Have you read about the boycott of MAC cosmetics? Maybe I'm a little late learning about this, but apparently after the Estee Lauder Companies acquired MAC, the formulations have become of lesser quality.

Here is an excerpt from The Makeup Artist Message Board (I corrected any grammatical or spelling errors):

The Estee Lauder Companies (who acquired complete ownership of MAC Cosmetics in 1997) have methodically diluted and changed the professional quality of the "original" MAC Cosmetics to "consumer friendly" levels, making them unable to stand up to the needs of many professional makeup artists. This was only the beginning of the new money making plans coming from the Estee Lauder marketing geniuses.

The "original" MAC, as a courtesy, extended a pro discount card (the PPID card) to working makeup artists, hair stylists and even actors. Within a year of taking over the company, MAC/Estee Lauder instituted a yearly "membership" fee ($35) that had to be paid before they would renew/replace a PPID discount card.

So now you have to PAY to get a DISCOUNT? No other cosmetic company in the world that offers a Pro Discount Program charges for it.

And this was just the beginning of the insulting, unethical behavior the 'new' MAC would inflict on the artist community that made them famous...

The Estee Lauder Companies/MAC Division has aggressively approached designers, production companies, photographers, advertising agencies, etc. and offered them tons of gratis makeup and free use of "their" staff makeup artists in exchange for product placement or production credit. They have even gone as far as paying CASH to get their foot in the door of some agencies/companies.

Personally, I stopped purchasing from MAC because I noticed they no longer carried the lipstick I liked (Folio), and their lipglass formulations look a little different now; however, I have used Estee Lauder products, and I don't find them to be all that horrible as people claim. I was thinking about joining this boycott, but then . . .

See, the Estee Lauder company also owns some lines that I admire, specially Aveda and Origins. If you're going to boycott MAC, shouldn't you also boycott all of the companies under Estee Lauder's umbrella? I for one would rather boycott a company that still tests on animals, over the fact that makeup artists have to pay a yearly fee. Nobody ever told you to become a (starving) makeup artist, just as nobody ever told me to become a (starving) social/mental health worker. That's just the way things are right now, and, with the state of the economy, I highly doubt that things will improve.

We've got banks buying out banks by the dozen, and Alan Greenspan saying that the depression we're in is the worst he's seen since the 30's. Yeah, well, I don't want to be the spoilsport, but I seriously do not think that boycotting MAC is going to work. Lots of people still like MAC and will continue to buy from them.

In my opinion, there are a lot more things one could do constructively with one's time. Saving MAC eyeshadow or saving the whales? Hmm. Which one would be more important to us right now as a human species? And what about the state of the economy? The buyout of MAC and the furor over this is just another brick in the wall, a symptom of a society that's out of touch.

I, for one, will continue to use Estee Lauder products, whether they are from Estee Lauder, Aveda, or Origins. I would rather think about animal welfare and the environment first, before something as superficial as MAC makeup. And, there are plenty of other much more important things to boycott. Boycotting larger and much more destructive companies like McDonald's for instance, would start the domino effect and make it easier to create a new society where things are "fair." Until things are fair, stuff like this will continue to happen.

And for those complaining about how greedy Estee Lauder executives are, well, you just can't look at that picture and think that the the entire human species will be able to have their cake and eat it too, not for very long anyway. The greed and inhumanity at the top will eventually trickle down and affect everything that we touch. Until we open our eyes to this fact, don't expect to be treated any better than the poor animal in the photo.