A group of vocal vegans have stormed the cosmetics department of Myer's Melbourne CBD store to protest against the testing of beauty products on animals.
About 100 animal welfare advocates disrupted the Bourke Street store on Sunday afternoon bearing signs that proclaimed "It's not beauty, it's violence" and "Beauty is pain".
"We don't need to harm animals to live healthy and happy lives," vegan group Direct Action Everywhere's Joanne Lee told AAP.
"We're now entering an era where there's a lot of information out there that supports a vegan life."
Ms Lee hoped the disruption would shed light on the "suffering and violence" brought upon animals that are used to test beauty products.
Animal rights protesters gathered at Myer in Melbourne on Sunday. Source: Supplied
"Animals used for testing are being restrained and tortured for months," she said.
"They are having chemicals rubbed onto their skin, dripped into their eyes and force fed down their throats.
"At the end of a test cycle, the animals are killed."
She said there are a growing number of valid ways to test beauty products without animals, as well as many vegan beauty brands.
"Our beauty products should not and need not be at the expense of an animal's life," Ms Lee said.
"Their lives are their right, and what is happening to them is unjust, needless violence."
