Beautiful ~ At What Cost?

Hi Lovelies,

To the world you may only be one person,

but to an animal you could be their whole world!

I am giving you a friendly forewarning that this is going to be a long but important post, so get yourself a cuppa and have a little read.  This week I sat and browsed through the new People Magazine, and came across an article that has changed my life.  If you don't know already, I am an absolute animal fanatic, I am mommy to three Yorkshire Terriers named Paco, Levi and Bambi plus a couple of ferals cats at work that me and a few other people feed and look after.  They truly are my world, and the love I have received from these furrballs have made me grateful that I am able to experience pure love one can only ever really receive from a pet.  The article was about scientific experimentation and animal testing, and to say the pictures were gruesome does not convey the full extent of pain and hurt I felt.  I've always wondered why there seems to be two separate laws, one for us and one for animals?  People get up in arms when they hear abuse towards human beings and rightly so, yet the same kindness and laws do not apply to animals, why?

I am one of those people that will stop in a busy road and most probably put my own life in danger to catch a stray or lost dog, stop when an animal has been run over to try and save it's life, involved with various pets charities and generally try to raise animal awareness as much as possible.  Perhaps I'd been living under a rock, perhaps I tried to shelter myself from the reality ... I don't know why I never fully understood the horrific truth of animal testing up until now, but I can safely say I'll never be able to turn my back to the truth I have uncovered.  I also want you to know that this post is not meant to be judgemental, or that I'm trying to preach or force my opinions on anyone ~ But at least if I've made you ask the question what your beauty is worth, and have helped you to make informative choices, then my work has been done {knowledge is power}.

Initially after the whole article when I started doing my research, it was a bittersweet moment for me, as I had realised my holy-grail products MAC Cosmetics were doing animal testing, for years they never did, but it seems that they finally decided to cave into the Chinese-market greed.  But I was also pleasantly surprised and excited when I saw just how many brands were cruelty free, it made me incredibly happy and I couldn't wait to share the good news with all you beauties, I mean who doesn't love discovering new brands or products that you now realise are actually doing such an amazing thing such as supporting cruelty free practises.

Sentience: The word “sentience” means “one who has the faculty of sensation and perception”, meaning to have the ability to “feel” physically and emotionally.*

Animal Rights: Animals have natural rights which must be acknowledged in South African law; these include the right to freedom from unnaturally induced pain; the right to shelter; the right to nourishment; the right to indulge their natural instincts; the right to freedom of movement and most importantly, the right to exist. Animals have intrinsic worth and their value should not be based on their usefulness to humans.*

What is Animal Testing?

Every year, cosmetics companies kill millions of animals to test their products.  Product testing is commonly performed on animals to measure the levels of skin irritancy, eye tissue damage, and toxicity caused by various substances used in the manufacture of cosmetics. In the Draize test, caustic substances are placed in the eyes of conscious rabbits to evaluate damage to sensitive eye tissues. This is extremely painful for the rabbits, who often scream when the substances are applied and sometimes break their necks or backs trying to escape the restraints.

Lethal Dosage (LD) tests are used to determine the amount of a substance that will kill a predetermined ratio of animals. For example, in the LD50 test, subjects are forced to ingest poisonous substances (through stomach tubes, vapor spray inhalers or injection) until half of them die. Common reactions to LD tests include convulsions, vomiting, paralysis and bleeding from the eyes, nose, mouth or rectum.

General Info:

Do not be fooled by certain companies or cosmetics brands such as MAC, they claim to have an animal cruelty free policy, yet when they want to sell their cosmetics in China, it is required by Chinese law that all cosmetics have to be tested on animals!  Yes, you read that right, all cosmetics sold in China have to be tested on animals first.  I am more than aware that there are Chinese activists, but they are few and far between, and as far as humanly possible we must stop and avoid supporting Chinese products, their legislation and laws need to be changed, but as long as people support their practises and there is a demand for it, they will continue with their inhumane ways.

* Information taken from www.bwcsa.co.za

Cruelty Free Brands:

 

ELF

Lush

NYX

Physicians Formula

Topshop Makeup

Butter London

Tarte Cosmetics

www.makeupgeek.com.store

www.eccobella.com

Woolworths

www.natural-beauty-africa.co.za

Annique

Beauty Factory

Cosmetix

Hannon

Stila

Urban Decay (A few months ago they said they were doing animal testing but in July they turned their back on this policy and now remains cruelty free)

Barry M

Dr Hauschka

Essence

Jemma Kid

China Glaze

Illamasqua

LA Girl Cosmetics

Brands that Do Test On Animals:

 

L'Oreal (Make sure that you know which brands are owned by these cosmetics houses, chances are high that if a certain brand is owned by them that they'll adhere to company policies, for example Garnier and Maybelline is owned by L'Oreal, and you might also be asking me why The Body Shop isn't featured above on the good list, and the reason is that The Body Shop was bought by L'Oreal in 2006 and they do animal testing, so truthfully, by supporting The Body Shop you're not actually doing anything good)

Smashbox

MAC
Almay

Bourjois

Chanel

Christian Dior

Estee Lauder

Maxfactor

Clinique

Clarins

NARS

OPI

Revlon

Rimmel

Coty

Sleek Makeup

The above cosmetics brands are accurate as far as I know, I've done my best to look for the latest status on them, but I do suggest visiting www.peta.org and www.bwcsa.co.za to stay updated with all the latest developments.

Most brands will state on the label that it is cruelty free, or have this logo on it:

 

I know it's a lot of information to take in, as I looked at my make-up collection I realised just how many of these cruel brands I have supported and thus enabled to continue doing these awful testing on our furry friends {and this doesn't begin and end with just cosmetics ~ it effects every single part of our life from food choices to medicine and even the contacts you might be wearing}, I know that I won't be able to have a proper make-up collection completely cruelty free for quite some time, but I will endeavour to eliminate as many of these cruel brands as soon as possible, and I am also going to be writing letters to these companies, letting them know that I will no longer support such cruelty.  Also, I will be making more educated food choices, household cleaning items etc.  Of course this is going to be a long road, by no means am I saying I know everything, indeed I am a rookie, this is all new to me, but I know one step at a time my family will be making a positive difference.  I know sometimes we feel like we're just a small fish in the pond, but trust me, by making educated and compassionate choices, not only can we live with a peaceful and happy soul, but knowing you have made a difference!  Here's some beautiful pictures to remind you what we are fighting for:



I hope I've helped you to make informative and good decisions, I hope I've helped you ask the question what your beauty is worth? 

Much Love,

xoxo