Makeup Review Monday: Cruelty Free



I know I usually review products on Makeup Review Monday, but today I want to talk about something that is very important to me, and helps determine products I show you on Mondays.

A few months ago, I decided that I wanted to not use any products that are known to be tested on animals.

First, let me say that if you do not abide by the cruelty free makeup bag, that is perfectly alright! This is a personal choice I made and I want to share with you all why and what I have done to make my makeup bag cruelty free.

I want to stress that I am not a vegetarian, and I expect some of the products I use to have some animal byproducts. I also understand there are some things I will have to use that are tested on animals, like vaccines and other drugs for medical purposes. I am more worried about things I can control, such as my makeup and personal care items.

Making the change to a cruelty free life is a process. Educationally and financially, it is not possible to make the change overnight. It is important to remember that because it can be overwhelming. I started with my makeup bag.

This was a fairly simple change and I only needed to replace my mascara. These are a few brands I use daily that are known to be cruelty free:
  • MAC
  • Philosophy
  • Urban Decay
  • Tart
  • Estee Lauder
  • Bare Minerals
  • Essie
  • OPI - Recently bought by Coty, a brand know to test on animals but there has been no update yet that I have seen about this changing for the OPI line.
From there I moved to personal care. This was a little more difficult because I had to really think about the products I use daily. The other challenge I had here was to make the products I changed to affordable. Enter Target. As I was doing my research I discovered Target has some great cruelty free products available to just about everyone. The great thing about this is that most people in the US have access to a Target store or online and at more affordable prices than luxury brands.

These are some brands I was using already that were cruelty free for things like shampoo and lotion:
  • Lush
  • Philosophy
  • Aveda
Yes, that's it! I had not considered deodorant, sunscreen, or toothpaste, among a slew of other products. Some of the brands I found at Target to replace my old products are:

  • Say Yes to Carrots - I use their facial wipes
  • Burt's Bees
  • California Baby - For Sunscreen
  • Mitchum Deodorant
There are a lot more, this is just what I was looking for. Toothpaste and deodorant were some with the fewest choices, and I need to do some more research to find brands that make these products, they may just not be as easy to access.

I am not going to show you pictures, or describe the things they do to animals during testing. There are plenty of other places to find that information. I just wanted to share with you what I did to go about making my makeup bag cruelty free.