I have been following this issue closely ever since it was announced that Urban Decay was planning on making their products available in China. As many of you know, China requires animal testing to approve products for sale in their country. Urban Decay has always taken a strong stand against this sort of testing, boasting the tag line 'We don't do animal testing. How could anyone?'

For many, this change brought about very intense emotions and conflict as to why their favorite cruelty-free brand made this choice. A choice that would've put their morals and ethics on the back-burner for profit in a new market. While Urban Decay made an official release stating that they wanted to move into China to make a difference from the 'inside', most of their customers did not buy it and they were faced with a massive online backlash, resulting in emails, Facebook and Twitter comments and boycotts.

On Friday July 6 2012, Urban Decay officially cancelled their plans to sell in China and issued this statement:

UD Decides Not to Sell in China

After careful consideration of many issues, we have decided not to start selling Urban Decay products in China. While several factors were important in reaching this decision, ultimately we did not feel we could comply with current regulations in China and remain true to our core principles. We know there are many progressive consumers in China who would embrace an opportunity to purchase non-animal tested products - our hope remains that we have the chance to offer Urban Decay products to these consumers someday in the future.

Following our initial announcement, we realized that we needed to step back, carefully review our original plan, and talk to a number of individuals and organizations that were interested in our decision. We regret that we were unable to respond immediately to many of the questions we received, and appreciate the patience our customers have shown as we worked through this difficult issue.

Since our founding in 1996, we have been committed to ending animal testing in the cosmetics industry. As demonstrated by the renewed support we have received from organizations like PETA and the CCIC, this principle remains at our core. Urban Decay does not test its finished products on animals, nor do we allow others to test on our behalf, and we require our suppliers to certify that the raw materials used in the manufacture of our products are not tested on animals. Urban Decay is proud to be 100% cruelty-free.

If you have additional questions, please email us at info@urbandecay.com.

I'm really happy that they made the choice to stick to their morals and continue the fight against animal testing. As such an unnecessary and archaic process, we need more cosmetic companies to do the same. While many of their fans view may still remain tainted, and for whatever reason prompted them to change their minds, they're still doing the right thing.

How do you feel about the whole situation? Were you part of the boycott? Will you continue to use Urban Decay's products now that they've decided to stay cruelty-free?