Cruelty Free Beauty

Cruelty free products are a sensitive subject for some people and over 90% of women and young girls are against testing on animals yet don't have the right research or money to switch their products.
Over 100 million animals are burned, poisoned, crippled and abused in labs every year. We don't hear enough about this subject, and some people quite frankly don't care because it isn't ''cute animals'' such as kittens or puppies but instead reptiles, mice and birds but what you may not know is that this is incorrect. Kittens, puppies, chimps, rabbits, guinea pigs and rats are also used for testing.

 It is mandatory to test every product that's imported from China, on animals. However the EU have banned the sales of new products tested on animals which come from countries such as China.

Why don't they test on prisoners you may ask? The law says that alternatives to animals are not required even if they are available or willing.

A single make up product or pesticide is required to be tested 50 times on over 12,000 animals. As for cosmetics, the animals are subjected to skin and eye irritation tests in which their fur will be shaved and products put into their eyes and onto their skin without pain relief. Animals are given this product every day for 2 years until they know it is completely ''safe'' to sell.

Some of these statistics only apply to countries outside the UK, however I did stumble upon research about the testing of animals in the United Kingdom for example.

Every product must be tested on two animals, one of which cannot be a rodent and must be an animal such as a tiger or lion.

Basic UK Facts:

• 2.73 million experiments took place in the year of 2002
• 80% are for research and drug development

From these facts we can see that the UK is much more stricter on animal testing, but that doesn't mean it doesn't happen, and in the United Kingdom only 0.3% are cats and dogs, 84% rodents, 12% fish and reptiles, 2.1% large animals, 1.4% small animals and 0% chimps and monkeys.

But changing your products it isn't as hard as it sounds, here I'm going to list companies which DO and DO NOT test on animals. Please don't assume if your products are without doing research about the companies. I've decided to just write down the most popular brands so you know which products you own that are being tested on innocent animals every day.

DO test on animals:                                                                              DO not test on animals:

~ Opi Nail Polish                                                                                Arbonne
~ Essie Nail Polish                                                                             Avon
~ Bath & Body Works                                                                       Barry M
~ Chanel                                                                                             Beauty without Cruelty
~ Sephora                                                                                           The Body Shop
~ Proctor and Gamble                                                                        Bourjois
~ Anna Sui                                                                                         Burts Bees
~ Mac Cosmetics                                                                               Clarins
~ Cover Girl                                                                                       Nivea
~ Max Factor                                                                                      Collection 2000
~ Dove                                                                                                Urban Decay
~ Vaseline                                                                                           NARS
~ Michael Kors                                                                                   Tarte
~ TRESemme                                                                                      Rimmel London
~ Neutrogena                                                                                       Too Faced
~ Sally's Beauty Supplies                                                                    Eco Tools
~ Benefit                                                                                              Essence
                                                                                                             Barbra Daly
                                                                                                             No7
                                                                                                         
Surprised? So was I.
It's hard parting with some of your favourite make up products but on the other hand you can buy something similar or even better from a company that doesn't test on animals and you will have the gratitude of knowing that you've bought from a decent company.

Unfortunately I've had to part with my Baby Lips, Baby Skin and Benefit Bad Gal Lash which is my ultimate favourite mascara EVER and I'm really disappointed in them for choosing to do this and I hope one day they'll change their ways.

If you're thinking of changing your products but you're worried about the costs, worry no more. Sort all your makeup into two piles, one that's tested on animals and the other that isn't. You can then put everything back that is and everything that isn't into a separate make up bag or container.
Use up all these products so you haven't wasted you're money, or throw them out if you're not bothered and from then on only buy from the companies listed above or ones from your own research.

Why should animals suffer for us to wear make up when we can wear make up products, just as good from other companies?
Here is some links to companies you can buy from and websites with advice.

http://www.gocrueltyfree.org/shopper
http://peta.org
http://www.crueltyfreeinternational.org/
http://www.arbonne.com/international.asp