Cruelty free beauty

[TheHotstepper]

Hi,

I've decided recently to switch all my beauty products and cosmetics to cruelty free. Does anybody know which major brands are ok? I know that a lot of companies don't test on animals here, but do in order to sell in certain countries. I've heard that Superdrug products are ok. A friend works as an Avon seller. I've not bought anything because I've head that they are one of the companies who test on animals in order to sell abroad. I've heard that MAC isn't ok. There's a lot of conflicting information though, and a lot of info I've seen is US specific.

I'm just not comfortable anymore with using something that I know involves cruelty somewhere along the line. I'd rather replace my stuff with more ethical brands.

I'm sure people like MAC do. Pity as I love their lipsticks and buy them anyway.

Wish it wasn't as hard as this to find products and companies that not only don't test but also use animal ingredients.

It is also a pity (as I love this page) that Mrs Gloss don't seem that interested (maybe due to the cruelty free aspect) being on their pages and seem to direct you to other sites.

MissDallas great news about NARS, I like their colours.

Yes, NARS is lovely make-up.

Body Shop has in the past done some very shady stuff in China, can't remember the exact details but it involved selling in the duty free shops and somehow saying that exempted them from the animal testing mandate when it didn't.

Nars (and many other companies mentioned) are all owned by parent companies with absolutely no objection to animal testing and the techniques and research the parent companies develop (with the use of animal testing) eventually trickle down into the various companies.

Hence the immense minefield that searching for legitimate cruelty free products brings, on a positive note Japan has vowed to phase it out and China is slowly switching over, the mandate is now only for products sold in physical shops (so internet sales don't require animal testing) and local manufacturers are exempt too. There is also hopeful news that they will be doing away with it all together with newly improved testing procedures involving artificially grown skin (pioneered by L'Oreal I believe, perhaps in partnership with a few other larger brands). In a few years it will, thankfully, be far less of a minefield than it is currently.

Tropic Skincare gets good reviews, although I've never used it. Considering buying some when my current make up has gone though. www.tropicskincare.com

Dazzling, perfume wise there is a company called Eden Perfumes who make very low cost, cruelty free perfume that is matched to well known brands. I haven't actually used them myself yet but have just replaced DH's favourite Issey Miyake aftershave with the equivalent for them and he is very happy with it.

The Tropic stuff is good, I was given the hot cloth cleanser which is nice. REN is also very good for high end skin care stuff.

Oh and another current fav of mine is Little Ondine nail polish. It's all natural, drys super quick and peels off so I'm happy to use it on DSD as well as for me. Huge range of colours.

I recently switched to Dusty Girls makeup, it's cruelty free and uber sensitive. It's also lovely, natural type tints. They're made by the company that makes Moo Goo.

Thanks. Will definitely look at Eden and Dusty.

It's difficult isn't it? I suppose ingredients used by cruelty free brands may at some point in history have been tested on animals, even if the testing was done by a different company. Do cruelty free brands use historic data such as this? Therefore are they truly cruelty free?

Anybody know Boots position? I use quite a lot of No 7 at the moment.

It is a minefield. I'm trying to be cruelty free too, I've phased most tested products out and replaced with a variety of different brands. Liz Earle was one of my favourites but she sold out to a company who tests which takes the shine off!

I wouldn't say I use a particular brand as I haven't found one where I love everything, but I do like bits from each. The brands I've tried so far and like are Elf, Barry M, Superdrug, Lush, Faith in Nature, BWC, Eden, Liz Earle (although don't feel quite right about it now). I've also tried local businesses like TreatMii and Caurnie for body and hair products. I like some Mother Nature Goodies products...I initially found them on ebay.

I've only tried Eden once for dh and he thinks the aftershave smells just like the original.

Those who have tried naturatint hair dye, can you tell me what it smells like? I currently use Lush henna but it smells like manure for weeks and it does take a long time to do. Also tried Superdrug's own make which was good and quick but again the smell was very strong and lasted a while.

Not sure about boots tbh. I use lilo lilly and atonish products from home bagins. Aldi has also started an eco line of cleaners washing liquid and fabric conditioner which I believe to be cruelty free.

The alien on toast blog has a communication with boots from may this year where they confirm no products or ingredients are tested on animals and they don't sell beauty products in China because of the required testing. Mind, this is not the result of in-depth research.

Cats, I'm in the same boat as you re: Liz Earle - when I first made my switch I didn't realise it was now owned by Avon so I've had to slowly phase out all of her stuff too which is a real shame as I love the products. Am in the process of replacing all my Liz Earle skincare stuff with REN which is on a par quality and cost wise.

Re: naturatint I find the smell quite pleasant, certainly not like manure and not as chemically as traditional permanent dyes. I use a combination of two shades and the red does wash out a bit but then I used to find that with 'normal' hair dye too. It covers my grey which is the main thing for me!

Aveda are brilliant and their 1 litre Shampure bottles (pump dispenser) is about £45 but lasts a year for DH and I .
I don't need a conditioner after and it saves me looking for the next "Holy Grail" of shampoo, so saves me money long term.

I try to only buy cruelty-free for toiletries/cosmetics etc but sometimes I literally just forget. It just boggles my mind that anyone anywhere in this day and age can still think it's ok. Like the other day I bought a batch of Nivea lip balms from Wilko's 'cause they were 99p each and I was in dire need of lip balm and financially we're not doing great - I just forgot that they're not cruelty-free.

I don't avoid parent companies that aren't cruelty free because I think in the wider picture it is not so bad to support an arm of a company that is cruelty-free and hope that their popularity and success will spur on the rest of the parent company. And also it means my choices are far less restricted so it is much easier to stick to.

Brands I like off the top of my head:

• Urban Decay
• Lush
• The Body Shop
• Ecotools
• Boots' own brand stuff
• Superdrug's own brand stuff
• ELF
• Sleek
• Lilly Lolo
• BalanceMe
• Kat Von D
• Aveda
• Barry M

Starla268 that's good to hear about Naturatint, think I'll give it a go. I've not tried REN...will give it a go. I did try Angela Langford stuff which was quite nice, also similarly priced to Liz Earle.

Hi, you can buy a compassionate shopping guide for £3 naturewatch.org/compassionate-shopping/compassionate-shopping-guide
or you can download the bunny free app from PETA: www.peta.org/action/bunny-free-app.
Sadly most of the big brands are best avoided. I tend to buy online from the ethical superstore or mypure.
There is a german brand called Lavera which I was buying bulk (i.e. Everything - deodorants, shampoo, body wash, toothpaste, make up etc) which worked out Quite cheap (www.violey.com/en/) even with the postage - until the pound crashed!
A good deodorant that actually works is Biologika
For cleaning products, Method, Ecover and Bio-d are ok.
Good luck