CONFIRMED & UPDATED: Cruelty Free Brand Wet n Wild Selling In China?! || Rivet Licker

Cruelty Free Kitty broke the story that a Wet n Wild stand was found in Watsons Pharmacy in Shanghai, China.

Image description: wet n wild beauty display display in a pharmacy.
Image via Cruelty Free Kitty

Could Wet n Wild have entered China for real?

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I woke up to find this post shared in Phyrra's group on Facebook. I looked at it and immediately thought that this scenario seemed so familiar. The speculation immediately started. (That's what this post is, speculation, there is no solid evidence as of yet for this situation.)



'This doesn't sound legitimate,' I thought.

Really, if Wet n Wild entered China for real, we would have heard about it and they would have used one of the methods below.

Method 1
WnW entered China as its own distributor and removed its Cruelty Free status, but was lying about it. Seems unlikely.

Method 2
WnW entered China in the same way as Nudestix, by setting up manufacturing exclusively for the Chinese market and therefore bypassing mandatory pre and post market testing on imports.

Wet n Wild stated that it has no retail partners in mainland China.

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What I think happened.

China is notorious for having loose copyright laws, which could mean that these are completely counterfeit, and convincing, right down to the display. I personally don't think that this is the likely scenario, but speculation

Daigous (buyers) have been scouting products to buy in bulk and resell directly to their consumers. This includes the black market for baby formula, hence why Australian retailers strictly limit the sale of product, especially when it is on sale. Perhaps a ring of daigous purchased bulk amounts of the product and sent it back home? This is very plausible, given the demand of consumers. Many Australian brands are found in China this way.

The individual pharmacy imported the products themselves to sell. It's not illegal, well, not in Australia, anyway, but the likelihood of this branch in the franchise purchasing their own products, whether from the US, EU, a Hong Kong/Macau/Taiwan based partner, or even from the manufacturers themselves leaves a very likely scenario. I have seen posts in beauty groups of individual Priceline Pharmacy stores selling fake Kylie Cosmetics products. This was rectified by Priceline's corporate entity, Australian Pharmaceutical Industries (API).

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Are the products real or fake?

There is no knowing right now. Until Wet n Wild come out with a statement on this matter, we are in the dark.

I personally believe that this is at no fault of Wet n Wild. There just seems to be too much to give up, and I am hoping that this is the case.

WHAT DO YOU THINK?

Look out for further news via
@esteelaundry
@teabyaliyt
@beautynewsofficial
@phyrra
@logicalharmony

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UPDATE 22 MAY 2019 (GMT +10, SYDNEY TIME)

Emily Wolf Beauty posted the official response from WnW in the Phyrra Facebook group.

Image via Emily Wolf Beauty

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TRANSCRIPT

wet n wild  

a message from our brand  

'wet n wild does not test its products on animals. wet n wild is a global brand for beauty lovers, inclusive of all ages, ethnicities, skin colors, ideologies and economic statuses. Cruelty-free has and always will remain a key pillar of our brand. In 2018, Watsons began offering our products to beauty enthusiasts in China via a pilot program with 30 stores. wet n wild products sold in China are domestically manufactured in China, and as do not require animal testing.Since 2014, China no longer requires animal testing for domestic non-special use cosmetics. wet n wild products were able to enter the Chinese market maintaining our commitment to providing customers cruelty-free, high-quality, on-trend products they can feel good about buying and wearing. As a trusted leader in cruelty-free beauty, we will continue working closely with the Chinese government, and all governments, to adhere to our strict guidelines for cruelty-free beauty globally.'

 Stefano Curti
Global President

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As I suspected, but not had expected, Wet n Wild seem to be using the same method to Nudestix (albeit, some disagree with whether their policy is the same and we cannot be sure yet).

Depending on who you ask, this brand is trying to maintain Cruelty Free status, but it may not meet the criteria of truly CF of some. This is where I urge you to use your best judgement. Will I be purchasing products? Not sure yet.

Which 'Pilot Program' are they taking part in? The only officially recognized program is via Leaping Bunny, however, it doesn't seem that they are on their list.

22 MAY 2019 - LOGICAL HARMONY HAS RELEASED AN IGTV VIDEO ABOUT HAVING REMOVED WET N WILD FROM THEIR CRUELTY FREE BRANDS LIST.

Logical Harmony's Instagram post

View this post on Instagram

I am very sad to be writing this post right now. @wetnwildbeauty is no longer going to be on the Logical Harmony Cruelty-Free Brand List. I am very sad that even this morning Wet n Wild was telling customers that they were not sold in China. Only to reveal that not only are they sold there, but they have been for some time. . Brand honesty and transparency is a huge focus of mine with Logical Harmony and I am deeply disappointed in the lack of both in this situation. This is a big blow to the cruelty-free community and I am deeply saddened by this. . While it is true that there are some ways brands can avoid pre-market animal testing, post-market animal testing laws are still in place. These are not laws that brands can simply say no to or avoid. I have some recent posts on Logical Harmony about this that will be in my stories, and I will be sharing more soon. . Some of the pre-market animal testing laws have been reduced. These steps first started to be taken in 2014, but pre-market animal testing for cosmetics sold in China is still required in most cases. When it comes to non-special use products, it's very tricky with cosmetics to determine what falls into these categories. It's not black and white and it's not simple. . Post-market animal testing is still a huge factor in the Chinese market. The government does not have to notify the brands that they are conducting these tests. From what I have been told, the government also has brands sign statements before entering the market agreeing to these tests and the costs of them are included in fees the brand pays the government. . #crueltyfree #wetnwild #logicalharmony #logicalharmonyapproved #wetnwildbeauty #veganbeauty #crueltyfreemakeup #veganmakeup #wetnwildcosmetics

A post shared by Tashina Combs (@logicalharmony) on May 21, 2019 at 5:52pm PDT

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UPDATE 23 May 2019 (GMT +10, SYDNEY TIME)

Cruelty Free Kitty posted that WnW was aware of their presence in China and mislead customers.

@veganmakeupshare posted about e.l.f. Cosmetics being spotted in China with statement from the brand.

Phyrra posted her thoughts on WnW's CF status and concurrent events of e.l.f. Cosmetics being spotted in China, or watch the video below (direct link).

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UPDATE 24 May 2019 (GMT +10, SYDNEY TIME)

Jen Luvs Reviews video goes into detail about China's laws for broader audiences.

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Updates will be posted as soon as new information becomes available. I'll hopefully be posting them on Instagram Stories - @rivetlicker

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Have you ever seen products sold in reputable places where they normally wouldn't be? Let me know in the comments!

This post is presented as an opinion piece. For more information, please read my Disclosure Policy.