Why I Switched to Cruelty-Free Cosmetics – And You Should Too
Most people love to scroll through their social media feeds and find cute animals such as puppies, kittens, and even bunnies. Well, what if I told you that some of these same animals are being used in laboratories to test on our cosmetics. Yes, companies hire labs to hurt animals so that we can have makeup to put on our faces. How cruel is that?
Think about how many cosmetic and personal care items you use every day. You probably take a shower, so you use shampoo, conditioner, and body wash. Then we put your makeup on. Maybe you will wipe down your desk with a cleaning product. Have you ever stopped to wonder what goes into the production of these products?
Some companies hire laboratories to test their final products on animals. In other instances, companies ask other companies to test individual ingredients on animals on their behalf. Many of these tests involve painful and traumatic experiences for animals such as guinea pigs, bunnies, mice, and rats. There are many photos and videos of animals in horrible squalid conditions with rashes and burns all over their bodies. I will not include any of these images, as many are extremely graphic, but I will include a link here if you would like to see them for yourself. (Here is a detailed article from the Humane Society of the United States which lists many of the harmful tests animals endure).
If you use any products from any of the companies below, somewhere in the production line that product was tested on an animal (this list is not exhaustive):
- Aussie
- Aveeno
- Bath & Body Works
- Chapstick
- Clorox
- Colgate
- Covergirl
- Degree
- EOS
- Estee Lauder
- Febreze
- Gain
- Glamglow
- Johnson & Johnson
- Khiel’s
- L’Oreal
- MAC
- Maybelline
- Neutrogena
- Olay
- Pantene
- Revlon
- Rimmel London
- Suave
- Victoria’s Secret
As you can see by this list, many companies use animal testing to test if their products are safe to be used on human skin. However, not only are these animals cruelly abused, animal testing is not always scientifically accurate. Think about it: if a lab tests the effect of a lotion on a bunny’s skin, why would it have the same effect on human skin? Technology is so advanced now that there is absolutely no need for animal testing. There are many alternatives, and more accurate, ways to test the safety of a product for human use. For example, scientists can make artificial human skin to test skin sensitivities to products instead of harming rabbits.
I made the choice to go cruelty-free in 2016 after being presented with all of this evidence, seeing the disgusting, horrible conditions that lab animals are kept in and seeing the pain they must endure, all for us to feel a little more beautiful. I realized that having these animals suffer for my beauty is not worth it. For me, the switch to cruelty-free beauty was not too difficult. I find that going cruelty-free is more difficult in the areas of toothpaste, cleaning products, and hair care products.
Unfortunately, some countries, most notably China, require personal care products and cosmetics to be tested on animals by law. There are some ways around this requirement, but many companies do not do this to take full advantage of the massive market that exists in China. Thus, if a company sells their products in mainland China or claims that they only test on animals where required by law, they are not considered cruelty free because they are still testing on animals themselves or asking others to do so on their behalf. There are many governments that already ban animal testing, so other countries should follow suit. In the United States, there is only one law, the Animal Welfare Act of 1966, which only sets minimum standards of how animals are maintained in a facility, not to regulate how they are used for research purposes. If you would like to take direct action to ban animal testing in the United States, here is a link to directly email your representative to persuade them to pass the Humane Cosmetics Act.
Fortunately, finding cruelty free makeup is much easier than you may think. In fact, some of the companies you may already purchase products from may be cruelty free! Here is a brief list of cruelty free companies:
- Alba Botanica
- Ardell
- bareMinerals
- Beautyblender
- Colourpop
- Dermalogica
- Drybar
- Elf
- Essence
- First Aid Beauty
- Glossier
- It Cosmetics
- LUSH
- Milani
- Morphe
- NYX
- Paul Mitchell
- Physicians Formula
- Real Techniques
- Shea Moisture
- Stila
- Tarte
- The Body Shop
- Tom’s of Maine
- Too Faced
- Urban Decay
- Wet n Wild
An important piece of information to keep in mind with cruelty free companies is that sometimes their parent company is not cruelty free, but the individual company is cruelty free. For example, L’Oreal owns NYX cosmetics. L’Oreal, the parent company, is not cruelty free, but NYX, the individual company, is cruelty free. Some people decide to not buy from companies such as NYX because they feel that they are indirectly financially supporting the parent company. For myself, I continue to buy from companies such as NYX because I believe that if companies such as L’Oreal see that their cruelty free subsidiaries are doing better (i.e. earning more money) than their non-cruelty free counterparts, this will send a message to the parent company to consider making itself cruelty free. It is up to you if you choose to support companies such as NYX; in my opinion, I do not see any harm in it.
In recent news, Unilever, a large cosmetics and personal care company, announced that it would support Human Society International’s #BeCruetlyFree campaign by removing animal testing from one of its subsidiaries, Dove. This is exciting news for the cruelty free beauty community and shows that companies are starting to listen to consumers who want animal testing to be banned.
Here are a few sites and blogs I recommend to check out if you want to know where you can buy cruelty free cosmetics and personal care items (many of these sites list vegan options as well):
I know going cruelty free is not always easy, especially when there are products that you absolutely love from non-cruelty free brands. I know I am not perfect and am still phasing out non-cruelty free brands out of my routine. It is not easy to shop ethically, but at the very least thinking abut these issues, being aware of them, and talking about them helps to spread the word and hopefully make a positive difference in this world. Remember – we vote with our dollar.