I have frequently joked, seconds before a bikini wax, that one must sometimes suffer for beauty. That said, I do not believe OTHERS should suffer for my beauty, especially when those others are fluffy bunnies and beagles and the like. So I am purging the make-up tackle box of a few items.
See, a week ago I was thinking I should get a new Covergirl mascara and out of nowhere realized that I assummed Covergirl was not tested on animals. But why assume? Well, because it's 2006 and all responsible companies should not be testing on animals when it is not neccessary of course. But this got my brain going and I had to know. Let me say straight away that I hate that any animal testing must be done at all, but at least I understand why animal testing is necessary for medical drugs and such. That said, I do not support animal testing for cosmetics. That's repulsive, that animals should suffer so I can have longer looking eyelashes. Diabetes drugs? Necessary. Longer looking eyelashes? Nice, but not worth the price if an animal suffers. Period.
So I got to researching. Unfortunately there are a lot of grey areas. For example, my much-loved Neutrogena skin products DO NOT test on animals but their parent company DOES. So if you want to use them, it's up to how comfortable you are with that. L'Oreal does not test it's cosmetics on animals in the United States, however they still do in Europe. Again, your comfort level can dictate what you choose to wear.
I was very glad, therefore, to learn that my favorite cosmetics company, Revlon, was one of the first 2 major cosmetics companies to go 100% to non-animal testing methods, years ago. The other company was Avon. Revlon even established and funded a foundation to find alternatives to animal testing. So I already knew (and blogged about) their products were of good quality and affordable. Now I discover I can also use their products with a cleaner conscience.

That in mind, I decided I did not want a few products I already had. While I had been pleased with the Johnson & Johnson "Purpose" moisturizer with 30 SPF, no thanks. I returned it. I can use plenty of cruelty-free moisturizers on the market, plus what I really bought it for was the high SPF and you can get that in foundation or alone. Also, the L'Oreal HIP Shimmer I blogged about? Back it went. I have a few L'Oreal products that I can't return and am reluctant to just throw away (lip gloss mostly) but I think I can just phase L'Oreal out of the make up box slowly. I also threw away my Covergirl mascara (it was time anyway) and replaced it with a Revlon Lash Fantasy mascara. I have not tried it yet, but hope it is good.
While looking for the mascara, I noticed Target still had some of the Star Style products left (promotion seems almost over though) and one was a "Nearly nude" shimmer powder, so I decided to try that. It's very different than the L'Oreal shimmer I had tried, but it's still a good product. First, obviously, it's a powder rather than a cream. It's also, on my skin, more along the lines of a shimmery blush. That's good though, because it meant I could toss away my L'Oreal mostly-used up peachy-toned blush without remorse.
I am migrating most of my cosmetics to Revlon, since they make so much I like. Other companies like MAC are also wonderful for their cruelty-free policies. Plus, their lip gloss totally rocks and no bunnies suffered for that. :)
Please check out the Coalition for Consumer Information on Cosmetics
http://www.leapingbunny.org/
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