So I've decided to do this post as I get quite a lot of questions about going cruelty free, which brands are ok , which companies are ok , does this company test? , does that?
Trying to go cruelty free is at best overwhelming and here's one of the main reasons why.........
Yes , that's exactly what a lot of them do. They know that should the truth be revealed about their testing practises it would be bad for business, they'd lose customers and they'd have to admit to using testing procedures that should have been phased out long ago but they haven't because its cheaper/legally required by China where they want to sell to make more money.
Add to this that organisations like PETA and the BUAV approve/disapprove companies due to inadequate research or failing to comply with rules that may have never applied to this company or product, and it's a whole smorgasbord of confusion!
I can't say that EVERYTHING I say here will be correct. I'm human and I make mistakes. I'm also lied to by companies , they can change their practises and it not be noticed and my stance on cruelty free may be very different to yours, but ......I hope that maybe I can clear up a few burning issues to try and make this simpler.
I'll try and split this into bullet points to make it easier to read and I'll probably do a few posts on this subject so its not too confusing.
Ok so you want to go cruelty free? Brilliant. Let's get started. The main question I'm asked is.....
In reality you can never be 100% sure as you are relying on information provided by that company and as I said before , companies lie! However there are a few things you can check to make sure and make a decision based on what you find. Google is your friend in some of these respects. Don't be fooled by terms such as "Organic" and "Natural". These terms can be used without any truth to them at all and usually refer to the source of the ingredients.
Does it say not tested on animals on the packaging?
This may not mean it is definitely cruelty free, there is nothing to stop a company saying this even if it isn't true. It may be partly true , as in the finished product might not be tested but some of the ingredients have been. Having said that , companies who definitely test are unlikely to put this on their products. There is usually an element of truth in this statement but it can be hazy and misleading.
Does it have a BUAV approved leaping bunny symbol on it?
The BUAV is an organisation that awards its leaping bunny symbol to those products which it deems up to scratch. This means that the company will have passed strict rules and opened up its supply line for inspection. The only problem with this is that parent companies are not looked at. In the case of the The Body Shop , their products are BUAV approved but The Body Shop is owned by L'oreal. L'oreal is not cruelty free. So you are buying cruelty free products but ultimately giving money to a testing company.
The leaping bunny symbol is also not available to companies who have never tested their products. The BUAV states that there needs to be a fixed cut off date. I will explain this further later. Companies like LUSH have never tested their products or used tested ingredients, they are a reasonably young company and have had access to ingredients never subjected to animal testing.
So although the BUAV is a good guideline , there are flaws and loopholes with this.
Is it on the PETA Don't / Do test list?
This is a list of testing and non testing companies complied by the animal rights organisation PETA. I have my own issues with this organisation (more on that later) but the lists can be helpful. I will say though , please don't take these as gospel. I've found glaring errors on here and its simple research that if I can do , they should be able to. It is updated quite a lot , so I would still consider it a base starting point as not all companies are allowed to be BUAV approved for silly reasons.
One case I can think of is NUBAR nails , they are on the don't test list but are available in China. Please keep reading to see why that's important.......
Is it available in China/have Chinese writing on the packaging?
Any cosmetic product that is sold in China has to be animal tested by law. Products can be made in china and not tested , as long as they are not for sale there. Any brand available for sale in China should be avoided. Amazon China throws up some surprising results. You can also check the store locator's and distribution centres on a companies website to see if they have distributors there.
Another thing to watch is those companies that ship to China from elsewhere. NYX make up states it is cruelty free but ships to China and has Chinese writing on the packaging.
This is a very grey area as in some cases , the Chinese government will not ask that regularly available chemicals are tested over and over , but I would avoid any brand sold in China as you can never be sure.
This is the reason why MAC , L'oreal , Urban Decay (now owned by L'oreal) Estee Lauder (who owns Clinque, Bobbi Brown to name but a few) are all now considered to be bad choices as they started testing again to sell in the Chinese market.
Is that company owned by another? If so who are they?
Parent companies are what cause me the most headaches and this is where the lies usually come in.
Lots of smaller brands are owned by major corporations. They retain their name for customer ease and brand recognition but ultimately when you buy a product , the money is going to the parent company who owns them.
I've already mentioned about The Body Shop and L'oreal but there are other surprising ones if you dig deep enough.
I recently discovered that Superdrug , whose own brand products are BUAV approved and carry the Leaping Bunny symbol , are owned by a company called A S Watson. This parent company is not approved by the BUAV. Why you ask? Because it operates the 5 Year rolling rule policy. This means that although they aren't using ingredients tested 5 years ago or more , but they could be still testing new ingredients for use in 5 years time.
This is always a confusing point and this page here from Lush can explain it better than I can.
There is also something called a fixed cut off date policy. This is where a company states that it hasn't used animal tested ingredients or tested its products since a certain date. This is a better way of showing a companies commitment to ceasing animal testing but companies can change this fixed cut off date , allowing them to use previously tested ingredients.
As you can see , it is a minefield of misinformation , lies and scandal!
I personally adhere to this criteria for my products.
1) Is it BUAV approved or on the Peta Don't test list?
2) Is that company owned by another? if so who are they?
3) Is that product or brand available in China?
At the end of the day , it is you as the consumer who decides if you buy a product or not. Everyone has a different stance with some believing that we should buy more from cruelty free lines owned by testing companies , to show that they are popular and that consumers do care. There are those who refuse to buy from companies that support charities that conduct animal testing for medical research.
I personally believe that any kind of testing for vanity products is unacceptable. I can see the value in medical testing for life saving treatment , such as cancer or HIV , but I believe that it should only be carried out if absolutely necessary and there are no other alternatives.
Remember this, this is not an all or nothing situation. Anything that you can do to help great. You will make mistakes when you buy products , and you will have products to use up that aren't cruelty free. At times you will feel like giving up and buying everything you're used to because it's just too hard! I do lament the loss of some of my old products , but I've found new ones that are cheaper , better and more pleasant to use , and I have the comfort of knowing that an animal didn't suffer so that I could look nice.
Trying to go cruelty free is at best overwhelming and here's one of the main reasons why.........
Companies Lie
Yes , that's exactly what a lot of them do. They know that should the truth be revealed about their testing practises it would be bad for business, they'd lose customers and they'd have to admit to using testing procedures that should have been phased out long ago but they haven't because its cheaper/legally required by China where they want to sell to make more money.
Add to this that organisations like PETA and the BUAV approve/disapprove companies due to inadequate research or failing to comply with rules that may have never applied to this company or product, and it's a whole smorgasbord of confusion!
I can't say that EVERYTHING I say here will be correct. I'm human and I make mistakes. I'm also lied to by companies , they can change their practises and it not be noticed and my stance on cruelty free may be very different to yours, but ......I hope that maybe I can clear up a few burning issues to try and make this simpler.
I'll try and split this into bullet points to make it easier to read and I'll probably do a few posts on this subject so its not too confusing.
Ok so you want to go cruelty free? Brilliant. Let's get started. The main question I'm asked is.....
How do I know if a product is cruelty free?
In reality you can never be 100% sure as you are relying on information provided by that company and as I said before , companies lie! However there are a few things you can check to make sure and make a decision based on what you find. Google is your friend in some of these respects. Don't be fooled by terms such as "Organic" and "Natural". These terms can be used without any truth to them at all and usually refer to the source of the ingredients.
Does it say not tested on animals on the packaging?
This may not mean it is definitely cruelty free, there is nothing to stop a company saying this even if it isn't true. It may be partly true , as in the finished product might not be tested but some of the ingredients have been. Having said that , companies who definitely test are unlikely to put this on their products. There is usually an element of truth in this statement but it can be hazy and misleading.
Does it have a BUAV approved leaping bunny symbol on it?
The BUAV is an organisation that awards its leaping bunny symbol to those products which it deems up to scratch. This means that the company will have passed strict rules and opened up its supply line for inspection. The only problem with this is that parent companies are not looked at. In the case of the The Body Shop , their products are BUAV approved but The Body Shop is owned by L'oreal. L'oreal is not cruelty free. So you are buying cruelty free products but ultimately giving money to a testing company.
The leaping bunny symbol is also not available to companies who have never tested their products. The BUAV states that there needs to be a fixed cut off date. I will explain this further later. Companies like LUSH have never tested their products or used tested ingredients, they are a reasonably young company and have had access to ingredients never subjected to animal testing.
So although the BUAV is a good guideline , there are flaws and loopholes with this.
Is it on the PETA Don't / Do test list?
This is a list of testing and non testing companies complied by the animal rights organisation PETA. I have my own issues with this organisation (more on that later) but the lists can be helpful. I will say though , please don't take these as gospel. I've found glaring errors on here and its simple research that if I can do , they should be able to. It is updated quite a lot , so I would still consider it a base starting point as not all companies are allowed to be BUAV approved for silly reasons.
One case I can think of is NUBAR nails , they are on the don't test list but are available in China. Please keep reading to see why that's important.......
Is it available in China/have Chinese writing on the packaging?
Any cosmetic product that is sold in China has to be animal tested by law. Products can be made in china and not tested , as long as they are not for sale there. Any brand available for sale in China should be avoided. Amazon China throws up some surprising results. You can also check the store locator's and distribution centres on a companies website to see if they have distributors there.
Another thing to watch is those companies that ship to China from elsewhere. NYX make up states it is cruelty free but ships to China and has Chinese writing on the packaging.
This is a very grey area as in some cases , the Chinese government will not ask that regularly available chemicals are tested over and over , but I would avoid any brand sold in China as you can never be sure.
This is the reason why MAC , L'oreal , Urban Decay (now owned by L'oreal) Estee Lauder (who owns Clinque, Bobbi Brown to name but a few) are all now considered to be bad choices as they started testing again to sell in the Chinese market.
Is that company owned by another? If so who are they?
Parent companies are what cause me the most headaches and this is where the lies usually come in.
Lots of smaller brands are owned by major corporations. They retain their name for customer ease and brand recognition but ultimately when you buy a product , the money is going to the parent company who owns them.
I've already mentioned about The Body Shop and L'oreal but there are other surprising ones if you dig deep enough.
I recently discovered that Superdrug , whose own brand products are BUAV approved and carry the Leaping Bunny symbol , are owned by a company called A S Watson. This parent company is not approved by the BUAV. Why you ask? Because it operates the 5 Year rolling rule policy. This means that although they aren't using ingredients tested 5 years ago or more , but they could be still testing new ingredients for use in 5 years time.
This is always a confusing point and this page here from Lush can explain it better than I can.
There is also something called a fixed cut off date policy. This is where a company states that it hasn't used animal tested ingredients or tested its products since a certain date. This is a better way of showing a companies commitment to ceasing animal testing but companies can change this fixed cut off date , allowing them to use previously tested ingredients.
As you can see , it is a minefield of misinformation , lies and scandal!
I personally adhere to this criteria for my products.
1) Is it BUAV approved or on the Peta Don't test list?
2) Is that company owned by another? if so who are they?
3) Is that product or brand available in China?
At the end of the day , it is you as the consumer who decides if you buy a product or not. Everyone has a different stance with some believing that we should buy more from cruelty free lines owned by testing companies , to show that they are popular and that consumers do care. There are those who refuse to buy from companies that support charities that conduct animal testing for medical research.
I personally believe that any kind of testing for vanity products is unacceptable. I can see the value in medical testing for life saving treatment , such as cancer or HIV , but I believe that it should only be carried out if absolutely necessary and there are no other alternatives.
Remember this, this is not an all or nothing situation. Anything that you can do to help great. You will make mistakes when you buy products , and you will have products to use up that aren't cruelty free. At times you will feel like giving up and buying everything you're used to because it's just too hard! I do lament the loss of some of my old products , but I've found new ones that are cheaper , better and more pleasant to use , and I have the comfort of knowing that an animal didn't suffer so that I could look nice.
There is another way. You just have to look for it.
1 comment:
Such a great post :)
Post a Comment