Two years ago I wrote a blog post. That's not particularly interesting within itself. However this blog was me pondering my mid-year resolutions back in July 2012 and what I wanted to achieve by the close of that year. One of these were to become a cruelty-free consumer.
This went on to become one of my best personal decisions and something that led to a re-direction of my blog (or a direction, period) and dedicating quite a chunk of my life to helping others make this lifestyle choice. When I set out I was only thinking this would be a personal choice - I didn't quite imagine I'd be creating a large cruelty-free company list which ranks highly on Google or moderating a Twitter chat.
And in these past two years I'm really pleased with the progress which has taken place. The European Union enforced an outright ban and in the past few days China (where animal testing for cosmetic purposes is required by law) took the first steps to ending this practice. I've also witnessed long-term bloggers such as Hayley and Tilly make the switch cruelty-free cosmetics.
Going cruelty-free was a bit of a mind-field - there's a lot to know. But in two years I've packed in a lot of research and not buying a new lipstick without having checked the brand first has become second nature. However to go cruelty-free today is much easier with more and more cruelty-free bloggers popping up all the time and the supportive community that's been built.
But obviously I couldn't write this blog post without a bit of old-fashioned preachin'. If you're not cruelty-free, then why not? I've yet to meet someone who has said to my face that they agree with animal testing for cosmetic purposes. But yet I still see many beauty bloggers coveting MAC lipsticks or Clinique skincare. At the risk of possibly losing them as followers, some of these bloggers read my blog so cannot claim ignorance (which was my reason two years ago) and I can only assume they support this practice since they don't seem to mind providing capital to these brands to help them keep ticking over.
I know the world's a shitty place, and there are many other issues that require addressing. And some of you have chosen to dedicate your life to fighting other causes. And I genuinely understand why you might not have the physical capability to dedicate time to another cause (and I get that, there's other issues I support but there's only 24 hours in a day). I do encourage people to do their own research on companies because, honestly, I'm scared I might have accidentally put a brand in the wrong part of my list. However the reason I make my list public - and try my hardest to keep it up-to-date - is to help people who are just starting to go cruelty-free or those who really don't have the time and rely on second hand research.
Animal welfare supporters tend to get a bit of a bad rep for not supporting human causes - but I assure you the only reason I get my knickers in a public twist over bunnies is because it appears to be a topic I have influence about and if you're going to protest about something choose something you seem to have the correct voice for. If you read my Linkables posts you'll know I also regularly get my knickers in a twist over the patriarchy and right now I have some browser tabs open regarding a certain referendum that's taking place in my country in just over 70 days (so yes, I do care about human causes).
I love being cruelty-free and consider it an important part of my self-identity. And as much as I do like to keep the preaching to a minimum and 'respect other people's beliefs' this is an issue I find it difficult to see the other side of the argument. We're not talking about the cure for cancer here - we're talking about lipstick (and toothpaste etc. before anyone gives me the 'just don't wear make-up' line). We're talking about something that can be done without testing on animals - if Lush, Illasmasqua, Superdrug and Too Faced can create high quality products without testing so can L'Oreal and the Chinese government.
So do what I did two years ago and take the cruelty-free pledge. I'm always willing to help out and if you need some support tweet me (or the CF Bloggers Chat account) as I'm always willing to help out.
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And because I put veganism in the title I feel the need to include it (even if this doesn't flow naturally onto the end). In that post two years ago I made the declaration that I'd like to move into veganism and if you follow me on Instagram you'll know that I made the full switch in the past two months after years of flip flopping. I've been reluctant to make some kind of public service announcement or change my blog to a vegan one because it's a much bigger commitment and I was scared I'd flop again. But it has now become second nature and I attribute the sticking power to finding a supportive vegan community and solidifying my friends group with non-vegans who would never make this choice personally but are supportive of my choice (and discovering the Violife brand of plant-based cheese).
To cruelty-free cosmetics (and veganism)
Morag x