Beauty

[shoppersince1989]

I appreciate all the info here.  I'm trying to do right after all these years, and buying so many beauty items.

It may take me awhile to get this right, but I will.

And Happy, do you prefer Paula's site over others?   

thanks!

[HappyDaze]

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@nomoaa wrote:

I appreciate all the info here.  I'm trying to do right after all these years, and buying so many beauty items.

It may take me awhile to get this right, but I will.

And Happy, do you prefer Paula's site over others?   

thanks!

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Actually I haven't checked Paula's in awhile because when I did, I found alot of her information about cruelty free lines to be incorrect, which she did have a disclaimer at that time stating that all the information may not be correct, which I appreciated. I believe she has revamped her cruelty free information a bit now but I believe she states that she will give a company cruelty free rating even if their parent company DOES test so that doesn't fly with me so I don't really rely on her information.

I look at leaping bunny and peta mainly and then I do further research (checking brands' website pages, faq, etc,) and find out who the parent company is and if they test. I then ask them questions about ingredient sources. For example, in IT cosmetics, the hydrolyzed collagen comes from (killed) fish. And sometimes squalene is sourced from animals rather than plants like olives. A few people have suggested the Beagle freedom project as a good source and I do need to check them out and see what they are all about and how accurate they are.

If you are okay with cruelty free brands owned by a parent company that tests (some people are), then leaping bunny is a really good site imo. I don't believe they delineate between the parent company's status an the particular brand's status.

Good luck to you and thanks for trying to choose brands that are cruelty free. We really don't need animals to suffer for our beauty products. Many times they do not have similar biological pathways so even if we test on them and they don't show a reaction, it does NOT mean that we won't! Also, almost all ingredients these days have already been tested in the past so there is no need to continuously do so! Plus, of course, the obvious- it simply is not right. Beauty products are not essential to human life!

Okay, off my soapbox now.

[bella-luna]

nomoaa - Hi! I'm not Happy, but I just wanted to say good for you! There is so much information out there and it can be confusing and overwhelming. Give yourself time, you'll get the hang of it! One little tip I would give is that there can be some grey areas in searching for CF products, so it might be good if you can decide what your definition of being cruelty free is. I personally don't buy from companies if their parent company is a tester (i.e. tarte, bare minerals, Urban Decay, Burt's Bees, Almay, NYX just to name a few). But, that's just me. :-)

I never hesitate to contact a company directly, but a couple of my favorite resources are: Leaping Bunny and Logical Harmony.

[kcladyz]

I think its a waste of time to buy products not animal tested for we all still eat  meat and poultry from animals that were horrible abused in slaughter houses. There is no difference. if you shop cruelity free products then how about shoopping cruelity free meat? or be a vegetarian all together?

[HappyDaze]

this is an inane argument for those who just simply don't care about animal testing or don't want to give up their products they love, which is fine but just say you don't want to give up your beloved products but don't try to make the excuse that it is a waste of time and compare it to eating food or using medicines to survive.

But I don't get into these discussions as no one can convince me torturing animals for silly beauty products is okay and that it is a waste of time to forgo products that do this. It is really sad to think people feel this way.

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@kcladyz wrote:

I think its a waste of time to buy products not animal tested for we all still eat  meat and poultry from animals that were horrible abused in slaughter houses. There is no difference. if you shop cruelity free products then how about shoopping cruelity free meat? or be a vegetarian all together?

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[aprilskies]

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@kcladyz wrote:

I think its a waste of time to buy products not animal tested for we all still eat  meat and poultry from animals that were horrible abused in slaughter houses. There is no difference. if you shop cruelity free products then how about shoopping cruelity free meat? or be a vegetarian all together?

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ITA with you kcladyz.  I think we need to be aware of all of it and make better choices.  One isn't better than the other.  However, to say that it is a waste of time is so sad.  We have to start somewhere and maybe slowly people will become aware and make changes.  Do we really need an animal harmed to slathered some stuff on our faces?

I have changed my diet to "mostly" vegetarian.  On a rare occasion, I will eat fish.  I changed it after I watched a few documentaries.  It was heartbreaking and I cant believe the cruelty.  If I ever go back to eating meat, I will seek out cruelty free, if there is such a thing. 

Food and medicine is such a tricky and complicated issue.  However, I am always astounded when I go to the pharmacy at the rows and rows of medicines we are all on.  That is a problem in itself.  When did we all become so unhealthy. 

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[shoppersince1989]

Thanks Bella, and Happy.  Was surprised to see Burt's Bees on that list.

Hopefully the Q will pursue companies that make, no animal testing, a high priority.

Very disappointed will Philosophy.  Yesterday, cancelled an auto ship.

I am a mom of 4 rescue kitties.   

3-1/2 years ago gave up red meat (don't miss it).  And I quit having headaches after that.

And I make a lot of vegetarian meals.

I will look at this topic often.  Greatly appreciate the suggestions!

Thanks!

Jean

[bella-luna]

kcladyz - Well, that's certainly one way of looking at it. I have been a vegetarian for over 8 years now and I'm currently doing some reading/research so that I can make the leap to being vegan. I haven't had cow's milk for well over a year and pretty much the only animal product I consume is cheese once or twice a week. I stopped buying leather & suede years ago and don't wear wool or silk. But again...this is what works for me. There's a quote from the wonderful vegan/author/activist Colleen Patrick-Goudreau which is: "Don't do nothing because you can't do everything. Do something. Anything."

[riley1]

Thanks for the great information posted - definitely worth educating yourself

[Trix]

The only thing I want to add to this thread is that there is no reason that medication which is to be used for human consumption should be tested on animals.  There are plenty of people who would be willing to be the test subjects for research scientist as formulas go through their development stages.  

You guys can debate cosmetic animal testing and meat eating without me.