LOL. But seriously, I'm not kidding. 🐁
I've decided over the last couple months I want to (try) and revert to all Cruelty Free cosmetics. I know rat people will be interested in this because the truth is, rats are being tested on so we can use cosmetics (as are rabbits, guinea pigs and mice). And sure, maybe we can't all go 100% cruelty free, I'm not sure I can, but at least we can try to be more conscientious about what we are buying. Before I start ranting, I'd like to say I am in no way an expert on this subject. I have done a lot of research but am still learning and growing and trying to understand it all for myself.
If you're not clear on what cruelty free even means, most basically it is 'not tested on animals'; more specifically, it is products that were not tested on animals at any time in their production.
Testing on animals doesn't mean lathering a bunny with shampoo and seeing if it makes its fur either frizzy or soft. It can actually be quite painful to the animal and can lead to their death. For more info visit this chart. One of the worst things about all this is that animals don't even always react to the substances the same as humans would, which makes the testing kind of pointless. Also, the substances they are putting on these animals are WAY more concentrated than what we would put on ourselves.
So, maybe you now understand why I have this goal to become CF. Unfortunately this task has not been as easy as I thought it was going to be. The first reason I'm having a hard time switching over to CF is because saying your brand is "cruelty free" is not regulated by law. Many brands are actually getting away with animal testing even when they claim they are not. This is because of three main things:
1) China- China REQUIRES animal testing by law. If a brand sells to China they are essentially kinda throwing away all the hard work they were doing by not testing on animals elsewhere. This is because the company has to give China samples of their products to test on animals AND cover the cost of the testing themselves.
2) Parent Companies- Some cruelty free brands are owned by larger corporations. An example is Carol's Daughter, which is owned by Loreal. Parent Companies are a big debate in the CF world. Some support them and some choose to refuse to buy from brands with non CF parent companies. Personally I haven't decided, but I would like to share a tidbit of info I found that seems sort of important in your decision. Recently Seventh Generation was bought out by the parent company Unilever. In a perfect world you could avoid buying from Seventh Generation and thus avoid Unilever. However, Unilever does not simply sell cosmetics. This parent company owns Ben and Jerry's, Lipton Tea, Hellmanns and Q-tips just to name a few (see full list here). To completely avoid parent companies a LOT more research has to go into this mess; making a very long list of food, cosmetics and hygiene products you must avoid.
3) Unreliability- If the label reads "No Animal Testing" instead of "Cruelty Free" it simply means that the finished product wasn't tested on animals, the ingredients in the products very well could have been. Actually, "Cruelty Free" labels can sometimes have this problem as well (Shea Moisture is one of the companies who do not regulate where their suppliers get their products). With this problem, cruelty free brand lists are your best friend, ALWAYS check your list before purchasing a product. My favorite lists are the Logical Harmony Cruelty Free List and the Leaping Bunny Cruelty Free List (there is also a Leaping Bunny App). These lists are super picky about which brands they include, and Logical Harmony updates their list weekly. Although Leaping Bunny is considered one of the best lists, be aware it does include some brands with parent companies.
Another reason I'm having a hard time switching over to CF is I'm EXTREMELY PICKY. On top of wanting my products to be 100% cruelty free, here are my other goals:
- Vegan- I am personally not vegan, but am experimenting with vegetarianism. I would rather animal products not be in my makeup. Personally, I would feel hypocritical if I was using cruelty free make-up that had ground up animals in it. See this list for a little more info.
- All natural- do you KNOW what you are putting on your face everyday? They say your skin is like a giant sponge. All those toxins are being sucked in through your face!
- Organic- just an added bonus on top of all natural.
- Environmentally Friendly- another added bonus. If the product was made in a factory that uses windmills or something, I'm going to choose that one over a brand that does not;)
Lastly, why I'm having a hard time switching over is because of money. Seriously, a few months ago when I first found out about cruelty free, I wanted to switch over THAT day. Unfortunately, I am not blessed with a cauldron-ful of galleons. My main priority is to not go broke while trying to feed my rats, so I slowly realized how thick I was being and started facing reality- its going to take a while:P
Whatever your take on animal testing, cruelty free, parent companies or any of this junk in general, if you got this far and have now finished reading this post, thanks so much for sticking with my rantings! I hope you learned something. Seeing as you were so nice to finish this post you will be gifted with the knowledge that I will be starting to write some product reviews on this blog of the cruelty free cosmetics I have/will try on my new quest of a cruelty free life. Thanks for joining in.
Peace. Love. Rats. ♥
-MessyRat
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