Animal Testing and Cosmetics

Gum Gnome33

Gum Gnome33

"Well, yeah..."
Joined
Jan 10, 2011
Messages
1,148
Sineya
Hey guys!

So I've been giving this a lot of thought recently and wanted to bring it up for (civil) discussion. 🙂
I really like...er...products. Hair, makeup, lotions, etc. It's funny because on a given day I don't wear very much but it gives me pleasure to know that I have great stuff in my arsenal for weekends, parties, performances, (yes I have to get on stage a lot), etc.

But one thing I always try to do is make sure the cosmetics I use don't test on animals, whenever I can. Certain things I find difficult to avoid. Occasionally I will buy a product that I suspect may involve animal testing just because I know it will do what I really need it to, and I can't think of a better solution. For example, I'm allergic to certain hair and skin products and I like to use brands that I know "work" for me. I'm trying to cut down on these types of purchases!

So, girls and guys, what about you? How do you feel about animal testing? Do you go out of the way to avoid it when buying "superfluous" products such as makeup? (This isn't a thread about animal testing in the medical research world; that's an entirely different conversation as far as I'm concerned!) But when it's something that technically you could live without, do you make the effort? Or do you believe it's unnecessary?

And for those of you who do buy cruelty-free products, which do you like? I just discovered Tarte's "Lights, Camera, Lashes" and I love it.
 
I try to buy products that aren't tested on animals, usually at body shop. I really like a lot of their things, especially the body butter. 🙂

The problem for me is that products that are animal testing free are usually more expensive and being someone that survives on student loans I don't have a lot of money. So I'd say it's about 50/50 for me when it comes to these kinds of purchases. If I can avoid it I will, but it doesn't always work for me when it comes to things you have to buy often, like schampoo and shower gel.
 
Gum Gnome33
Gum Gnome33
Good point--it's hard to spend extra on things you need all the time! Ugh...
I generally go out of my way to buy things that aren't tested on animals. Most of the brands I use have it right on the packaging, so I tend to stick to those. I'm a creature of habit, so once I find something I love I stick with it!
 
Totally against all kinds of testing on animals. We have rapists, murderers and Resident Evil movie fans (XD) that would be better subjects.

As for hair products and such, I do try to avoid everything and anything tested. So far i'm doing pretty well, but every now and than I find out something i've been using for awhile wasn't tested on, but from a company that does testing and i'm like "ugh, can't I just get something I can use!?" XD XD
 
The only products I use are regular shampoo and shower gel, sometimes a concealer, a moisturizer and the shaving stuff. If I can, I avoid buying animal tested ones. That said, I think you can imagine that I'm totally against use of animal testing for futile things as cosmetics .🙂
 
I try to buy cruelty-free as much as possible, but there's a number of reasons why sometimes I don't. I'm in school and I live on a budget, cruelty free products are usually more expensive, the larger companies make it hard to clarify whether or not they test on animals because of misleading language, I don't always have time to do the research, and sometimes (I'm a little ashamed of this) I'll just forget. Animal testing isn't something I think about very often, so I'll buy something and totally forget to check whether or not it's cruelty free.

Of course it seems like the solution would be to eschew makeup products altogether if you want to avoid supporting animal testing because makeup is sort of an "extra" thing, but the size of the cosmetics industry and the social pressure to look perfect all the time makes it hard to see makeup as a negligible product. I know personally I almost never go out in public without at least a little makeup on. Intellectually I know that it's silly, who really cares if my eyelashes aren't lengthened or my freckles are showing, but it doesn't feel silly- it feels necessary. And sometimes it feels good, too. Watching out for animal testing is important, but I also see makeup as a kind of self care? A complicated one, but still. I guess I'm still trying to find the balance between using makeup to make me feel good and not trying to hurt anything with it. I wonder what else can be done to fight animal testing, besides choosing not to buy it.
 
[MENTION=11103]PassionBecoming[/MENTION]--see my problem is that I don't stick with things! I'm the perfect victim for marketing campaigns; I'm always saying "Oh, pretty new shade! Have to try it!" Or "Oh, this will make my complexion even better than that other thing? Have to try it!" I'm fully aware that this is awful behavior. 🙂

[MENTION=11292]kittenpoker[/MENTION]--no shame there!

[MENTION=11031]Aloverssoulz[/MENTION]--totally agree with your first sentence; let's test on convicted felons before we turn to innocent rabbits...

[MENTION=8401]david4wt[/MENTION]--totally.

[MENTION=10521]prophecygrrl[/MENTION]: you bring up such great points here, and I 100% agree.
Of course it seems like the solution would be to eschew makeup products altogether if you want to avoid supporting animal testing because makeup is sort of an "extra" thing, but the size of the cosmetics industry and the social pressure to look perfect all the time makes it hard to see makeup as a negligible product. I know personally I almost never go out in public without at least a little makeup on. Intellectually I know that it's silly, who really cares if my eyelashes aren't lengthened or my freckles are showing, but it doesn't feel silly- it feels necessary. And sometimes it feels good, too. Watching out for animal testing is important, but I also see makeup as a kind of self care? A complicated one, but still. I guess I'm still trying to find the balance between using makeup to make me feel good and not trying to hurt anything with it. I wonder what else can be done to fight animal testing, besides choosing not to buy it.
Click to expand...

This is exactly, completely, how I feel. I know that in the city I live in, in the environment in which I exist, it's just more than difficult to completely ignore/eschew makeup. People look. People judge. I judge myself. I can't help but feel like I have to have something; like armor. I don't need to make up my face to the point at which I'm unrecognizable, but yes--as you said--it's a form of self care. Like showering. Or at least, that's how I see it.
And as you said, it's also hard to know exactly who isn't testing, and how to take steps to solve the problem. I find myself often going for brands that I know don't test, (like Tarte, Urban Decay, Smashbox, and I THINK Clarins?), but it's not always so clear. And it's often more expensive.

All of this is to say nothing about the threat that some of these chemicals pose. They are absorbed through our skin into our bloodstream, and do we really know what their effects are, over time? Gah.
 
I don't use much of anything. I hate makeup and the like, and very rarely bother to put it on. When I do use such things, though, I try to aviod ones that have been used for testing.
 
I really like the idea of using all cruelty-free (and organic) cosmetics and beauty products but in reality I'm not as aware of my purchases as I'd like to be. Honestly what keeps me from being better about it is the research needed to really be aware of what I'm buying; I've haven't yet found the time (or motivation) to sit down and read about different companies and their products.

There are a few items that I use regularly that I know are cruelty-free and made with mostly organic ingredients. One of my favorite brands is Yes To, they have four different lines (Yes To carrots, Yes To tomatoes, Yes To blueberries and Yes To cucumbers) that are formulated for different skin and hair types and all sorts of beauty products. My favorites are the Yes To cucumbers shampoo an conditioner, the Yes to Cucumbers body butter and the Yes to blueberries eye cream. The only negative about this brand is that because it's made with organic fruits and veggies they don't have a long shelf life; so you have to make sure you check the expiration dates regularly.

As far as makeup goes I really like Tarte and Smashbox which are both cruelty free. Unfortunately their products can be pricey so I don't always have the luxury of treating myself to them.
 
I'm glad to see there are so many compassionate people. 🙂 I'm glad it seems more and more are becoming aware of how truly awful animal testing is for cosmetics and household products. I try really hard to buy organic cruelty free products only. It's worth it to me to spend the extra money because in the end I know it's the right thing to do for so many reasons. 🙂 Kiss My Face for lotions is the best! Paul Mitchell for shower products! Almay Cosmetics stopped testing on animals! Gilette, Loreal, Clairol, Tide, Colgate, and Proctor and Gamble are some of the worst.
 
I'm a vegetarian trying to go more towards Veganism, so I buy alot of things from Superdrug, they are COMPLETELY against animal tetsing, none of there products are tested on animals, they do shampoo, conditioner, face wipes, toothpaste, deodorant that are all vegan! and they're not expensive either! 🙂
 
These are all great suggestions!

Yeah I think in my OP I made it sound as if I am constantly buying these things; not the case! But I often get suckered into trying new products that claim to be so fantastic. Or that are packaged well, like candy...*is ashamed.*
Also I'm a ridiculous perfectionist. For example, I decided I didn't like the way my eyelashes were curling, (they are long), and I decided to spend the extra cash to "fix" the "problem." 🙄 I saw that people swore by something by Shiseido. Turns out they are big testers, (from what I could find), so I put out the extra time and effort to see if I could find something else that could do the job. (Tarte!) And how often do I actually wear the stuff? Maybe on weekends. I'm really glad I listened to my heart and didn't just go for the most highly rated in spite of the testing behind it.

Does anyone know what the story is behind Clinique? The women in my family swear by their moisturizer and have been using it for like 30 years, and I've heard conflicting information about their testing status.

[MENTION=10582]brinkster130[/MENTION]: I'm definitely going to try the "Yes To" line!
 
Well I don't really use anything apart from shower-gel, shampoo etc, and my mum buys that.

But if I was to buy products, I wouldn't go out of my way to buy products that weren't tested on animals, but obviously wouldn't go out of my way to buy products that were tested on animals. I don't really have the patience to check to see if products are tested on animals, so unless it's advertised on the product that they are (which isn't going to happen) then I'm not going to know.
 
I disagree with animal testing in terms of cosmetics but not necessarily in terms of medicine- sometimes there really is no other way. I don't think it's right to harm animals for the purpose of vanity as they're more than just instruments for us to use as we see fit.

I tend to use Lush products as they don't test on animals (I don't wear much makeup though). I'd like to hope that in future there will be easier ways of testing medicine than using animals, perhaps when stem cell research becomes more advanced.
 
Gum Gnome33
Gum Gnome33
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i hate animal testing. whenever i buy products such as make up. face creams, toothpaste anything like that i always make sure its not been tested on animals. once i bought a face cream that was quite expensive and found out it was tested on animals, i threw it right out, my mum went mad but the poor animals!!

it should be stopped imo.
 
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