Why does buying cruelty free cosmetics and skin care products matter? Most people know the difference between cruelty free and not cruelty free. One is obviously tested on animals while the other is not. For most, myself included, that is reason enough to strive to purchase only products not tested on animals. For others, they either don’t care or they don’t realize the extent of the harm done to these animals in laboratories.

Over 100 million animals are tested on in United States labs every year. These tests can burn, cripple, poison and kill the animals. The most popular animals for testing are mice, birds and rabbits. However, dogs, cats and monkeys are used as well. Mice and birds are popular because they are not covered under the Animal Welfare Act (AWA). The AWA is a federal law that provides minimal protection for lab animals. This law covers husbandry only; meaning it covers only certain regulations regarding housing, veterinary care, feeding and handling.  This law does not prohibit any kind of testing. Basically, whatever goes no matter how much it may harm or stress the animal.

These animals live their entire short lives in cages. They don’t get to play, go for walks or get fresh air. Shampoos, conditioners, cosmetics, etc. are squirted into rabbit’s and other animals eyes. This is obviously painful and can lead to blindness. Animals can and often are killed after testing. Is it really worth it?

There is no reason to not use cruelty free options. They are the same price, if not cheaper, than animal tested options.They are easily accessible. All of my cruelty free products come from Wal-Mart, TJ Maxx, Ross and Target. Cruelty free brands will either say not tested on animals or they will have the Leaping Bunny logo. You can go to the Leaping Bunny website for a full list of cruelty free options.

Europe, Israel and India have banned testing on animals for cosmetics and the United States needs to follow suit. Animal testing is cruel and unnecessary.

If testing on our pets would be unacceptable…

Then why is this okay?

I don’t want this to seem preachy or to make you feel bad if up until now you’ve only bought products tested on animals. I want this to make you think. Think about what you buy and what you put on your body. Is animal suffering really necessary for us to have shampoo or lipstick? No. Cosmetics and skin care aren’t like food. In many regions it’s hard to avoid animals products and meat for food because that is what is financially feasible and/or available. However, like I said previously, cruelty free options in cosmetics are the same price and as easily found as products tested on animals. I encourage you to do your own research. I’ve linked to many different websites throughout this and there’s hundreds more out there. I hope this was informative for you. If you enjoyed this, leave me a like and let me know what you think in the comments! Thank you for reading and have a great day!

*The rabbit pictures are from the Peta website. All other pictures were taken by me.