Hello Everyone, I hope you are all having a great day ! I decided to write this post since it is now around a year since I posted my blog post about going cruelty-free and shopping in a more ethical fashion. This post is going to be focused on the cruelty-free make-up only aspect of this, however a lot of these tips apply to cruelty-free skincare/ haircare etc. This post is for those of you who want to make the cruelty-free switch but don’t know how or don’t know where to begin. Regarding shopping ethically, if you want to see what I’ve been up to comment below and I can post on this as well, however I am certainly no expert on both topics I am just sharing personal experiences .
1.
You don’t have to throw out all the make-up you own. I know some people feel much more comfortable having a clean start and just getting rid of anything that isn’t cruelty free and that’s okay too, if you want to do that that’s your choice. In my case I chose not to throw out all of my non-cruelty-free make-up. In all aspects of my life I am trying to be less wasteful and so for me throwing out those products seems wasteful. I am still on my cruelty-free journey and I still do own make-up that isn’t cruelty free, but I have not bought any non-cruelty-free makeup myself I believe since I decided to make the switch around a year ago.
2.
Do your research. In the beginning it may seem like you can’t buy from any of the brands that you usually do, but this is not always the case. I found http://www.logicalharmony.net to be an extremely useful website to find out what is cruelty-free and what is not. I still use the logical harmony website to check products on the daily. For the products that are not on the logical harmony cruelty-free list but claim to be cruelty-free I do my own research and come up with my own conclusions on whether I feel a product is cruelty-free or not. I found that when making the switch I had to find out if I felt comfortable buying a product or not. If I was not comfortable buying it or posting a picture of it on social media then I knew how I truly felt about it.
3.
Don’t be so hard on yourself. If you are deciding to make the switch don’t carry the guilt from all your previous purchases with you. Decide to have a clean start and move forward with that. For me I found it really important not to judge others on their make-up brand choices. I decided to go cruelty-free because I didn’t feel beautiful in make-up that was non-cruelty-free. That was my choice and although I didn’t agree with other peoples choices I found and still find it important to respect them and not shame other people for not wanting to make the same choice as me.
4.
Find your comfort zone. In the beauty world many brands have parent companies. This means that two beauty stalls in your local pharmacy could be owned by the same parent company but they are still not the same beauty brand (as far as I know. I am not an expert on all of the business behind this). Some parent company brands test their products on animals but can own companies/brands that do not. For some, shopping from a brand who does not test on animals but whose parent company does is a no go and for others this is fine. I personally still choose to shop from these companies so long as that particular brand does not participate in animal testing. Once again I think its important to find where you feel comfortable shopping from.
5.
Once you decide to go cruelty free start straight away. Although it might seem like making the switch is hard it really isn’t. Once you do a bit of research and know what you feel comfortable buying you can go and discover new products from brands you never knew were cruelty-free.
6.
You can find drugstore brands that are cruelty-free and you can find high-end brands that are cruelty-free. Some people think that they can’t afford to go cruelty-free or that there is no luxury brands available if you make the switch. In the drugstore my go to brands are ‘Wet n Wild’, ‘Barry M’ and ‘NYX’ . On the higher end/ luxury ‘Urban Decay’ and ‘Charlotte Tilbury’ are good options to go for. Also ‘Kat Von D beauty’ recently came to Debenhams and according to logical harmony they are cruelty-free too and I’m excited to try something out!
7.
Most importantly be happy with your choice. Whatever you choose. Going cruelty-free for me was actually very fun. I got to test out brands that I never bought from and I found products that were hidden gems in the process. I feel much happier in my make-up /skincare choices and each time I finish a non-cruelty-free product I look forward to finding something new that is cruelty-free.
I hope you all enjoyed this post! I am not an expert on all things cruelty-free I am just sharing my own opinions and experiences. I know I didn’t cover all cruelty free products such as cruelty-free skincare/hair-care/brushes/lashes etc. If you have any questions on these leave a comment! Also feel free to comment any tips on this that I may have left out.
Have a great Easter break !
Much love,
Laura x
littlemisslaur 