I got thinking about this recently and thought it would make a really interesting post. I’ve been a vegetarian since I was 12 and in the past few years I’ve made a conscious effort to buy cruelty free once I began to realise how many makeup brands unfortunately weren’t. As you can see on the blog, I’m sent a lot of products that don’t fall into this category and occasionally I purchase products that aren’t cruelty free to review on the site as I believe they’re of interest to the blog and readers would appreciate the review, but when it comes to my own personal everyday makeup bag I try very hard to find cruelty free brands to purchase from. I don’t think this has compromised the quality of the products I use as a whole, in fact my favourite products just happen to be mostly cruelty free. But it can’t be very frustrating when you have your eye on a pretty palette or a lovely lippie and have to take them back out of your basket.
I try and shop cruelty free but sometimes genuinely I forget, especially when it comes to new brands I haven’t bought from before such as Guerlain and Nars who I purchased from recently. Now for some of you, whether a product is or not may be of no concern to you and that’s your prerogative, but for others it’s a growing issue and therefore I have a section for cruelty free products on the site so if it’s not in that category, it’s not cruelty free.
So with this in mind I thought I’d make an honest assessment of my makeup bag and hopefully get a few readers to do something similar with their own! Here’s the honest breakdown of my makeup bag and the range of products I use most frequently.
Base Products:
I’m delighted to say all my base products that I couldn’t manage without each day are cruelty free. This is from a combination of trying to shop cruelty free and also doing a lot of research on some of the best products out there. I’m relieved I don’t have to change anything here!
Little Extras:
After my base, there’s the little extras used to contour, highlight and add blush. Thankfully, Kevyn Aucoin’s Sculpting Powder is cruelty free and a fantastic product to boot so I’m happy. I’m far more unhappy with the discovery that Guerlain aren’t cruelty free which means I have a few months until my Meteorites face powder runs out to find a good alternative. Similarly, Benefit are in a little of a grey area for me. They say ‘Benefit does not test our cosmetic products on animals and we require our raw material suppliers to provide safety information based on scientifically accepted alternative testing methods. It is nearly impossible for any cosmetic company to certify that all new and existing ingredients incorporated into products have never been tested on animals as part of the safety research and certification process.’ I appreciate the transparency here but I’m not quite sure where this leaves me with my beloved Hervana blusher.
Eyes:
I’m delighted that the majority of eyeshadows I use are cruelty free although my recent Nars obsession will have to be curbed as unfortunately they’re not. My beloved Urban Decay Perversion eyeliner is 100% cruelty free, as is my new must-have mascara from ARTDECO and my favourite brow pencil from Shu Uemura.
Lips:
Finally, the majority of lip products I use are cruelty free, apart from Revlon which for some reason I always considered cruelty free up until recently. This area is easier to find products that are just as lovely from cruelty free brands, such as Korres, Urban Decay and The Body Shop.
So overall, the majority of my products are cruelty free which I’m thrilled with. There’s definitely some room for improvement and I’m confident I could find great alternatives, the problem is, I shouldn’t have to. If some brands are cruelty free and offer customers fantastic products, why can’t all companies?
