I am cruel so my make-up doesn't have to be.
There are a couple of phases one goes through when they develop a makeup addiction. One of these phases is that you frantically start searching for all the makeup reviews, tutorials and products you just have to have.
It's pretty much inevitable that the makeup nut will get to know the professional brands like MAC, NARS, Shisheido, Urban Decay, Sephora etc etc. And fall desperately in love with them. It was honestly beyond my wildest dreams and far out of the reach of my pitiful bankaccount.
So what was left to do but to start a frenzied search for cheap and decent alternatives!
Whichwasn't all that hard to be honest. The internet is packed with websites that offer dupes of nearly every cosmetic brand you can imagine. Obviously I was sorely tempted to go along and order a giant amount of dupes and fakes and yet I didn't.
Before I do anything, I research and ask myself a lot of questions to which I try to find suitable answers as fast as possible. One of the questions I immediately asked myself after coming across this poor man's makup paradise was: to what cost am I prepared to do this?
Where are the products made?
Is there abuse involved of either man or animal?
Who makes the big bucks here?
Can I be sure of the quality?
It was obvious that I would have to make a decision here.
In the end, I came to the conclusion that I was gonna stay as true to myself as I could. Which eventually led me to the world of cruelty-free cosmetics.
And boy is it a small world.
The decision to go for cruelty-free cosmetics mainly stems from the belief that we have already decimated our animal kingdom sufficiantly enough to not want to harm any more animals if I can possibly help it.
In that same respect I only eat fish caught with the "MSC" label, try to buy organic eggs (even though I know that the situations those chickens live in aren't ideal either) and have since recently been trying to cut on my meat-intake.
Back to the make-up though!
The research you can do on this is truly endless, as is the degree in which you want to go ahead and buy cruelty-free. I've read about girls who went on from buying cruelty-free to actually making their own cosmetics. Crazy right? Yeah I don't have time to do that either.
I do have time however to sit on the couch with my tablet and browse to get the information I want.
If you are like me and you're considering to go cruelty-free -and you totally should do like me here-, here's a couple of things I'll tell you right of the bat so you don't get too desillusioned:
- There aren't many cruelty-free brand out there if you want to do it for real. Sorry ladies but a lot of giant cosmetic companies claim to "not test their finished product on animals". If you start reading the fine print, you'll come to find that the components of which their makeup is made is a totally different matter.
- If the company you dig is selling in China: just go ahead and scratch them off your list of cruelty-free. Chinese companies are obliged by law to test on animals. Which means that your precious blush powder is smeared on fluffy little rabbits, just to make sure your skin won't break out.
- There are some pretty gruesome videos and documentaries on this subject available online and I would definitely encourage you to watch at least one of them. It's not an easy watch to sit through but by the end of it you'll be 100% more motivated to see this through.
- The temptation of buying non-cruelty-free is gonna be there always. Make-up nuts all over the world druel over MAC lipsticks and Urban Decay eye-shadow pallettes, but there are always alternatives that don't involve the torturing of innocent creatures.
- Never, EVER buy cosmetics from websites like 'AlieExpress', 'LightInTheBox', 'Dresslink', and so on. These are 99% chinese knock offs and besides being not-animal-friendly, you can never know what the hell is in these. There is slim to no quality control in these production factories and labs.
- Sadly, the PETA website is not always up to date on this, so make sure you check more than just their list. Which is pretty fucking extensive anyhow.
Another important thing to keep in mind is this: when you start getting into the subject, you'll be shocked with how much of the products that we use daily are at some point tested on animals. The choice is yours to either scrap everything out of your life and then the search for comfortable and quality alternatives will be extensive and hard, but not impossible.
Or you can be like me and cut things you feel most uncomfortable by.
Don't feel too bad about it if you decide to just go on as you do. It's not your fault that the government keeps offering us these options and you shouldn't pay for it by getting hate.
I'll end the subject with on the one side a sum-up of my own favorite cruelty-free brands and a couple of useful and interesting links to information on the subject.
Happy hunting bunnies!
My favorite cruelty-free brands:
- ELF (Eyes, Lips, Face)
- NYX
- Manic Panic
- GOSH
- MUA
- Wet 'n Wild
Useful websites:
http://www.mybeautybunny.com/cruelty-free-brands/ -> list of cruelty free brands. Online, drugstore and
http://www.logicalharmony.net/cruelty-free-vegan-brand-list/
http://www.choosecrueltyfree.org.au/cruelty-free-list/
http://www.crueltyfreekitty.com/ultimate-guide-to-cruelty-free-makeup/
http://www.crueltyfreekitty.com/cruelty-free-drugstore-brands/