Today I want to focus on something that is very close to my heart and I’m aware it won’t be for everyone. I’m conscious that I don’t want this post to be preachy or judgmental but I really would urge you all to consider using cruelty free cosmetics.
There are so many fantastic brands that do not test on animals. Using cruelty free cosmetics isn’t necessarily expensive; budget brands like Wet n Wild and Catrice don’t test on animals. Of course, there are more expensive brands such as Urban Decay and Kat Von D that are free from animal testing. Skincare lines like No7, Trilogy and Ren spare animals. Mane n Tail create fantastic cruelty free hair products and Blank Canvas Cosmetics sell a vegan line of brushes. Original Source vegan shower gels are absolutely gorgeous. The Body Shop sells a multitude of cruelty free products and actively campaigns for a ban on testing.
There are various categories of cruelty free, some companies are vegan, some claim not to test on animals but sell in China and others are owned by parent companies that engage in testing. The simplest way of understanding all of this is that if a company sells in China, they are testing on animals in some capacity as it is illegal to sell in the market without first testing.
I fully understand that for some of you there might be that one product that you can’t do without. Perhaps switching to cruelty free other than that one product is an option. I’m far from perfect and I’m not claiming that I’ve never bought or used products that aren’t cruelty free, however, over the last year I have made a decision not to use products tested on animals. I will not be blogging about products that are not cruelty free. I still have a lot to learn and lot to improve upon.
I was thinking of sharing photos of what animal testing actually looks like but decided against it. These images can be easily googled. I’ll warn you that they are truly horrendous. As I said at the beginning of this post, I don’t want to be judgmental and preachy, my aim is that we could be kinder to animals and think a little bit more about where are products are coming from and how they have been derived. For me, no mascara is worth a helpless animal being tortured and blinded. I’m not ok with rabbits, dogs, guinea pigs etc. being needlessly tortured so my face can look better.