I made it my New Year’s Resolution this year to start weeding out those products in my kit that aren’t cruelty free. And it’s proving to be harder than I thought it would be to create an Animal Friendly professional kit.

So many make-up companies still fund testing on animals, which seems incredible when, according to PETA, there are more reliable, alternative methods of testing available.

The following is taken from a PETA factsheet at Caring Consumer.

Besides saving countless animal lives, alternatives to animal tests are efficient and reliable. Unlike crude, archaic animal tests, non-animal methods usually take less time to complete, cost only a fraction of what the animal experiments they replace cost, and are not plagued with species differences that make extrapolation difficult or impossible. Effective, affordable, and humane research methods include studies of human populations, volunteers, and patients, as well as sophisticated in vitro, genomic, and computer-modeling techniques.

Forward-thinking companies are exploring modern alternatives. For example, Pharmagene Laboratories, based in Royston, England, is the first company to use only human tissues and sophisticated computer technologies in the process of drug development and testing. With tools from molecular biology, biochemistry, and analytical pharmacology, Pharmagene conducts extensive studies of human genes and how drugs affect those genes or the proteins they make. While some companies have used animal tissues for this purpose, Pharmagene scientists believe that the discovery process is much more efficient with human tissues. “If you have information on human genes, what’s the point of going back to animals?” says Pharmagene cofounder Gordon Baxter.

Fortunately I do have products from ’safe’ companies such as Urban Decay, Smashbox, Face Atelier and Make Up For Ever but there are so many other brands in my kit that make fantastic products but need to go.

I’m having the most trouble with mascaras. Waterproof mascaras cause enough trouble as it is, but trying to find a good cruelty free one seems impossible. If anyone has any ideas I’d love to know!

But I’ll keep going until I can eventually say my kit is Animal Friendly. It will take time, but I’ll get there and it will be worth it.

I would love to hear from anyone with advice or any other feedback on animal friendly products, so please feel welcome to leave a comment below.

Thanks,

Sarah