Animal testing

A couple of months ago I came across an article concerning animal testing in cosmetics and household products. I really had no idea about it, because nobody had ever talked to me about this issue. When you are not aware of things, they do not exist to you. Whenever I purchased a product what mattered to me was if the product was the right one for my skin type and smelled good. The most shocking thing was that this article had some pictures of these poor animals with burned skins and irritated eyes and it was heartbreaking.(not only mice and rabbits but cats and dogs, too). I couldn't believe my eyes. Cosmetic companies claim that these tests are necessary for the customer's safety and therefore millions of animals die every year so these products can be 'safe' for us to use. But for what? Is it worth torturing and killing a living being so we can put on some eyeliner or mascara?! If you see just one picture of these poor animals in these terrible conditions you wouldn't even think of buying cosmetics ever again.

And then,while reading some other articles ,I found out : No law requires animal testing for cosmetics and household products. Each ingredient in a cosmetics product is required to be "adequately substantiated for safety" prior to marketing or that the product carry a warning label indicating that its safety has not been determined. The same applies to household products, which are regulated by the CPSC(Consumer Product Safety Commission), the agency that administers the FHSA (Federal Hazardous Substances Act). This is from the CPSC's animal testing policy:

 "It is important to keep in mind that neither the FHSA nor the Commission's regulations require any firm to perform animal tests. The statute and its implementing regulations only require that a product be labeled to reflect the hazards associated with that product."

  So therefore, testing methods are determined by manufacturers. Alternative testing methods exist, like using human tissue and computer-modeling techniques. Doesn't it make more sense to do this tests on human tissues since we are 100% genetically similar to us??!! So, if there are so many companies that use these alternative methods why do the other companies still conduct animal testing? The answer is simple: Profit. They earn a lot already, so why bother losing time and money on this? It's not convenient. They can also use the fact that their products were tested for when customers have adverse reactions to their products.


I had many products from the companies that test on animals. I felt partly responsible and I'm not purchasing any of these products or others from these companies again. From now on  I'm purchasing only cruelty-free.
But anyway you should be careful and not trust everything you read on labels. A company may claim their products are cruelty-free, but there still may be some animal testing done somewhere along the manufacturing process. This could lead to consumers being tricked into buying products that they do not support.
To make things easier for you, I recommend you check out these links to find which of the companies do and don't test: 

1.Peta's list is a very good starting guide:
http://www.peta.org/living/beauty-and-personal-care/companies/default.aspx 


2. Leapingbunny : http://leapingbunny.org/indexcus.php
        http://www.gocrueltyfree.org/search/?country=231
check out this one,too  : http://www.crueltyfreeinternational.org/

IMPORTANT
 When buying cruelty-free products : If the "finished product" is not tested on animals, that doesn't mean that the ingredients aren't..or that companies don't pay other  companies to do the tests on their behalf..so please do some further research yourself !!The best thing is to email every company you want to purchase from, and ask very specific questions. Ask if the company tests final product, commissions testing of product or ingredients, and whether they have 100% clarity from their suppliers about whether they test or commission. 

If you feel that the company's answer is ambiguous then they probably do test. Usually companies that don't test are proud about it and they will provide you with clear information :)

*Another thing that you may want to know is about Parent companies. There are a lot of companies listed as cruelty-free but they are owned by another company that conducts tests on animals. This is like buying indirectly from the non cruelty free companies. You money goes to them and this means that you support them without even knowing it.

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http://www.eceae.org/  - The European coalition to end animal experiments