I think cosmetic animal testing should be illegal. I have been doing some research on the issue and have decided that I will no support companies that participate in such practices. Animals are kept in cages and tortured all in the name of bigger eyelashes and plumper lips. Animals eyelids being burned off by chemicals and skin falling off in chunks all so I can have fewer lines and wrinkles...I think not! I am not going to post graphic pictures here cause I know some people are very sensitive to such images. I have seen such images and they are heartbreaking to say the least. If you want to see them google "cosmetic animal testing". I can no longer blindly purchase items from companies that engage in such practices. One of the companies that tests the most on animals is Loreal. They own many other companies such as Garnier and Keratase. Another guilty company is Proctor and Gamble which owns Cover Girl and Olay. Johnson and Johnson and Unilever are guilty too.
So are you wondering, "Which makeup companies are animal friendly?" There are tons. I already support two of them, Bare Escentuals and Urban Decay. I have also provided a link below that lists many animal friendly cosmetic companies. If you are not sure if something you are about to buy is animal friendly or not, I suggest printing this list out and keeping it with you for reference.
http://www.mymakeupmirror.com/MakeupWithoutCruelty.php
Now my precious Bare Escentuals has been bought out by Shiseido which does practice on animals. IF BE starts this practice too then I will say buh-bye to BE. And ya'll have seen my MU collection. It is hugely made up of BE. That one will hurt..a lot. Leslie Blodgett are you reading this?
Lastly I want to add that I am not discussing medical animal testing or consumption of animal meat here. They are 2 separate topics. I am only referring to cosmetic animal testing. Thank you for reading. Please share your thoughts and feelings on the issue.
Edited to add: A link to lit of companie that do DO ANIMAL TESTING. DO NOT BUY FROM THESE PEOPLE!!!
http://www.mediapeta.com/peta/PDF/companiesdotest.pdf
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| Cashmere says"I don't need no stinking lipstick! I'm gorgeous already!" |
AGREE 100% ++++
ReplyDeleteMom
I agree as well. There is no reason for cosmetic animal testing.
ReplyDeleteI don't support this idea 100% - and I especially recommend looking over anything PETA recommends with a jaundiced eye, rather than taking their word for things. They've got some good ideas and laudable conceptual goals, but they get more than a little zealous...and they have a nasty habit of euthanizing the bulk of the animals that they "rescue", which seems more than a little heinous. While a makeup company - and all its subsidiaries - may indeed perform no animal testing themselves, their suppliers may test the raw materials on animals - and it isn't always the raw materials, but the combinations, that would need testing. Therefore a company that proclaims that it doesn't perform animal testing, doesn't mean that their products didn't go through animal testing at some point along the line from "raw ingredient" to "sparkly colorful thing that makes us squee and spend way too much money".
ReplyDeleteI most definitely support the identification and elimination of unnecessary cosmetic animal testing. I think that there are enough chemicals and chemical combinations with known and well-documented effects, that not every single new makeup product needs to be tested.
I do think that until better test methodologies have been developed (and reportedly cosmetics companies are developing them, which makes sense since they'd benefit the most from having good solid alternatives), a portion of testing on live animals is necessary to ensure that products don't actually cause harm in a wide range of users. However, I think it's probably a fraction of the testing that's done currently. I think that a lot of the testing done is probably of the "CYA" variety: "but we lab-tested this product on pigs / dogs / monkeys, it didn't cause reactions in more than 1% of all test subjects, therefore we acted in good faith toward the consumer." Yeah...but do you need to test that latest batch of mascara that isn't using any ingredient that hasn't been on the market for 30 years, and 5 years in its current formulation?
Outlawing all animal testing in cosmetics won't necessarily be effective, because either people would take it underground, or the first time something caused serious harm to a consumer the industry voices would say, "See!! We have to use animal testing!! We have to or humans get hurt!!" And for a while - because of fear and overreaction - they would win.
It would be great if there were a knowledgeable unbiased body who could research the issue thoroughly, come up with guidelines as to what types of products with what types of ingredients need to be tested on animals - and how thoroughly / how often - as well as when products can safely forgo this testing because there's ample pre-existing data.
Then, of course, keep working on those alternate testing methods. If they work for cosmetics, they may have limited use in pharmaceutical testing as well. And presumably, keeping the animals fairly healthy, fed, and housed (even in tiny cages) would cost more than these alternative testing methods.
Sorry, that ran a little long...but I wanted to leave information about why I disagreed with the straight banning of animal testing in cosmetics, without sounding like a troll.
ReplyDeleteLiAnn you didn't sound like a troll. I don't mind someone posting like you did. You didn't attack anyone and you said what you had to say articuately. Well done! I don't support PETA, I agree they are a little overzealous. They just had a very good extensive list of companies that perform animal testing. Please feel free to comment any time on the blog!
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