For the Love of Makeup:My Dilemma
*picture taken from pinterest not me or anyone I know :)
This is a difficult post for me because I really do not know how to say what needs to be said. I know this will probably ramble on and you will be even more confused but lets give it a try. This comes from a lot of thought and conversation after reading Revlon decided in July 2012 to no longer be cruelty free. That leaves roughly 4 cosmetic companies that are drugstore that are cruelty free.
I have loved makeup since I was a little girl watching my mothers morning beauty routine in love with the idea of of it all. Before I was old enough to dye my hair my sister and I would take Kool Aid packets and dip dye our hair or do strands of hair in different colors. My sister is only a few years older than me but she was makeup queen. She had a purple and teal Caboodles that had glitter throughout, Hello Hollywood! I couldn't use most of her makeup because I would leave it out and or put it on my baby dolls and ruin her favorite lip smacker.
I have also loved animals from a very young age. My parents were big softies and would take in any and every stray animal that came to our door. I became a vegetarian a few years after my sister and I have been one ever since not eating meat 1 time in 17 years. In the past 8 years I have been a on again off again vegan for 4 of those years. The issue the first time was that I felt like I had to be all or nothing. I felt like if I couldn't save all the animals from suffering, why bother. I again am finding myself in that situation where I feel like it's never enough.
I am a dietary vegetarian/vegan and making the best choices for my health is why I went vegan. Going cruelty free with my makeup and beauty choices seemed like the next logical step. However, I find myself buying cleaning,household,random products that are Procter and Gamble or Unilever which are animal testers. Then there are the people who go as far to say well if you have a computer,telephone,electronic devices,or buy athletic gear such as Nike you are supporting sales outside the US and factory workers that are mistreated. My clothes and accessories had leather somewhere on them, so I felt like a fraud vegan and a bad person for buying a pair of running shoes.
It comes down to I have to do what I can, and what is within my realm. I am not rushing out to buy MAC or any other companies that do test. I cannot say that I will ever buy from any of them again. I want to be honest with my readers,and my friends that I may buy a non cruelty free product. I will state in my reviews which products are and are not cruelty free. It's come to the point where I second guess every post, because I am afraid the company does test and I was wrong. I spend an hour reading labels,going on my phone trying to find out if something is cruelty free or not before I can even buy something. When it's not fun anymore and it's causing unwarranted frustration I knew I had to change.
So I hope you understand, and maybe my blog will be more enjoyable because I won't write and delete post anymore because I cannot find out if something is cruelty free for 100 percent sure. I still want to use Organic and Safe products. I love animals,and will continue to do my part saving 100 animals a year by not eating meat. I don't have to be all or nothing I just have to do what works for me.
I hope you will understand! Please let me know what you think about the topic.
6 comments
Great post. I agree with you post 100% hun.
ReplyDeleteSara xx
Thanks you, and thanks for stopping by!
DeleteYou need to focus on yourself before you can focus on anyone/thing else!
ReplyDeleteIf what you're doing isn't making you happy change it.
Ignore the vegan police and do what you can.
Just my two cents.
:)
Oh boy I am waiting on the Vegan Police to kick in my door everyday :) That's a great movie I need to watch it again very soon hehe! Thanks for stopping by and I appreciate your feedback as always!
Deletei understand your frustrations. i have been vegetarian for 13 years, vegan off and on a few times throughout that period, but in march 2008 i went full-on vegan and haven't looked back. it times it feels like everyone and their mother tests on animals, and it's been disheartening with a lot of our favorite drugstore brands going to the Dark Side and testing on animals (revlon, and therefore almay and sinful colors).
ReplyDeletehowever, i keep going. there are a lot of cruelty-free brands out there, and i'm pretty much cruelty-free with the exception of my contact lenses.
advice? educate yourself, do research, and turn to your vegan friends (even if it's just online) and ask for suggestions. you mentioned in your post buying household and cleaning products-- personally, i like method brand (found at target and most supermarkets) for cleaning my home.
if you have any questions or would like advice, i'd be happy to help! you can e-mail me at joyfulvegan at gmail dot com.
I appreciate the kind words, and I do plan on doing my best with the cruelty free. I love Method and I do try to make a lot of products and use safer options. It's just if and when I need something and want to run into Target and grab the cheapest product I don't want to feel guilty for doing so. I have all intentions of being cruelty free, but I don't want people looking to me for cruelty free when there are so many 100percent great cruelty free bloggers out there! Thanks again for stopping by!
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