Is it important to you which type of makeup you buy? Cruelty-free makeup is the more ethical choice for makeup wearers as this specific type of makeup doesn’t test its products or ingredients on rabbits, guinea pigs, or rats. The term “cruelty-free” means no testing whatsoever is performed on the aforementioned animals.
Makeup companies test on animals for the purpose of deeming their products or ingredients as safe for use on human skin. The Leaping Bunny is an organization that declares which brands are cruelty-free and which are not. The Leaping Bunny reports that the types of tests these companies use include irritations tests where the product or ingredient is rubbed onto shaved bare skin or dropped into the eye to see if it is an irritant. “Lethal dose” tests are performed to test if death, birth defects, and even cancer can be caused by the product by force-feeding the ingredient or product into the animal’s mouth for weeks and even months on end. The Humane Society calls for an end to animal testing because non-animal alternative tests are much more cost-efficient and animal testing has its loopholes in the sense of under, or overestimating, just how potentially damaging a product can be to humans. Tests that help dodge the choice of animal testing include testing on human cells and using approved, safe ingredients.
You won’t see a guinea pig voluntarily wearing lipstick or a rabbit wearing mascara, so why do we as consumers allow for voiceless animals to undergo such barbaric treatments?
Consumers also assume that cruelty-free makeup is more expensive when in fact one of the cheapest beauty brands, e.l.f, can be found in cost-efficient stores like Walmart. Just like animal testing brands, they can range from low end to high-end brands like Maybelline and Yves Saint Laurent.
If there’s anything to be taken away at this point, it’s that there’s no need to feel condemned for purchasing makeup that isn’t cruelty-free or to throw away makeup that isn’t cruelty-free. It’s important to at least be aware that using cruelty-free products hurts no one, neither a human nor animals.
Living a cruelty-free lifestyle is a journey; there’s no urgent rush to swap out every product you own. Start by introducing cruelty-free products as you use up and discard non-cruelty-free products. Beauty does not have to require pain.
