gaze that is completely cruelty-free, we recommend this makeup-artist-trick to get a falsie-look with only a mascara. Here’s our favorite vegan mascara of all time.

Blinc Mascara is cruelty-free and insanely effective.

Revitalash Advanced Lash Conditioner is an investment, but I can vouch that the stuff *works*. My normally lackluster lashes grow out of control long and thick while using it! It even gives my lashes a lift so it’s not really necessary to use an eyelash curler.