Something that has been doing the rounds on the beauty network lately has been posts about cruelty free products and bloggers opinions about animal testing.
The majority of products i own come from companies that are certified cruelty free, and until recently i honestly thought my whole collection was. However i have been horrified to discover, since reading up on the subject that i do own a few items that may have been tested on animals.
I am a vegetarian and try my best to stay clear of any animal by-products ( i do own some leather shoes but the majority i have are synthetic) however i have a terrible problem of short sightedness where i just forget to check. It's pretty inexcusable but it's the truth. There are companies that i know never animal test (because they make it well known), some i know that definately do and stay well clear of and then some i don't know. Usually i will google a company to check but sometimes i just forget and when that happens i generally just forget that such a barbaric thing exists. There are also some companies that i have been informed don't test on animals or vice versa and then discover the person who told me was mistaken. For instance i was told that Lancome were cruelty free and so happily started purchasing from them. Turns out this is completely incorrect and now i feel very guilty for owning several Lancome mascaras.
Thankfully a law is coming into effect in 2013 which will see that no products being made in the EU will be tested on animals and it will be illegal to sell products in the UK that have been tested outside the EU. This is amazing news and I just wish it could come into effect sooner.
From now on i am going to be absolutely stringent about what i buy and keep a list of cruelty free companies with me at all times so whenever i need to buy anything i will be able to check on the list.
Having recently found out that a lot of companies i assumed were cruelty free are not i have been feeling an awful amount of guilt. And so instead of just wallowing in self pity I am going to take action.
I am not going to throw out the products i own already that may not be cruelty free as that would be wasteful but i will be getting rid of them and will never purchase from these brands again, and if i were to get them as gifts from nowi would not use them. From now on shall never feature or even mention anything in my blog made by them or any companies that do test * This blog will now be 100% cruelty free.
There is absolutely no excuse for cosmetics to be tested on animals. There are so many good alternative and it is simply a barbaric practice. It's a cause that is close to my heart for many reasons.
So i apologise for my stupidity in the past. My ignorance is just really unforgiveable and i can just hope that i can make up for it in even the slightest way in the future.
Here are some wonderful resources to give information about cruelty free companies.
Buav website
Companies that DON'T test
Peta's caring consumers
* Of course sometimes things are not always black and white. For instance i have been informed that while L'oreal does or has previously tested on animals it also pours huge amounts of money into research into cruelty free alternative. Also some companies on the list have tested on animals in the past but no longer do so. And then there are ingredients tested on animals by one company, deemed to be safe and so then used by another company. This second company can then use the ingredient that has in the past been tested but as they have not done the testing themselves they are considere cruelty free. To be on the safe side I will be avoiding all the companies on the list that do test until after 2013 when the legislation comes in.
I hope that the Us will follow this example!
ReplyDeleteMy company is cruelty free and I refuse to order supplies from any source that does animal testing in any department. It's harder than you'd think to find companies (suppliers) that are 100% cruelty free, but it is possible.
i totally agree with you. It hard to tell if a company does test on animals or not because sometimes its not on the packaging. Although the majority of companies that are cruelty free do state it clearly on the packaging. Face Of Australia is one company that i keep coming back to for that reason. Also their products are pretty good for the prices they set and they offer a generous amount of product (woohoo!)
ReplyDeleteSorry about that little rant lol
I just found out yesterday that most of the bigger companies like Unilever, Procter & Gamble and Johnson & Johnson test on animals. And I have some of their products like deodorant and shower gel. Will have to change them before the law comes :)
ReplyDeleteJust do people know, although the Law coming into place protects the entire product being tested, it DOES NOT protect from individual ingredients which is the main problem.
ReplyDeleteLots of companies will claim that products are 'not tested on animals' but will use several ingredients that were, you really need to do your research, BUAV are really the only people you can trust regarding this as well, seeing as half the work PETA do is completely wrong/illegal. xx
so* not do!
ReplyDeleteLancome? Oh no! :( guess I need to find a new mascara...
ReplyDeleteGlad you found the list! I was gonna email you it.
ReplyDeleteI agree 100% with your article but I don't think that you should throw your products away! PETA gave a whole load of old fur coats to the homeless because there was nothing they could do for those animals - they were already dead. There is nothing you can do with your cosmetics except use them. You have already invested the money in the company unfortunately!
ReplyDeleteI didn't realise that cosmetic companies still tested on animals, I thought that idea had disappeared in the 90's... I will be more stringent with my purchases too from now on!
x
Animal tested products seem to be common here in Canada and in North America in general. I try to be vigilant when buying cosmetics but I continue to be surprised by high-end brands like Lancome.
ReplyDeleteIt's just so unnecessary I don't know why they do it. With pharmaceuticals I can sort of see why although I don't agree with this either but makeup?
Evil Angel:
ReplyDeleteYeah that would be wonderful!
I'm so glad to hear you've found a good supplier, even if it is so difficult :)
Angie:
Oooh that sounds good, but i assume as the name is 'Face Of Australia' it probably won't be available over here :P
Duvessa:
Yeah it's awful that so many big companies test :( It's also really difficult to keep up with how many brands are actually part of those big companies! At least it will all be better by 2013 :)
posielsie:
Oh boo :( It's so hard to keep up with it all! I'll just have to do my best.
Jade Carver:
Yeah, their Oscillation was my holy grail! :(
Anonymous:
Aww cheers whoever you are :)
Ashling:
Oh no, like i said it would just be a waste to throw them away. I'm going to use up the things i've opened and give away any i haven't started.
It's really depressing that it's still happening so much :(
Glowing Doll:
I know, it always just seems like the more expensive, luxury brands should be more ethical, but it's just not the way :(
And i agree. For medicinal reasons i still think it's wrong (and utterly fallible. There was a time a while back when some human test patients nearly all died after the products had been tested on animals and declared safe) but at least it could mean some human lives got saved. Still not ethical but better than just testing out nail varnish or something that could lead to a rash or whatever.
Animal tested products seem to be common here in Canada and in North America in general. I try to be vigilant when buying cosmetics but I continue to be surprised by high-end brands like Lancome.
It's just so unnecessary I don't know why they do it. With pharmaceuticals I can sort of see why although I don't agree with this either but makeup?
I can't believe Shiseido tests on animals!!! Bad move! I can't trow away my beloved 25€'s gel liner, but I certainly will not purchase again!
ReplyDeleteI read somewhere in their site that L'Orèal stopped testing on animals...but whatever, 'cos I hardly buy anything from them!
And I guess I will have to find a good replacement for my Max Factor mascara :(
I've read that L'oreal is/was one of the BIGGEST testers on animals, as in they did it in such huge amounts, on sooooooooo many animals way more than any other company. I don't care if they change now, as far as I'm concerned it's too late and they obviously don't care about animals, only money and changed to get more sales. They also do sneaky things like buying The Body Shop company which was famous for it's stance on animal testing back in the day and then started using tested ingredients, basically as a fake front so they could still do dodgy stuff and seem all lovely to those uninformed. If they donate money, it's purely to make themselves look better so they can get more sales overall. There are way better make-up companies that don't need trick people into thinking they're ethical.
ReplyDelete