As a cruelty-free cosmetics consumer and content creator, I try to tell my audience that it’s not about being perfect. It’s impossible to lead a completely cruelty-free life. If I go for a run, I may unknowingly squash a bug. I’m not sure what is in the glue in my tires. But as you said, there’s no need to test on animals. It’s an outdated and cruel practice. That’s why I say vote with your dollar, use your voice, and if you find out that a brand does not align with your views, then discontinue purchasing from them. It’s still worth getting loud about - we gotta save the buggies, beagles, mice, and bunnies. ❤️
No one is saying you have to be perfect but no one should be creating content with cosmetics that contain Carmine, lanolin or cera Alba etc and touting the myth they are cruelty free. You cannot equate squashing a bug whilst running with buying a product that is a luxury that isn’t really needed but if required has vegan options, it’s a false equivalence.
@@xPidgexSmithx So you feel that you should not buy any products that have ANY lanolin or beeswax, etc. because it, inevitably is cruel to animals? There are lots of beekeepers in my area (and my cousin raises bees too) that treat their bees like pets; they'd never do anything to harm them. But, we can still enjoy their honey and use the excess wax in products. Same with lanolin. There are plenty of sheep farms that treat their animals with care. That's their investment! So writing off all these products because they 'might' be harmful is throwing out the baby with the bath water. If you feel that way then stop using fabrics that are made of cotton (maybe some bugs will be killed in the harvest). Stop using fabrics that have spandex or polyester because they are plastics. Here's my point, I feel you are overly bashing the OP. Not everyone is going to have the same vision you have and that does not make them a bad human. Peace and kindness to you.
If you (generic 'you') really want to help the environment, consume less. We over-spend, over-buy, over-waste and over-pollute. Let us buy responsibly and buy less, people! :) Awesome video, Jen :)
@@pippetandpossum Yes! And all the chemicals used to make the 'vegan version'/cruelty free of everything are often so toxic for the environment and for us. So, really, unless we stop buying like crazy, whatever we buy, it will hurt something :/
@@mariavomero8712 I really disagree with the ingredients being toxic for us and would love some more info on that. All research I've done into that topic has shown it to be a combination of ignorance and fear mongering. As for toxic to the environment, absolutely.
I think it’s interesting where people draw their lines re: “bugs aren’t animals” (in the case of pigments whose ingredients are sourced from insects) Also, I wish the term “cruelty free” was also akin to “ethically produced.” While it’s important not to cause unnecessary harm to animals through cosmetics/ingredients testing, it’s also important to be cognizant of the deplorable labor conditions that so many people endure within the production chain for these products (from mica mines to assembly lines).
I’m curious to know what these people think bugs are, if not animals? There aren’t many options- animal, mineral, plant, fungi and bacteria (simplified), so what category would bugs go in, other than animal?
I’m actually an Economist for the Bureau of Labor Statistic! It’s awesome you see you using our data. 😋 It looks like that program no longer exists which is why you couldn’t find current data.
A chemist friend of mine told me that today there's no reason to test ingredients, because everything was already test, as you say, unless is a new ingredient, there's no point on keep on doing that. Nice video Jen. 💕
-- thank you for this video. I made it a priority, a few years ago, to buy only cruelty free cosmetic products because my soul would hurt knowing i caused harm just to wear makeup. But it was one of your videos recently that shocked me to learn cruelty free is not what i thought. It is unacceptable to harm any living being on this planet for cosmetics, something so non essential and unnecessary for living. i want to be a better consumer and bring no harm to anything. thank you jen
Your research is very informative and helpful. I went "cruelty free" in my cosmetics a few years ago, and while I completely understand and agree with everything you said, I still think it's better to purchase from "cruelty free" brands than from brands such as Loreal, etc, that knowingly tests their products on animals. Hope that makes sense.
If L'Oreal makes it's products in the EU they are not tested on animals. Products made or sold in the EU are free of animal testing by law. Of course there are some ways to circumvent laws (medical research etc) but it is generally true. Also L'Oreal spens a lot for alternative testing methods, f.ex they made an artificial skin etc. So calling L'Oreal bad by default is not viable. If you have contradicting evidence I'd like to read it of course. This is just the information I have currently. 😊
@@msprunella6358 it doesn’t matter if the country you buy the product in hasn’t specifically animal tested and has laws against against cosmetic testing, it’s the very fact the company tests at all anywhere in the world and would sell in countries that require testing. Buying any product from them you are funding these practices.
@@xPidgexSmithx but if they test anywhere the products can't be sold in the EU and L'Oreal is based there so it would be stupid for them to do so. I personally can't believe they test on animals anywhere anymore (except the chinese government in china) unless I see proof. 🤷♀️
Thank you for shedding light on the other issues there are in cosmetics besides just cruelty free. Things like palm oil isn’t just in cosmetics either, it’s in a ton of food and other products, and are responsible for the destruction of SE Asian forests. The major wildfires a couple of years ago that blanketed Asia from Indonesian forests were because of illegal fires from burning forests for palm oil plantations, and are directly responsible for the reason Orangutans are so critically endangered.
Did a project on palm oil and it hurts how bad it is but how widely spread it is used you can literally not avoid it and it’s hard to find ethically sourced palm oil. Wanted to add another issue with palm oil (as if what you listed wasnt bad enough) is child labour
I think about the labor aspect of “cruelty free” so often. I support companies who treat their employees and suppliers ethically, but I also think a big reason the cheap, made in China products are so popular in the US is because our own wages are lacking. Someone making minimum wage would have to dedicate 4-6 hours of pay to afford a higher end, more “ethical” foundation. If you’re struggling financially, which half of America is, you may not have the option to shop “ethically”. My wish is for brands to be more transparent about their labor policies, and for us to all hold them more accountable.
I agree it's much more limiting to support those ethics. found some affordable exceptions. Milani allows you to search "made in..." on their website and every product description has a label where it's (supposedly) made. Most Flower beauty products are made outside of China except for the brushes. I didn't find anything problematic about their parent company, which also owns Collab Beauty and the Dollar General Believe Beauty Brand (but I couldn't find as explicit manufacturing origins for those brands). Colourpop is not connected to China but I haven't done a ton of digging on the Seed Beauty parent company. K Beauty and J beauty is a pretty safe bet (which includes Avon/Mark now if you don't mind supporting direct sales) There's some low to mid price options like Han Skincare Cosmetics, Mineral Fusion, Gabriel, Zuzu Luxe, Benecos, Kiko, Nabla, Tower 28, Sydney Grace, and Makeup Geek.
I remember seeing a video in 2016 or so where a woman was talking about how “cruelty free” isn’t necessarily cruelty free. It’s very difficult to understand where mica or other ingredients are actually from, even if companies do the due diligence to investigate that. Even something that says “made in the USA” or “made in the UK” could still be made unethically to keep costs down. I believe the video mentioned a case where a company in the UK was found to be keeping people hostage and forcing them to work in what was basically slave labor.
It seems to me it’s almost impossible to find product where mica or phenoxyetamol isn’t present. It’s impossible to find absolutely chemical free products but not tested on animals..:/
People say that because animal is defined two ways. For Linnaean classification purposes that fall with the animals, they are anamalia. For research purposes they split animals into vertebrates and non-vertebrates. Vertebrates get more protections and rules on use. Insects, because they do not have a backbone are considered not animals by the committees that oversee animal research studies at institutions. This is becoming an ethical problem recently because things like octopuses, which are highly intelligent, do not get the same protections as other animals because they are not vertebrates. So, there is a large push in the scientific communities to reevaluate the criteria for animal studies.
@@jenluv your just so through and I love your deep dives! Monats is interesting though. Every single breastfeeding support group I’m in band it because it’s not safe to use, but the company brushes off those claims!
W W are you sure they were banned for "not being safe" or were they banned because they are an MLM? I am not a consultant but a few friends are. One is a nurse and would never promote something unsafe and yes she's done her research. However MLMs have been banned from most social media groups because some reps were supposedly "harrassing" members and all the anti-MLM rhetoric on social media.
My college biology prof once stated something along the lines of, “Nothing is completely cruelty-free; at some point in time, the ingredients in every product you consume was tested on animals.” I think about that a lot when “cruelty-free” issues pop up.
Very true, for instance the protein in rice is from a trace amount of insects allowed in the grains. In India they allow a higher percentage of insect residue in the rice which is why it has more protein, and thus easier to be a vegetarian in India (generally speaking).
Throwing something else in as a thought question: which is "better"? 1) Harvesting many acres of a plant to make a few ounces of essential oil, or 2) using a small amount of synthetic ingredients to make synthetic fragrance? [This is true ... look up the amount of roses needed to get one ounce of rose absolute.] I have the same question on leather. Is it better to use an animal skin (and the rest of the animal for other uses) or use petroleum to make "vegan leather"? There are no easy answers here.
I also never understood the "vegan leather". The term just means it doesn't come from animals. In most cases it's PVC which is plastic. This is not environment friendly
Leather is and was a luxury product. But looking at all the people in this world, I don’t think there’s enough quality leather to satisfy the demand. So fake leather (polyurethane) is needed. Certainly if it is The Trend. Even high fashion uses PU, which I find remarkable. It’s all about the easy buck and the big name selling it anyway. And it’s vegan ... On the other hand would you wear real fur if there’s a good polymer alternative?
@@lydiaa9594 maybe in the early 90s, but not today. A lot of vegan leather is recycled materials. Meanwhile leather tanning pollutes waterways and kills the people working with almost 180 deadly chemicals.
Two things to point out, one is that sheep, the source of lanolin, really need shearing. If their fleece goes too long without being sheared, it mats and can cause ripping and pulling out of the hairs which is terribly painful to the animal, it picks up debris which can irritate the animal, add extra weight and restrict movement. Finally, the weight of an unaddressed fleece on an animal can cause the animal to die from crush asphixiation or the inability to move causing the animal to starve to death. The second matter involves vegan practices of using synthetic materials for clothing, shoes and accessories, rather than leather. The majority of these synthetics are petroleum based. Fossil fuels and their byproducts used in synthetic materials are non renewable. Wool is highly renewable and leather is a byproduct of meat consumption. The world is not going vegetarian soon, we should use what we have, the leather. The synthetics and pleathers are very harmful, leaching plastics into the waterways, causing no biodegradable choking of landfills and these garments and accessories are not really durable. If you care for leather, wool and suede, they will last for years. Pleather and vinyl and other synthetics do not. There is also the manufacturing process of these synthetics which uses fuel and are often sourced from poorer countries. Honestly, we should look to indigenous peoples of all continents like the Inuit of Canada and Alaska or the Native American tribes practice of using all usable parts of a resource animal, meat, skin, fur, bone, etc.
Thank you for saying it this way. Too many folks will make a broad, sweeping comment that all animal products are cruelty made or sourced when this is not true. And that is just another way humans are dividing themselves unnecessarily. Education brings with it understanding. I'm glad that Jen being a former teacher has a high regard for this.
As an indigenous person from Alaska I couldn’t agree more with the statements about materials that are sourced from non renewable resources. I think vegan consumers have good intentions but they’re swaying in the wrong direction. The byproducts of their “animal free” products means that the raw materials either need to be manufactured or very heavily refined. Using even more precious petroleum. Not only do the products use a high amount of petroleum/non renewable products, the energy to create those products is higher. I hope over time we can focus on the unethical labor practices, renewable products, and decreasing impact to the environment. Personally that is more important than a bug feeling pain. That’s like saying your corn felt pain when it was killed. Isn’t it true that corn is a living organism as well? *sigh*
Yes! Yes! Yes! People who preach that products like wool and lanolin are cruel drive me batty. People and animals are intended to live symbiotic lives. We help them, and they help us.
I'm kind of nihilistic about animal testing or byproducts in my products. Since I'm an omnivore, I cannot pass moral judgement on one part of my life and not another. But thinking on the other hand, I can also try to make cruelty-free choices in the luxury/hobby parts of my life, such as makeup and fashion, unlike the functional necessities of food and medicine. (I have some health conditions that require me to eat meat in order to get all my nutrients.)
I kind of feel the same as you. I eat meat and dairy as I consider it as something I need to consume to survive. I'm a fussy eater and the food you need to eat on a vegan diet to get the same nutrients as the ones in meat and dairy I do not like. However I do try to buy (as near to) cruelty free items like makeup as I don't think that animals need to suffer for stuff that we can easily live without.
I’m similar. My diet includes meat and some dairy, but I could try harder here. I do try and buy vegan or CF, bc I that’s definitely a choice. Where as when I was vegetarian and then vegan, my health suffered. I’m sure it was user error, but I did the best I could and I didn’t do great. I can be much more thoughtful on how I spend my money on non-necessities.
I think almost all people are to one degree or another do the same thing. It's just the amount of conscience choices a person makes. It reminds me of the cartoon I saw of a picketer waving a sign that said 'save the forests!' written on cardboard and glued to a stick. :/
Same here for essential things like food, medicine toothpaste and deodorant I use the best products for my needs but for hobbies and cosmetics I buy cruelty free brands and try to stick ethically sourced stuff
I'm so glad you're talking about this! When I got into beauty, I thought there was something special about cruelty free and would proudly(also confusedly) spout that a product was cruelty free...until I looked into it. Once I realized that somewhere along the way, cruelty free is become synonymous with vegan, as well as how there can still be cruelty, animal or otherwise, AND how the slight exclusivity that eliminated those who loved makeup from participating in the "movement" bc they were either not financially able or didn't have access. I stopped touting cruelty free as a positive for a product. Great job as always!💙💚
Great subject to tackle. Cruelty free and clean beauty are such misnomers. We still need to educate ourselves if we really want to stand by our morals, not just rely on a label.
i buy CF and mostly vegan products but I agree with you! i wish it was called "animal testing-free" instead of cruelty free (or that they would expand it to mean more ethically produced)
People want to feel like they’re doing something super amazing, it’s a selfish act. So they are not interested in hearing the truth because it takes their illusion away! 😢
Exactly! I’ve posted about this many times but people seem to think cruelty stops when they don’t test on animals. The ignorance is astounding but when it’s pointed out they will ignore it anyway as their want for a product is more important.
To make carmine, you only need the beetle shells. Beetles molt their shells frequently. There are ways of sourcing carmine that doesn't involve cruelty. It doesn't hurt the beetle to use it's spent molt. It's kind of the same with products that include snail slime. There are farms that ethically harvest slime without harming the snail. The slime gets harvested as a snail crawls over a glass surface without harming the snail at all. I also see people freak out over brushes made with animal hair but I think they forget that horses, rabbits, and goats shed and/or have to be groomed often and that spent hair can then be used. Just because a product uses an animal byproduct doesn't make it inherently cruel. Just know where that ingredient is sourced. And if I'm not mistaken, to be cruelty free you have to source cruelty free ingredients.
I’m so glad you touched on this! I follow several people on this platform who have talked about all of these things to various degrees & I agree with so much of it. I don’t have a completely vegan collection, but I would love to gradually get there someday. I also never understood why animal testing is a thing when we’re HUMANS!!!!! The only creatures on this planet that we should be testing the things WE consume is HUMANS!!!!! 🤦♀️ Praying that these regulations change sooner rather than later.
Now, THIS is solid reporting! Thank you for this, Jen. Everything that you mentioned is one reason why I kind of side-eye “cruelty-free” products or brands. I find it problematic when people are quicker to fight for the safety of animals when there’s slave labor happening for the mining or assembly of products. Children mining for mica isn’t just a problem in India, but there’s issues in other countries as well. Here’s a story on the situation in Madagascar: www.unicefusa.org/stories/how-unicef-supports-families-prevent-child-labor-madagascar/36676 Really, the situation comes down to us holding companies accountable and making sure they’re doing everything in their power to consciously be as ethical as possible. There are going to be some mishaps here and there, but one issue can’t be ignored for the sake of claiming their “cruelty-free” status.
This is something I’ve definitely been thinking about as I’m able to afford more things as I’ve become an adult and not always buying the cheapest things possible and able to think critically more about my purchasing habits
I love this. Things are complicated. When it comes to the environment the two biggest things to change are (1) corporate and industrial practices and (2) reducing consumption. Everyone forgets that the first R isn't recycle, it's reduce. But as for plastic, it's a problem, but it's also a byproduct. So as long as we are burning fossil fuels, what are we going to do with the plastic? Either we turn the byproducts into plastic or we throw them out. Now, they could be made into higher quality longer lasting plastic, as opposed to super thin unnecessary packaging. But as it stands now, plastic is a byproduct of the fossil fuel industry. Also glass is not the answer to the plastic problem. It takes so much energy and water to recycle glass AND it's so heavy to ship, which also takes more energy, which means more fossil fuels burned, which means more carbon emissions and more byproduct (to make plastic?) Refillable packaging is definitely a step in the right direction, but I also don't understand the focus on the beauty industry. There are so many other industries that create way more waste than beauty yet beauty is always scapegoated because it's considered frivolous and unnecessary. In sorry, but skincare, haircare, and body care are hygiene. Which I consider essential. And for a lot of women, makeup is essential because as it stands, in a lot of industries, a woman's bare face is unprofessional. At the end of the day, for every pound waste a consumer creates, seven pounds of waste were created up stream. The term "zero waste" was invented to refer to companies, not individuals. If every company changed their practices and no individuals recycled or changed any of their habits at all, we'd solve the climate crisis. So should we do what we can? Absolutely. Should we feel bad if we aren't perfect? Absolutely not.
I just posted a video on my channel today related to the human cost to our hyper-consumerism. I'm not plugging my channel ...I just wish this subject would get more attention. I've lobbied congress regarding this actually. I'm so glad you're covering this topic. I hope people continue to gain more awareness.
@@melodyjoy5082 agreed! I just mentioned this in another comment. Consuming less, buying less, owning less... that is what will truly be helpful to our planet
This is such a hard topic. It just gets to be more overwhelming and I get a stupid amount of actual anxiety trying to be "ethically perfect." I'm trying to let go of this perfection and just cutting down on impulsive shopping or over-consuming. I am committing to buying less & supporting small/indie companies whenever possible
i have the same problem. buying less is probably the best thing we can do. every purchase has a down side. every purchase may have caused harm when it was made and its packaging can cause harm for years into the future.
There really is no such thing as 'ethical consumerism', especially under capitalism. People try to do the same when it comes to food: purchase vegan ingredients, or animal meat that is ethically sourced. The problem is that the company that sells the 'ethical' quinoa is the very same company that sells meat from factory farms. It's a cycle strategically put in place by the owners and investors of these companies to increase profit margins, so don't beat yourself up about it. If you want real change, best thing to do is to make your voice heard and participate in democracy.
@@jenluv I don't understand why we live in a society that exploits animals and humans so much. I work hard to live ethically, but it is almost impossible to find anything that doesn't have some form of cruelty and/ or animal products.
I love this video! Thank you for making it! If anyone is interested in reducing harm to animals/environment, but are overwhelmed with how confusing this industry is with their labeling, etc, please consider reducing your animal consumption. Even one meal a month animal free can make a huge impact! In my personal opinion, it’s easier to control what we eat than decipher what these companies are doing, and we get to make that decision multiple times a day 💚
I remember JC saying that! I laughed so hard I couldn’t breathe and I was thinking “what fool told him that & who approved him keeping that line in”?!?!? 😳😆
I completely agree. I’m an industrial hygienist.... I keep people safe at a military base. Animal testing really doesn’t give us more data sets to add to what’s already out there. I also believe we should have accurate descriptions of the products. Love from the Pine Barrens in NJ
Thank you Jen for this video! Very interesting and informative! I'm trying to go cruelty-free but in my country it is really hard since there aren't many cruelty-free brands to choose from. Greetings from Argentina 🇦🇷🇦🇷 😘😘
I’ve said this myself so many times before, so I agree! All it really means when a product is labelled “cruelty free” is that the end product isn’t tested on Animals. It doesn’t count for all the ingredients that had to be tested before it, or any new ingredients that require testing now. It also doesn’t count for any animal-derived products either (such as lanolin, beeswax, Carmine, etc, etc) It’s definitely a very difficult decision ethically isn’t it? If you want to be 100% cruelty free, really that means changing our whole way of life, and that just isn’t sustainable or even doable! (It means no medicines, vaccines, surgeries, driving, wearing clothes....the list is infinite!) you can make yourself crazy thinking of all the ways that you could be contributing to cruelty! And all this is before we even think about how bad “cruelty-free” synthetic products are for our environment! As you rightly pointed out, even harvesting plants, etc, isn’t completely cruelty free. Many wild animals and also bugs etc get killed in the process of planting and harvesting. For a quick well-known example, just look at palm oil. We have to destroy whole habitats to make way for plantations, this is just one reason among many why EVERYBODY having a Vegan diet would be in sustainable. (Not that a Vegan diet is bad, I’m vegetarian myself, I just mean if EVERYONE in the world (over 7 billion people) was Vegan, it would be a huge strain on resources - especially since we have a lot of competition with other animal species for plant-based food. It’s just about trying to minimise our impact as much as we can isn’t it? That’s all we can really do. 🤷🏻♀️
Hi Jen! This was a great video! I am about to graduate with my PhD in neuroscience, and my project has been in medication development! I am happy to answer any questions you have about animal testing in medication development!
Great video Jen! This is why I am trying to find sustainable brands that are fair trade, made in the US and that don’t use child labor mica. A lot of the time we don’t think about how our things are made. Aether beauty is a wonderful brand that I stand by for their sustainable practices. If anyone is interested in becoming more sustainable I suggest watching Shelbizzle on TH-cam. She has awesome resources and thoroughly investigates “sustainable” brands to make sure that they really do practice what they preach. Just finished watching the David Attenborough documentary on Netflix, it really put things into perspective. Palm oil farming and harvesting is so awful and it’s in so many beauty items! 😭
Jen i just want to say how much I appreciate the effort you put into researching your videos. We may not always have the same opinions about things but I appreciate your willingness to learn and research.
Kudos my friend!!!! You always are so thorough and direct by how you present your info. I’ve been in the beauty industry as an artist and brand coordinator for 22 years and really appreciate the topics you choose. The industry constantly changes and you never stop learning.
👏👏👏👏👏 excellent. Excellent. Thank you. Would love the beauty world to tackle these topics more and more. It's time to dive deeper than unboxing and swatch videos! Those are still fun of course, but love the integration of more "grown up" discussions. Thanks for leading the way, Jen!
It's not just cosmetic glitters and biodegradable cosmetic glitters that are alike and, therefore, using the latter is a form of greenwashing, but almost any type of biodegradable plastic is as damaging as regular plastics. They will last about as long as regular plastics because the biodegradable ones needs to be exposed to certain amounts of light, moisture and heat to break down. They do not get these conditions in dumps and so they just hang around indefinitely. Furthermore, because they are seen as the "beneficial" form, sometimes the biodegradable item is made more substantial in its construction which makes it even more difficult to break down. Truly, the answer is consumers need to get themselves under control so they aren't buying way more than they need, which will cause the overall supply output to diminish, and companies need to make things that are reusable or slimline so what is made isn't hugely increasing overall waste. Good video, thank you for highlighting the part about Chinese workers. Especially with the country's use of slave labor in Xinjiang, 996 work hours, terrible work conditions (factories collapsing because of absolutely no safety standards), and forced pregnancy tests/abortions for paychecks, I try to be very selective about buying from China. Even moreso for something as trivial as makeup. So many makeup companies have zero idea what the people manufacturing their products are even like and how they treat their workers. I recently saw Beauty Bay has an emphatic statement on their website where they both investigate the factories making their products and enforce strict compliance standards on the companies they sell. I wish more companies would care enough to do that because cruelty to human beings is still cruelty in the production. Keep up the great work!
This world makes me too sad. I truly wished animals had their own planet and slave labour injected into our pores is really too much to bear. How do we truly become ethical and sustainable? 😥
that’s why people say no ethical consumption under capitalism. Not to say your small actions aren’t making a difference but no one can ever truly be perfect as companies cut corners just for profits
I think people like to really ignore the human cruelty that goes into many products as well. Diamonds ,chocolates, clothing and more . These are also products of human cruelty.
Exactly! Like another person in here said, we cannot pass moral judgement on one part of our life and not another. That would be hypocrisy. Do we all check to make sure EVERYTHING we purchase to eat, drink, wear, etc. has been ethically made/produced with out harming ANY, animal, plant or HUMAN? I highly doubt it.
Veganism is about reducing harm as much as possible. And considering so much of the crops that are grown globally are specifically for livestock feed, reducing your reliance of animal products lowers the amount of death that occurs - not just for farm animals, but also for wildlife.
I think you made an excellent point regarding cruelty free and it's definition. Not testing on animals is just one part of the issue and you covered it well. Thank you!
cruelty-free = not tested on animals. this was one of the first mass movements that tried to hold companies accountable, started in the 1990s. back then people weren't thinking about vegan ingredients. we've come a long way.
Personally, I don't believe there can be "cruelty free" anything under capitalist systems. No matter what you do something is somehow hurting someone, either a worker or an animal, or the enviroment. It's an inherent problem with the system.
One thing I've done, is start small. I stopped buying soap from the grocery store and started buying hand made, artisan soap. Yes, it's more expensive, but I know all the ingredients in each bar. I choose which maker I want to buy from dependant on which ingredients they choose to use. Some makers use sustainably sourced palm oil, others don't. The maker I buy from stopped using all palm oil in her products. She also uses bio glitter when she does add glitter..and she's made sure that where she purchases her micas, that those are sustainably sourced. It may only be 1 product right now, but it's a huge step in my household. Plus, all the packaging from my purchases from this maker are recyclable from recycled materials!
Which is awesome! I think one of the very best ways to universally be better for our planet as a whole is consume less, buy less, own less!!! 😳😉 that’s the journey my family is on this year!
Wow! Very informative. Thank you Jen. I have a friend that has terrible eye problems after anything she uses from a certain couple of brands. I'll tell her to watch this! TYFS! Have a great weekend! 🥰💐✌
Such good points! I'm just going to add that LVMH stands for Louis Vuitton Moët Hennessy, which isn't cosmetics so they can't really be testing champagne and bags on animals
Buy vegan and cruelty free products and cosmetics. If anyone cares about bunnies having mascara smeared in their eyes, maybe they can care about cows and pigs too. Expand the circle of compassion to include ALL animals. Please go vegan everyone ❤🌱🙏🏻
I want our government and other governments to define these current marketing words like cruelty free, provide guidance, and audit labs and makeup companies to ensure they adhere to those guidances.
There’s so many things to think about. I know the ethical shopping guide tries to take several more than cruelty free status into account. I was interested when I learned about fixed cut off dates from the good shopping guide; they ask brands to set a date after which they will not use any new ingredients that were tested on animals. Whereas a rolling date or no date may mean the ingredients they are using themselves weren’t tested, a fixed date means no new ingredients ever tested on animals at all.
Thank you for a great video.. Also,, perhaps a good long look needs to be taken into the production of natural hair makeup brushes? Now, there's a topic that people tend to turn a blindeye towards. 😉
It is impossile to harvest or produce anything without hurting the animals or their habitat. Cosmetics you can do without. But what do you eat and wear? It is getting buggy real fast when you think it further.
@@nicoledemers9110 but as Jen mentioned harvasting plants can be harmfull. There is no real difference if you put the oat in your breakfast or use it in a shampoo. It is not ment to offend but vegan isn't cruelty free either.
@@nicoledemers9110 I have a FODMAP intolerance. No beans, most pasta, more vegetables on the no list than the yes list, many nuts are nos, no lentils, etc.. It's not feasible for everyone. And many many people have the intolerance. Most IBS cases are FODMAP intolerance. 100 people lessening their impact does more than 10 people halving it. And making more conscious decisions and shaping things that way can create a bigger market, leading to people who are apathetic about it going with the flow and lessening their impact non-conciously. Reminder: the public image of vegans is not positive. Vegans were too aggressive and had an all or nothing approach that turned people away. Again, we need 100 people imperfectly doing something, not 10 people doing it imperfectly.
@@pippetandpossum I mean... I'm viewed as agressive no matter how I voice my opinion. When I tell people where their food comes from I'm being to harsh or insensitive. It's a no win situation. I honestly view much of omni culture as agressive. The constant "mmmm bacon tho" or "what is life without cheese?" I don't even bring up that I'm vegan unless it comes up in a topic relevant like this, or someone asks why I don't want a burger. And then when I say I don't eat meat, I get pushed and pushed and pushed. I'm not vegan for my health. I'm vegan because of how we treat the animals. The thought of those chickens "living" a miniscule of their natural life span in battery cages then getting slaughtered is revolting and devastating. I think people should just do their best, but that many people are also just making excuses for themselves. I don't mean you in particular or anything, just many people.
Sorry for the long comment that is about to come but im finishing my chemist degree and wanted to point out something so that it is clear cause you said something but didn't specify, in my opinion ( not trying to be rude, just wanted to clarify something that maybe I didn't understand right). I'm from Spain and here animal testing is forbidden when it comes to cosmetics, because they don't contain any actives. However, sunscreen does contain actives and it's made to PREVENT a disease, so it is tested as any other active that is used topically. The reason for that is that products that don't have actives like cosmetics, use specific ingredients that have already been approved as topically save. They don't penetrate the skin at any level. However, any other active could penetrate the skin, causing other issues or reactions. That's why cosmetics don't have to be tested on animals, cause you don't have to see the effects of them on the rest on the body. However, any active should be tested on animals before tested on people duo to the fact that could produce something else on you body. As an example, nicotine patch, hormonal patch, baby cold cream, etc... Something being topical doesn't mean that can't travel to any other area, and any active could cause a reaction (like you said teratogenesis). In summary, animal testing of cosmetics is not necessary, animal testing of any Active is necessary and required by all countries ( spf is a big weird on the US) to guarantee safety of it. And it's safety and effects have to go through different agencies to be on the market. Hi editing me! What you said about CBD, it is not aloud to be in any cosmetic here in spain before it is tested, because it is an active. In US is different I think. What I'm trying to say is, it is sad that we need to test on animals before we use any active, but so far hasn't been any other method that assure us the same security as this one. After an active is tested on animals it is tested on people before it comes to the market, so it has to be safe. And also you can't control and come up with the right dosis by testing on a cel or a tissue. Our body is so much more complex than that. But if you have read any other paper on new alternatives on animal testing I would love to know more about that! 😊
I wanted to see a photo of the damage glitter does to the environment. I couldn't find one. This issue reminds me of the issue of pharmaceuticals not only flushed down the sink/toilet but the actual urine containing some of these drugs getting into the water system. This is mind-boggling!! I'm torn in so many ways over these issues. I don't want any animals harmed and I don't want to poison folks (and animals/pets are in this group as well) just because we drink water.
The higher risk of death in those kind of factories probably is because the equipment they use isn't as safe as in usa for example. That's my theory at least.
This year I made the switch to prioritizing humane work conditions over animal testing and to support both when I can. Flower Beauty's is an affordable more ethical brand for anyone interested. The only exception is their makeup brushes made in China and I didn't find anything suspicious about the parent company (which also owns Kristin Ess, Mindy McKnight's hair line, Collab Beauty, and Believe Beauty). Milani also allows you to search for products made in specific countries on their website.
No problem, I don't buy from Sephora. Haha. No but really. I appreciate you talking about labor issues, and the environment, beyond just the impact on animals/testing. There is so much missing data for consumers to buy from companies with fair wages and conditions. There are tons of lists, influencers, and celebs who speak on animal cruelty, or even "sustainability". Why not anti consumerism, or labor rights?
Great vid info, as always. Something that came to mind was "nano" ingredients and/or "nano" coloring. I read this in a package of an eyeshadow palette that was on sale during Ulta's 21 Days 2021, and I skipped it because it's been only a couple years recent that I've heard the word "nano" in other products. Since it's a more "recent" thing, where have they done their "tests" or when? That just made me look more into it.
Just watching this video. Jen I love the small research that you have done, to teach us all something about cosmetics. I certainly did learn a thing or two. I love your content.
As a former animal researcher, the big reason why cell cultures and donated human tissue doesnt work for a lot of research (some can be done, but other research can't) is because you need to look at the whole system. Like sure, we may know this thing works on kidney function, but we also need to know if it affects like your liver or lungs or what have you. I used to study nicotine withdrawal, which as anyone who quit smoking can attest to, it's not just a one organ thing. Also for donated tissue, we simply dont have ENOUGH most of the time for the sheer number of replications (which is why mice and rats are so popular). Obviously animal research isnt always ideal, but if cell cultures were perfect wed all use them because my god that's so much easier than maintaining colonies. But there are people working on improving models. Will we ever be able to completely get rid of animal models? I cannot say, but hopefully.
The more I have learned about these issues, the more I have changed my purchasing behavior. I no longer shop at Sephora for the reason Jen mentions, but instead try to pay close attention to the brands I like that they sell that do not have a parent company that tests on animals anywhere in the world. Milk Makeup is a good example. I found them through Sephora, but now that I am aware of my money going up the corporate ladder to pay for animal testing in China, I signed up for Milk's email list and purchase directly from their website when they announce sales, which is also usually enough to add up to free shipping. I do go through my list of indie brands annually because brands can be purchased at any time. An example of this is Drunk Elephant. I used to buy their products, but no longer do since they have been purchased by Shiseido. It really is a lot to keep track of, but I do my best. I don't feel that anyone needs to make the same choices as me, but that it is frustrating that so much of this is marketed in certain ways that are misleading to consumers, and that we can't trust companies to want educated consumers and no animals involved in beauty products.
Thank you, Jen! Companies that claim to be cruelty-free might buy from a supplier that tests on animals. Leaping Bunny makes sure that certified companies do not buy from a supplier that tests on animals and also has lists of vegan products. www.leapingbunny.org
Mad love for you Jen I’m still only buying from Cruelty Free brands. I try to buy only vegan products too but I’ll admit, I don’t always check the ingredients for Carmine.
I feel like at this point in time there’s a lot of information on ingredients and how they act, the company’s know whats safe and what isn’t. But yeh human testing is a better option in my opinion at least we have a choice :(
@@virginiascheider5205 , I have to say that I disagree with any involuntary testing; testing on a prison inmate by force would qualify as “cruel and unusual punishment.” A significant number of the US prison population (which is ridiculously high compared to other “first world” countries, btw) is made up of people falsely convicted, for one thing. Not everyone in prison is even a “bad” person, and overall, I disagree with the “punishment” mentality, as it mainly does nothing to improve individuals nor to reduce crime as a whole. If human testing is desired, let people volunteer for it, and compensate them in some way for doing it.
thanks for talking on that subject! I would love it if you had a video about all the different bees byproducts sourcing. how a brand like I'm From or Farmacy can portray themselves as like nature loving and all that, and still make popular lines with honey, beeswax propolis, etc... could these ingredients actually be a positive for the bees and the environment or is it always harmful?
All this goes back to the message, women get ,that they need to improve their looks, when there is nothing wrong with our looks. It's all about the money.
A FANTASTIC resource for finding cruelty free and vegan products is Logical Harmony! Not trying to tear anyone away from your channel, but Toshina is an excellent resource!
It is a complex topic, but I don‘t care what Perry says, no test should be tested on animals. Just because we are vain does not mean animals are our to test on. I buy only cruelty free, I don‘t buy in stores that are not cruelty free ( for example sephora) and I already knew everything you said in the video. Who wants to inform oneself, one can do so. There are enough information online if one really wishes to find the information.
I use only IT cosmetics and pacifa. I know that some of their ingredients might include ingredients and it makes me sad. However, if I can find companies that do not test on animals I will gladly use them.
Jenn what do you know about MaryAnn Organics?? Someone got me their skincare line for Xmas and I am enjoying it, but I really can’t find any reviews by known beauty bloggers on it??
I have to take many medications, and I have allergies. Sadly, often products that aren't cruelty-free are a lot safer as the ingredients have been tested more extensively and have stronger preservatives to prevent them going off and triggering my allergies due to mold or rancid ingredients. I would prefer I have something tested, frankly. I'm careful about the meat I eat, and I do what I can to avoid causing unnecessary animal harm, but due to my health & money constraints I don't have a great choice or options of how to avoid it here. I try to reduce, reuse and recycle, and that's often all I can do.
@@ashcruz904 children mine the mica that goes in products that are labeled cruelty free. Factory workers make less on a day than the products they make sell for. Makeup that isn't tested on animals is still pretty cruel. I'm not arguing animal testing is good just that calling it "cruelty free" is pretty narrow sighted.
@@ashcruz904 I think they were just meaning the term is used to only describe one type of cruelty but doesn’t reflect on other things that are cruel such as additional environmental damage or unethical working conditions. The term should only be used when the complete sourcing of that product is completely ethical and causes little to no harm to everyone and everything.
So Kaleidos says China lifted this January 2020. They also say as of January 2018 products made in China were no longer required for to be animal tested, only imported items.
But post market testing can be conducted at anytime, on any product without the prior knowledge or consent of the company. So selling in bricks and mortar stores in China runs that risk, which means they cannot claim to be cruelty free for the very fact it could happen. It doesn’t count for online sales into China.
Most CBD comes from hemp rather than marijuana. This way the CBD is isolated and there is very little THC. I am very sensitive to THC and therefore only use CBD products produced through hemp.
There's no difference. Many folks have fallen for the propaganda that they are different, aka, one is 'good' and one is 'bad'. Difference species, however, have different levels of CBD and/or THC.
@@KimberlyLetsGo I looked into it a little more. There has been a lot of cultivating going on, of course. Now the industrial hemp, and the marijuana people seek to get high are each bred for their uses. The benefit of the individual hemp is as I said. Yes, species wise the same, but different in many ways now. There are so many plants like this, so many examples. For me the THC really matters. I have spasticity, and when all else fails I can have a little CBD and it helps. I think, like many things it can become a fad and over used. Shot, I just went to CVS and saw stuff with CBD.
@@Mantuamaker I was just over at CVS and that was a huge display of CBD products! I'm glad that you are able to find something that helps your issue. Since I live in Colorado, learning all this about hemp and marijuana has been very interesting. It's unbelievable the different strands they have of marijuana! Each with their own attributes. All these different tastes and strengths and levels of THC/CBS is mind boggling. Science, right? :D
Thank you for the great information, I'm cleaning out my makeup and trying to educate myself more on this topic. Please advice what makeup brands is "clean".
The term clean isn’t regulated. It’s a made up term to market products based mostly on twisted science and scare tactics. Unless you are allergic or sensitive to something, “clean” is just a marketing trick.
We ALL owe many comforts of life to both animal and human testing in our history (medical and cosmetic developments). So many compounds and ingredients are now generally recognized as safe due to the history of animal testing. We would not have Cruelty Free today without the knowledge testing has provided us, which we now all benefit from. I’m more concerned about cosmetics that are manufactured in China and those workers’ rights, but that’s just me.
The shaming is so ridiculous. Unless you are 100% vegan, sustainably sourced and can prove that all the workers involved in the processes of creating products have ethical working conditions you are really not that much better than anyone else. The whole clean beauty is another thing that drives me nuts. Synthetics were created for people like me who have reactions to natural products. There are reasons for everything.
I will forever be angry at Bite Beauty for going vegan - their OLD formula Agave Lip Mask saved me while running outside in the winter. I’m a knitter, so it can’t be overstated how much I love sheep and all their products! I’m still trying to find a good substitute😭
As a cruelty-free cosmetics consumer and content creator, I try to tell my audience that it’s not about being perfect. It’s impossible to lead a completely cruelty-free life. If I go for a run, I may unknowingly squash a bug. I’m not sure what is in the glue in my tires. But as you said, there’s no need to test on animals. It’s an outdated and cruel practice. That’s why I say vote with your dollar, use your voice, and if you find out that a brand does not align with your views, then discontinue purchasing from them. It’s still worth getting loud about - we gotta save the buggies, beagles, mice, and bunnies. ❤️
👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼 THIS!!!
#nailedit
No one is saying you have to be perfect but no one should be creating content with cosmetics that contain Carmine, lanolin or cera Alba etc and touting the myth they are cruelty free.
You cannot equate squashing a bug whilst running with buying a product that is a luxury that isn’t really needed but if required has vegan options, it’s a false equivalence.
Couldn’t agree more x
@@xPidgexSmithx So you feel that you should not buy any products that have ANY lanolin or beeswax, etc. because it, inevitably is cruel to animals? There are lots of beekeepers in my area (and my cousin raises bees too) that treat their bees like pets; they'd never do anything to harm them. But, we can still enjoy their honey and use the excess wax in products. Same with lanolin. There are plenty of sheep farms that treat their animals with care. That's their investment! So writing off all these products because they 'might' be harmful is throwing out the baby with the bath water. If you feel that way then stop using fabrics that are made of cotton (maybe some bugs will be killed in the harvest). Stop using fabrics that have spandex or polyester because they are plastics. Here's my point, I feel you are overly bashing the OP. Not everyone is going to have the same vision you have and that does not make them a bad human. Peace and kindness to you.
If you (generic 'you') really want to help the environment, consume less. We over-spend, over-buy, over-waste and over-pollute. Let us buy responsibly and buy less, people! :)
Awesome video, Jen :)
Agreed. Over consumption is insane!!
@@pippetandpossum Yes! And all the chemicals used to make the 'vegan version'/cruelty free of everything are often so toxic for the environment and for us. So, really, unless we stop buying like crazy, whatever we buy, it will hurt something :/
Yes glad to see people pushing mindful consumption!
@@mariavomero8712 I really disagree with the ingredients being toxic for us and would love some more info on that. All research I've done into that topic has shown it to be a combination of ignorance and fear mongering. As for toxic to the environment, absolutely.
Great tip!!
Really appreciate this video. It’s disheartening that there’s so many ways a product can be “cruelty free” but not truly free of cruelty.
With today’s technology there is no reason to have to rub mascara in a bunny’s eyes.
it’s injected into their eyes
@@crystallynch4387 they inject they don’t rub.
I think it’s interesting where people draw their lines re: “bugs aren’t animals” (in the case of pigments whose ingredients are sourced from insects)
Also, I wish the term “cruelty free” was also akin to “ethically produced.” While it’s important not to cause unnecessary harm to animals through cosmetics/ingredients testing, it’s also important to be cognizant of the deplorable labor conditions that so many people endure within the production chain for these products (from mica mines to assembly lines).
This is why many vegans don't use palm oil and mica. :)
@@nicoledemers9110 almost forgot about palm oil!
I’m curious to know what these people think bugs are, if not animals? There aren’t many options- animal, mineral, plant, fungi and bacteria (simplified), so what category would bugs go in, other than animal?
I’m actually an Economist for the Bureau of Labor Statistic! It’s awesome you see you using our data. 😋 It looks like that program no longer exists which is why you couldn’t find current data.
A chemist friend of mine told me that today there's no reason to test ingredients, because everything was already test, as you say, unless is a new ingredient, there's no point on keep on doing that. Nice video Jen. 💕
In vitro testing
@@monicamkupmartinez9285 what about the way they react together!
-- thank you for this video. I made it a priority, a few years ago, to buy only cruelty free cosmetic products because my soul would hurt knowing i caused harm just to wear makeup. But it was one of your videos recently that shocked me to learn cruelty free is not what i thought. It is unacceptable to harm any living being on this planet for cosmetics, something so non essential and unnecessary for living. i want to be a better consumer and bring no harm to anything. thank you jen
Your research is very informative and helpful. I went "cruelty free" in my cosmetics a few years ago, and while I completely understand and agree with everything you said, I still think it's better to purchase from "cruelty free" brands than from brands such as Loreal, etc, that knowingly tests their products on animals. Hope that makes sense.
And it’s even better to purchase from ethical vegan brands.
If L'Oreal makes it's products in the EU they are not tested on animals. Products made or sold in the EU are free of animal testing by law. Of course there are some ways to circumvent laws (medical research etc) but it is generally true. Also L'Oreal spens a lot for alternative testing methods, f.ex they made an artificial skin etc. So calling L'Oreal bad by default is not viable. If you have contradicting evidence I'd like to read it of course. This is just the information I have currently. 😊
@@msprunella6358 it doesn’t matter if the country you buy the product in hasn’t specifically animal tested and has laws against against cosmetic testing, it’s the very fact the company tests at all anywhere in the world and would sell in countries that require testing. Buying any product from them you are funding these practices.
@@msprunella6358 just one example - they choose to sell their products in China, where animal testing is required in order to sell there.
@@xPidgexSmithx but if they test anywhere the products can't be sold in the EU and L'Oreal is based there so it would be stupid for them to do so. I personally can't believe they test on animals anywhere anymore (except the chinese government in china) unless I see proof. 🤷♀️
Thank you for shedding light on the other issues there are in cosmetics besides just cruelty free. Things like palm oil isn’t just in cosmetics either, it’s in a ton of food and other products, and are responsible for the destruction of SE Asian forests. The major wildfires a couple of years ago that blanketed Asia from Indonesian forests were because of illegal fires from burning forests for palm oil plantations, and are directly responsible for the reason Orangutans are so critically endangered.
Did a project on palm oil and it hurts how bad it is but how widely spread it is used you can literally not avoid it and it’s hard to find ethically sourced palm oil. Wanted to add another issue with palm oil (as if what you listed wasnt bad enough) is child labour
Sadly, 6x the amount destroyed in Indonesia is destroyed in South America for exported beef and livestock feed.
I think about the labor aspect of “cruelty free” so often. I support companies who treat their employees and suppliers ethically, but I also think a big reason the cheap, made in China products are so popular in the US is because our own wages are lacking. Someone making minimum wage would have to dedicate 4-6 hours of pay to afford a higher end, more “ethical” foundation. If you’re struggling financially, which half of America is, you may not have the option to shop “ethically”. My wish is for brands to be more transparent about their labor policies, and for us to all hold them more accountable.
I agree it's much more limiting to support those ethics. found some affordable exceptions. Milani allows you to search "made in..." on their website and every product description has a label where it's (supposedly) made. Most Flower beauty products are made outside of China except for the brushes. I didn't find anything problematic about their parent company, which also owns Collab Beauty and the Dollar General Believe Beauty Brand (but I couldn't find as explicit manufacturing origins for those brands). Colourpop is not connected to China but I haven't done a ton of digging on the Seed Beauty parent company. K Beauty and J beauty is a pretty safe bet (which includes Avon/Mark now if you don't mind supporting direct sales) There's some low to mid price options like Han Skincare Cosmetics, Mineral Fusion, Gabriel, Zuzu Luxe, Benecos, Kiko, Nabla, Tower 28, Sydney Grace, and Makeup Geek.
Great insight Jen! It's such a complex topic with so many different opinions/reasons people think certain brands & products are cruelty-free
I only shop cruelty free and already knew most of this information and completely agree with everything you said it was spot on
I remember seeing a video in 2016 or so where a woman was talking about how “cruelty free” isn’t necessarily cruelty free. It’s very difficult to understand where mica or other ingredients are actually from, even if companies do the due diligence to investigate that. Even something that says “made in the USA” or “made in the UK” could still be made unethically to keep costs down. I believe the video mentioned a case where a company in the UK was found to be keeping people hostage and forcing them to work in what was basically slave labor.
It seems to me it’s almost impossible to find product where mica or phenoxyetamol isn’t present. It’s impossible to find absolutely chemical free products but not tested on animals..:/
People say that because animal is defined two ways. For Linnaean classification purposes that fall with the animals, they are anamalia. For research purposes they split animals into vertebrates and non-vertebrates. Vertebrates get more protections and rules on use. Insects, because they do not have a backbone are considered not animals by the committees that oversee animal research studies at institutions. This is becoming an ethical problem recently because things like octopuses, which are highly intelligent, do not get the same protections as other animals because they are not vertebrates. So, there is a large push in the scientific communities to reevaluate the criteria for animal studies.
🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰
Please do a deep dive into MLMS!
Your so smart and do amazing research, would love your take!!!!
Yes, what an amazing idea!
I'm honestly not sure if I could add anything new to the conversation, but I'll look into it!
@@jenluv your just so through and I love your deep dives!
Monats is interesting though. Every single breastfeeding support group I’m in band it because it’s not safe to use, but the company brushes off those claims!
I’d love to see this video too. So many of them are in the beauty space.
W W are you sure they were banned for "not being safe" or were they banned because they are an MLM? I am not a consultant but a few friends are. One is a nurse and would never promote something unsafe and yes she's done her research. However MLMs have been banned from most social media groups because some reps were supposedly "harrassing" members and all the anti-MLM rhetoric on social media.
My college biology prof once stated something along the lines of, “Nothing is completely cruelty-free; at some point in time, the ingredients in every product you consume was tested on animals.” I think about that a lot when “cruelty-free” issues pop up.
That statement is completely false. Truly cruelty free products do exist, you just need to find vegan products from cruelty free brands. It's easy.
Very true, for instance the protein in rice is from a trace amount of insects allowed in the grains. In India they allow a higher percentage of insect residue in the rice which is why it has more protein, and thus easier to be a vegetarian in India (generally speaking).
Throwing something else in as a thought question: which is "better"? 1) Harvesting many acres of a plant to make a few ounces of essential oil, or 2) using a small amount of synthetic ingredients to make synthetic fragrance? [This is true ... look up the amount of roses needed to get one ounce of rose absolute.]
I have the same question on leather. Is it better to use an animal skin (and the rest of the animal for other uses) or use petroleum to make "vegan leather"?
There are no easy answers here.
Shouldn't breed them kill the cow in the first place.
I also never understood the "vegan leather". The term just means it doesn't come from animals. In most cases it's PVC which is plastic. This is not environment friendly
Leather is and was a luxury product. But looking at all the people in this world, I don’t think there’s enough quality leather to satisfy the demand. So fake leather (polyurethane) is needed. Certainly if it is The Trend. Even high fashion uses PU, which I find remarkable. It’s all about the easy buck and the big name selling it anyway. And it’s vegan ...
On the other hand would you wear real fur if there’s a good polymer alternative?
@@lydiaa9594 maybe in the early 90s, but not today. A lot of vegan leather is recycled materials. Meanwhile leather tanning pollutes waterways and kills the people working with almost 180 deadly chemicals.
There are easy answers, it just depends on if you know how to do research properly (e.g. academic research).
Two things to point out, one is that sheep, the source of lanolin, really need shearing. If their fleece goes too long without being sheared, it mats and can cause ripping and pulling out of the hairs which is terribly painful to the animal, it picks up debris which can irritate the animal, add extra weight and restrict movement. Finally, the weight of an unaddressed fleece on an animal can cause the animal to die from crush asphixiation or the inability to move causing the animal to starve to death. The second matter involves vegan practices of using synthetic materials for clothing, shoes and accessories, rather than leather. The majority of these synthetics are petroleum based. Fossil fuels and their byproducts used in synthetic materials are non renewable. Wool is highly renewable and leather is a byproduct of meat consumption. The world is not going vegetarian soon, we should use what we have, the leather. The synthetics and pleathers are very harmful, leaching plastics into the waterways, causing no biodegradable choking of landfills and these garments and accessories are not really durable. If you care for leather, wool and suede, they will last for years. Pleather and vinyl and other synthetics do not. There is also the manufacturing process of these synthetics which uses fuel and are often sourced from poorer countries. Honestly, we should look to indigenous peoples of all continents like the Inuit of Canada and Alaska or the Native American tribes practice of using all usable parts of a resource animal, meat, skin, fur, bone, etc.
Thank you for saying it this way. Too many folks will make a broad, sweeping comment that all animal products are cruelty made or sourced when this is not true. And that is just another way humans are dividing themselves unnecessarily. Education brings with it understanding. I'm glad that Jen being a former teacher has a high regard for this.
I'm upset that I can't like your comment more than once
As an indigenous person from Alaska I couldn’t agree more with the statements about materials that are sourced from non renewable resources. I think vegan consumers have good intentions but they’re swaying in the wrong direction. The byproducts of their “animal free” products means that the raw materials either need to be manufactured or very heavily refined. Using even more precious petroleum. Not only do the products use a high amount of petroleum/non renewable products, the energy to create those products is higher. I hope over time we can focus on the unethical labor practices, renewable products, and decreasing impact to the environment. Personally that is more important than a bug feeling pain. That’s like saying your corn felt pain when it was killed. Isn’t it true that corn is a living organism as well? *sigh*
@@shelleyfierce Thank you for sharing this.
Yes! Yes! Yes!
People who preach that products like wool and lanolin are cruel drive me batty.
People and animals are intended to live symbiotic lives. We help them, and they help us.
I'm kind of nihilistic about animal testing or byproducts in my products. Since I'm an omnivore, I cannot pass moral judgement on one part of my life and not another. But thinking on the other hand, I can also try to make cruelty-free choices in the luxury/hobby parts of my life, such as makeup and fashion, unlike the functional necessities of food and medicine. (I have some health conditions that require me to eat meat in order to get all my nutrients.)
I kind of feel the same as you. I eat meat and dairy as I consider it as something I need to consume to survive. I'm a fussy eater and the food you need to eat on a vegan diet to get the same nutrients as the ones in meat and dairy I do not like. However I do try to buy (as near to) cruelty free items like makeup as I don't think that animals need to suffer for stuff that we can easily live without.
@@anonymousperson2839 basically me
I’m similar. My diet includes meat and some dairy, but I could try harder here. I do try and buy vegan or CF, bc I that’s definitely a choice. Where as when I was vegetarian and then vegan, my health suffered. I’m sure it was user error, but I did the best I could and I didn’t do great. I can be much more thoughtful on how I spend my money on non-necessities.
I think almost all people are to one degree or another do the same thing. It's just the amount of conscience choices a person makes. It reminds me of the cartoon I saw of a picketer waving a sign that said 'save the forests!' written on cardboard and glued to a stick. :/
Same here for essential things like food, medicine toothpaste and deodorant I use the best products for my needs but for hobbies and cosmetics I buy cruelty free brands and try to stick ethically sourced stuff
I'm so glad you're talking about this! When I got into beauty, I thought there was something special about cruelty free and would proudly(also confusedly) spout that a product was cruelty free...until I looked into it. Once I realized that somewhere along the way, cruelty free is become synonymous with vegan, as well as how there can still be cruelty, animal or otherwise, AND how the slight exclusivity that eliminated those who loved makeup from participating in the "movement" bc they were either not financially able or didn't have access. I stopped touting cruelty free as a positive for a product. Great job as always!💙💚
Great subject to tackle. Cruelty free and clean beauty are such misnomers. We still need to educate ourselves if we really want to stand by our morals, not just rely on a label.
i buy CF and mostly vegan products but I agree with you! i wish it was called "animal testing-free" instead of cruelty free (or that they would expand it to mean more ethically produced)
I’ve been having this conversation for years and so many people don’t want to hear it. I don’t understand!
People want to feel like they’re doing something super amazing, it’s a selfish act. So they are not interested in hearing the truth because it takes their illusion away! 😢
Exactly! I’ve posted about this many times but people seem to think cruelty stops when they don’t test on animals. The ignorance is astounding but when it’s pointed out they will ignore it anyway as their want for a product is more important.
To make carmine, you only need the beetle shells. Beetles molt their shells frequently. There are ways of sourcing carmine that doesn't involve cruelty. It doesn't hurt the beetle to use it's spent molt. It's kind of the same with products that include snail slime. There are farms that ethically harvest slime without harming the snail. The slime gets harvested as a snail crawls over a glass surface without harming the snail at all. I also see people freak out over brushes made with animal hair but I think they forget that horses, rabbits, and goats shed and/or have to be groomed often and that spent hair can then be used. Just because a product uses an animal byproduct doesn't make it inherently cruel. Just know where that ingredient is sourced. And if I'm not mistaken, to be cruelty free you have to source cruelty free ingredients.
Wow thank you for that! Still feels weird to have that product used in cosmetics but most definitely is better than knowing it’s just dead bugs
I’m so glad you touched on this! I follow several people on this platform who have talked about all of these things to various degrees & I agree with so much of it. I don’t have a completely vegan collection, but I would love to gradually get there someday. I also never understood why animal testing is a thing when we’re HUMANS!!!!! The only creatures on this planet that we should be testing the things WE consume is HUMANS!!!!! 🤦♀️ Praying that these regulations change sooner rather than later.
Now, THIS is solid reporting! Thank you for this, Jen. Everything that you mentioned is one reason why I kind of side-eye “cruelty-free” products or brands. I find it problematic when people are quicker to fight for the safety of animals when there’s slave labor happening for the mining or assembly of products. Children mining for mica isn’t just a problem in India, but there’s issues in other countries as well. Here’s a story on the situation in Madagascar: www.unicefusa.org/stories/how-unicef-supports-families-prevent-child-labor-madagascar/36676
Really, the situation comes down to us holding companies accountable and making sure they’re doing everything in their power to consciously be as ethical as possible. There are going to be some mishaps here and there, but one issue can’t be ignored for the sake of claiming their “cruelty-free” status.
This is something I’ve definitely been thinking about as I’m able to afford more things as I’ve become an adult and not always buying the cheapest things possible and able to think critically more about my purchasing habits
Also, all of the animal habitats ruined because they clear out forests for Palm trees for palm oil. It's crazy.
Which is why many vegans don't partake in palm oil.
@@nicoledemers9110 Palm oil should be universally avoided, regardless of diet.
@@videomaven77 I agree
I love this. Things are complicated. When it comes to the environment the two biggest things to change are (1) corporate and industrial practices and (2) reducing consumption. Everyone forgets that the first R isn't recycle, it's reduce.
But as for plastic, it's a problem, but it's also a byproduct. So as long as we are burning fossil fuels, what are we going to do with the plastic? Either we turn the byproducts into plastic or we throw them out. Now, they could be made into higher quality longer lasting plastic, as opposed to super thin unnecessary packaging. But as it stands now, plastic is a byproduct of the fossil fuel industry. Also glass is not the answer to the plastic problem. It takes so much energy and water to recycle glass AND it's so heavy to ship, which also takes more energy, which means more fossil fuels burned, which means more carbon emissions and more byproduct (to make plastic?)
Refillable packaging is definitely a step in the right direction, but I also don't understand the focus on the beauty industry. There are so many other industries that create way more waste than beauty yet beauty is always scapegoated because it's considered frivolous and unnecessary. In sorry, but skincare, haircare, and body care are hygiene. Which I consider essential. And for a lot of women, makeup is essential because as it stands, in a lot of industries, a woman's bare face is unprofessional.
At the end of the day, for every pound waste a consumer creates, seven pounds of waste were created up stream. The term "zero waste" was invented to refer to companies, not individuals. If every company changed their practices and no individuals recycled or changed any of their habits at all, we'd solve the climate crisis. So should we do what we can? Absolutely. Should we feel bad if we aren't perfect? Absolutely not.
I just posted a video on my channel today related to the human cost to our hyper-consumerism. I'm not plugging my channel ...I just wish this subject would get more attention. I've lobbied congress regarding this actually.
I'm so glad you're covering this topic. I hope people continue to gain more awareness.
Very important conversation to be had!
@@adrichapa3194 yes!❤️
@@melodyjoy5082 agreed! I just mentioned this in another comment. Consuming less, buying less, owning less... that is what will truly be helpful to our planet
@@JessRodr yes!!!
The fact that you said that products labeled as cruelty free only means that they dont test on animals is scary
This is such a hard topic. It just gets to be more overwhelming and I get a stupid amount of actual anxiety trying to be "ethically perfect." I'm trying to let go of this perfection and just cutting down on impulsive shopping or over-consuming. I am committing to buying less & supporting small/indie companies whenever possible
i have the same problem. buying less is probably the best thing we can do. every purchase has a down side. every purchase may have caused harm when it was made and its packaging can cause harm for years into the future.
There really is no such thing as 'ethical consumerism', especially under capitalism. People try to do the same when it comes to food: purchase vegan ingredients, or animal meat that is ethically sourced. The problem is that the company that sells the 'ethical' quinoa is the very same company that sells meat from factory farms. It's a cycle strategically put in place by the owners and investors of these companies to increase profit margins, so don't beat yourself up about it. If you want real change, best thing to do is to make your voice heard and participate in democracy.
It's absolutely awful how many cruelties there are in everyday products.
It really is heartbreaking.
@@jenluv I don't understand why we live in a society that exploits animals and humans so much. I work hard to live ethically, but it is almost impossible to find anything that doesn't have some form of cruelty and/ or animal products.
I love this video! Thank you for making it! If anyone is interested in reducing harm to animals/environment, but are overwhelmed with how confusing this industry is with their labeling, etc, please consider reducing your animal consumption. Even one meal a month animal free can make a huge impact! In my personal opinion, it’s easier to control what we eat than decipher what these companies are doing, and we get to make that decision multiple times a day 💚
I remember JC saying that! I laughed so hard I couldn’t breathe and I was thinking “what fool told him that & who approved him keeping that line in”?!?!? 😳😆
I completely agree. I’m an industrial hygienist.... I keep people safe at a military base. Animal testing really doesn’t give us more data sets to add to what’s already out there. I also believe we should have accurate descriptions of the products.
Love from the Pine Barrens in NJ
Thank you Jen for this video! Very interesting and informative! I'm trying to go cruelty-free but in my country it is really hard since there aren't many cruelty-free brands to choose from. Greetings from Argentina 🇦🇷🇦🇷 😘😘
I’ve said this myself so many times before, so I agree!
All it really means when a product is labelled “cruelty free” is that the end product isn’t tested on Animals.
It doesn’t count for all the ingredients that had to be tested before it, or any new ingredients that require testing now. It also doesn’t count for any animal-derived products either (such as lanolin, beeswax, Carmine, etc, etc)
It’s definitely a very difficult decision ethically isn’t it?
If you want to be 100% cruelty free, really that means changing our whole way of life, and that just isn’t sustainable or even doable! (It means no medicines, vaccines, surgeries, driving, wearing clothes....the list is infinite!) you can make yourself crazy thinking of all the ways that you could be contributing to cruelty!
And all this is before we even think about how bad “cruelty-free” synthetic products are for our environment!
As you rightly pointed out, even harvesting plants, etc, isn’t completely cruelty free. Many wild animals and also bugs etc get killed in the process of planting and harvesting. For a quick well-known example, just look at palm oil. We have to destroy whole habitats to make way for plantations, this is just one reason among many why EVERYBODY having a Vegan diet would be in sustainable. (Not that a Vegan diet is bad, I’m vegetarian myself, I just mean if EVERYONE in the world (over 7 billion people) was Vegan, it would be a huge strain on resources - especially since we have a lot of competition with other animal species for plant-based food.
It’s just about trying to minimise our impact as much as we can isn’t it? That’s all we can really do. 🤷🏻♀️
Hi Jen! This was a great video! I am about to graduate with my PhD in neuroscience, and my project has been in medication development! I am happy to answer any questions you have about animal testing in medication development!
Great video Jen! This is why I am trying to find sustainable brands that are fair trade, made in the US and that don’t use child labor mica. A lot of the time we don’t think about how our things are made. Aether beauty is a wonderful brand that I stand by for their sustainable practices. If anyone is interested in becoming more sustainable I suggest watching Shelbizzle on TH-cam. She has awesome resources and thoroughly investigates “sustainable” brands to make sure that they really do practice what they preach.
Just finished watching the David Attenborough documentary on Netflix, it really put things into perspective. Palm oil farming and harvesting is so awful and it’s in so many beauty items! 😭
Thank you, Jen, for being willing to discuss this topic. Well said.
Jen i just want to say how much I appreciate the effort you put into researching your videos. We may not always have the same opinions about things but I appreciate your willingness to learn and research.
For some time now I no longer buy cosmetics made in China for many reasons. Thank you for the video!
Kudos my friend!!!! You always are so thorough and direct by how you present your info. I’ve been in the beauty industry as an artist and brand coordinator for 22 years and really appreciate the topics you choose. The industry constantly changes and you never stop learning.
So what are we supposed to do?? It seems no matter what it hurts the environment or animal. Is anything truly free from hurting something?
👏👏👏👏👏 excellent. Excellent. Thank you. Would love the beauty world to tackle these topics more and more. It's time to dive deeper than unboxing and swatch videos! Those are still fun of course, but love the integration of more "grown up" discussions. Thanks for leading the way, Jen!
It's not just cosmetic glitters and biodegradable cosmetic glitters that are alike and, therefore, using the latter is a form of greenwashing, but almost any type of biodegradable plastic is as damaging as regular plastics. They will last about as long as regular plastics because the biodegradable ones needs to be exposed to certain amounts of light, moisture and heat to break down. They do not get these conditions in dumps and so they just hang around indefinitely. Furthermore, because they are seen as the "beneficial" form, sometimes the biodegradable item is made more substantial in its construction which makes it even more difficult to break down. Truly, the answer is consumers need to get themselves under control so they aren't buying way more than they need, which will cause the overall supply output to diminish, and companies need to make things that are reusable or slimline so what is made isn't hugely increasing overall waste.
Good video, thank you for highlighting the part about Chinese workers. Especially with the country's use of slave labor in Xinjiang, 996 work hours, terrible work conditions (factories collapsing because of absolutely no safety standards), and forced pregnancy tests/abortions for paychecks, I try to be very selective about buying from China. Even moreso for something as trivial as makeup. So many makeup companies have zero idea what the people manufacturing their products are even like and how they treat their workers. I recently saw Beauty Bay has an emphatic statement on their website where they both investigate the factories making their products and enforce strict compliance standards on the companies they sell. I wish more companies would care enough to do that because cruelty to human beings is still cruelty in the production.
Keep up the great work!
This world makes me too sad. I truly wished animals had their own planet and slave labour injected into our pores is really too much to bear. How do we truly become ethical and sustainable? 😥
that’s why people say no ethical consumption under capitalism. Not to say your small actions aren’t making a difference but no one can ever truly be perfect as companies cut corners just for profits
I think people like to really ignore the human cruelty that goes into many products as well. Diamonds ,chocolates, clothing and more . These are also products of human cruelty.
Exactly! Like another person in here said, we cannot pass moral judgement on one part of our life and not another. That would be hypocrisy. Do we all check to make sure EVERYTHING we purchase to eat, drink, wear, etc. has been ethically made/produced with out harming ANY, animal, plant or HUMAN? I highly doubt it.
Veganism is about reducing harm as much as possible. And considering so much of the crops that are grown globally are specifically for livestock feed, reducing your reliance of animal products lowers the amount of death that occurs - not just for farm animals, but also for wildlife.
I think you made an excellent point regarding cruelty free and it's definition. Not testing on animals is just one part of the issue and you covered it well. Thank you!
Oh my god literally posted on Instagram about this the other day ❤️ thanks Jen!
You are so welcome, Jody! Thanks for watching!
This was a great video, factual, quick and inspiring 🤩
cruelty-free = not tested on animals. this was one of the first mass movements that tried to hold companies accountable, started in the 1990s. back then people weren't thinking about vegan ingredients. we've come a long way.
Personally, I don't believe there can be "cruelty free" anything under capitalist systems. No matter what you do something is somehow hurting someone, either a worker or an animal, or the enviroment. It's an inherent problem with the system.
I JUST STARTED THE VIDEO AND I SAW THE MINES I AM SO EXCITED IF YOU GONNA TALK MICA
Right?! There needs to be more attention to that!
Brilliant video! Thank you for teaching us, I LOVE how beautifully concise and well-researched it is! Lots of love
One thing I've done, is start small. I stopped buying soap from the grocery store and started buying hand made, artisan soap. Yes, it's more expensive, but I know all the ingredients in each bar. I choose which maker I want to buy from dependant on which ingredients they choose to use. Some makers use sustainably sourced palm oil, others don't. The maker I buy from stopped using all palm oil in her products. She also uses bio glitter when she does add glitter..and she's made sure that where she purchases her micas, that those are sustainably sourced. It may only be 1 product right now, but it's a huge step in my household. Plus, all the packaging from my purchases from this maker are recyclable from recycled materials!
It makes me so sad to know that animals are hurt in any kind of way. I wish all makeup was legitimately vegan and cruelty free. Loved this video.
Holy Cow was this informative. 😳 Just, thanks, Jen, for the breakdown. I'm on a strict no-buy on color products now: I will use what I have, dammit!
Which is awesome! I think one of the very best ways to universally be better for our planet as a whole is consume less, buy less, own less!!! 😳😉 that’s the journey my family is on this year!
@@JessRodr Mine, too.
@@evolingwren good luck! I know I’ll need it! 2 teenagers growing like weeds..... 🤣🤣
Wow! Very informative. Thank you Jen. I have a friend that has terrible eye problems after anything she uses from a certain couple of brands. I'll tell her to watch this! TYFS! Have a great weekend! 🥰💐✌
Such good points! I'm just going to add that LVMH stands for Louis Vuitton Moët Hennessy, which isn't cosmetics so they can't really be testing champagne and bags on animals
Buy vegan and cruelty free products and cosmetics. If anyone cares about bunnies having mascara smeared in their eyes, maybe they can care about cows and pigs too. Expand the circle of compassion to include ALL animals. Please go vegan everyone ❤🌱🙏🏻
I want our government and other governments to define these current marketing words like cruelty free, provide guidance, and audit labs and makeup companies to ensure they adhere to those guidances.
There’s so many things to think about. I know the ethical shopping guide tries to take several more than cruelty free status into account. I was interested when I learned about fixed cut off dates from the good shopping guide; they ask brands to set a date after which they will not use any new ingredients that were tested on animals. Whereas a rolling date or no date may mean the ingredients they are using themselves weren’t tested, a fixed date means no new ingredients ever tested on animals at all.
Thank you for a great video..
Also,, perhaps a good long look needs to be taken into the production of natural hair makeup brushes? Now, there's a topic that people tend to turn a blindeye towards. 😉
I'm having SUCH a hard time finding ethically made brushes.
It is impossile to harvest or produce anything without hurting the animals or their habitat. Cosmetics you can do without. But what do you eat and wear? It is getting buggy real fast when you think it further.
I don't wear wool or leather. I eat tofu, rice, beans, pasta, quinoa, vegetables, seeds, nuts...
@@nicoledemers9110 but as Jen mentioned harvasting plants can be harmfull. There is no real difference if you put the oat in your breakfast or use it in a shampoo. It is not ment to offend but vegan isn't cruelty free either.
@@jolanda.c most crops go to animal agriculture. Yes, the plants we eat can cause harm, but it's much less of an impact.
@@nicoledemers9110 I have a FODMAP intolerance. No beans, most pasta, more vegetables on the no list than the yes list, many nuts are nos, no lentils, etc.. It's not feasible for everyone. And many many people have the intolerance. Most IBS cases are FODMAP intolerance.
100 people lessening their impact does more than 10 people halving it. And making more conscious decisions and shaping things that way can create a bigger market, leading to people who are apathetic about it going with the flow and lessening their impact non-conciously.
Reminder: the public image of vegans is not positive. Vegans were too aggressive and had an all or nothing approach that turned people away. Again, we need 100 people imperfectly doing something, not 10 people doing it imperfectly.
@@pippetandpossum I mean... I'm viewed as agressive no matter how I voice my opinion. When I tell people where their food comes from I'm being to harsh or insensitive. It's a no win situation. I honestly view much of omni culture as agressive. The constant "mmmm bacon tho" or "what is life without cheese?" I don't even bring up that I'm vegan unless it comes up in a topic relevant like this, or someone asks why I don't want a burger. And then when I say I don't eat meat, I get pushed and pushed and pushed.
I'm not vegan for my health. I'm vegan because of how we treat the animals. The thought of those chickens "living" a miniscule of their natural life span in battery cages then getting slaughtered is revolting and devastating.
I think people should just do their best, but that many people are also just making excuses for themselves. I don't mean you in particular or anything, just many people.
Sorry for the long comment that is about to come but im finishing my chemist degree and wanted to point out something so that it is clear cause you said something but didn't specify, in my opinion ( not trying to be rude, just wanted to clarify something that maybe I didn't understand right). I'm from Spain and here animal testing is forbidden when it comes to cosmetics, because they don't contain any actives. However, sunscreen does contain actives and it's made to PREVENT a disease, so it is tested as any other active that is used topically. The reason for that is that products that don't have actives like cosmetics, use specific ingredients that have already been approved as topically save. They don't penetrate the skin at any level. However, any other active could penetrate the skin, causing other issues or reactions. That's why cosmetics don't have to be tested on animals, cause you don't have to see the effects of them on the rest on the body. However, any active should be tested on animals before tested on people duo to the fact that could produce something else on you body. As an example, nicotine patch, hormonal patch, baby cold cream, etc... Something being topical doesn't mean that can't travel to any other area, and any active could cause a reaction (like you said teratogenesis). In summary, animal testing of cosmetics is not necessary, animal testing of any Active is necessary and required by all countries ( spf is a big weird on the US) to guarantee safety of it. And it's safety and effects have to go through different agencies to be on the market.
Hi editing me! What you said about CBD, it is not aloud to be in any cosmetic here in spain before it is tested, because it is an active. In US is different I think.
What I'm trying to say is, it is sad that we need to test on animals before we use any active, but so far hasn't been any other method that assure us the same security as this one. After an active is tested on animals it is tested on people before it comes to the market, so it has to be safe. And also you can't control and come up with the right dosis by testing on a cel or a tissue. Our body is so much more complex than that. But if you have read any other paper on new alternatives on animal testing I would love to know more about that! 😊
as someone who has just made the switch to purely CF cosmetics - thank you for this!
I wanted to see a photo of the damage glitter does to the environment. I couldn't find one. This issue reminds me of the issue of pharmaceuticals not only flushed down the sink/toilet but the actual urine containing some of these drugs getting into the water system. This is mind-boggling!! I'm torn in so many ways over these issues. I don't want any animals harmed and I don't want to poison folks (and animals/pets are in this group as well) just because we drink water.
The higher risk of death in those kind of factories probably is because the equipment they use isn't as safe as in usa for example. That's my theory at least.
Yes, older machines, poor safety regulations, bad ventilation, being tired on longer shifts etc.
Or locking them in factories for 12 plus hours. Sweat shops. No breaks. Child labor. There’s more to it than that. Oh and starvation
This year I made the switch to prioritizing humane work conditions over animal testing and to support both when I can. Flower Beauty's is an affordable more ethical brand for anyone interested. The only exception is their makeup brushes made in China and I didn't find anything suspicious about the parent company (which also owns Kristin Ess, Mindy McKnight's hair line, Collab Beauty, and Believe Beauty). Milani also allows you to search for products made in specific countries on their website.
No problem, I don't buy from Sephora. Haha. No but really. I appreciate you talking about labor issues, and the environment, beyond just the impact on animals/testing. There is so much missing data for consumers to buy from companies with fair wages and conditions. There are tons of lists, influencers, and celebs who speak on animal cruelty, or even "sustainability". Why not anti consumerism, or labor rights?
Great vid info, as always. Something that came to mind was "nano" ingredients and/or "nano" coloring. I read this in a package of an eyeshadow palette that was on sale during Ulta's 21 Days 2021, and I skipped it because it's been only a couple years recent that I've heard the word "nano" in other products. Since it's a more "recent" thing, where have they done their "tests" or when? That just made me look more into it.
Thank you for posting! This gave me a lot of value as a cruelty free beauty blogger 🙏❤️🙌🏻
Just watching this video. Jen I love the small research that you have done, to teach us all something about cosmetics. I certainly did learn a thing or two. I love your content.
As a former animal researcher, the big reason why cell cultures and donated human tissue doesnt work for a lot of research (some can be done, but other research can't) is because you need to look at the whole system. Like sure, we may know this thing works on kidney function, but we also need to know if it affects like your liver or lungs or what have you. I used to study nicotine withdrawal, which as anyone who quit smoking can attest to, it's not just a one organ thing. Also for donated tissue, we simply dont have ENOUGH most of the time for the sheer number of replications (which is why mice and rats are so popular). Obviously animal research isnt always ideal, but if cell cultures were perfect wed all use them because my god that's so much easier than maintaining colonies. But there are people working on improving models. Will we ever be able to completely get rid of animal models? I cannot say, but hopefully.
The more I have learned about these issues, the more I have changed my purchasing behavior. I no longer shop at Sephora for the reason Jen mentions, but instead try to pay close attention to the brands I like that they sell that do not have a parent company that tests on animals anywhere in the world. Milk Makeup is a good example. I found them through Sephora, but now that I am aware of my money going up the corporate ladder to pay for animal testing in China, I signed up for Milk's email list and purchase directly from their website when they announce sales, which is also usually enough to add up to free shipping. I do go through my list of indie brands annually because brands can be purchased at any time. An example of this is Drunk Elephant. I used to buy their products, but no longer do since they have been purchased by Shiseido. It really is a lot to keep track of, but I do my best. I don't feel that anyone needs to make the same choices as me, but that it is frustrating that so much of this is marketed in certain ways that are misleading to consumers, and that we can't trust companies to want educated consumers and no animals involved in beauty products.
Thank you, Jen!
Companies that claim to be cruelty-free might buy from a supplier that tests on animals. Leaping Bunny makes sure that certified companies do not buy from a supplier that tests on animals and also has lists of vegan products.
www.leapingbunny.org
Mad love for you Jen
I’m still only buying from Cruelty Free brands. I try to buy only vegan products too but I’ll admit, I don’t always check the ingredients for Carmine.
Would love to see a video on biodegradable glitter, so many of my lush products are so glittery and it drives me crazy
OK< so legit question. If we don't test on animals, what's the alternative? Testing on humans? I'm confused.
Yes. And synthetics. Theres no reason with modern science to test on animals.
I feel like at this point in time there’s a lot of information on ingredients and how they act, the company’s know whats safe and what isn’t. But yeh human testing is a better option in my opinion at least we have a choice :(
@@jodymorris7366 yes we have plenty of people in jail doing hard time to test on, no need to test on animals!
@@virginiascheider5205 couldn’t agree more!
@@virginiascheider5205 , I have to say that I disagree with any involuntary testing; testing on a prison inmate by force would qualify as “cruel and unusual punishment.” A significant number of the US prison population (which is ridiculously high compared to other “first world” countries, btw) is made up of people falsely convicted, for one thing. Not everyone in prison is even a “bad” person, and overall, I disagree with the “punishment” mentality, as it mainly does nothing to improve individuals nor to reduce crime as a whole. If human testing is desired, let people volunteer for it, and compensate them in some way for doing it.
I am about 90% cruelty free as marketed. I love Mac and I like natural hair brushes. Great information. Mad love..❌⭕❌
thanks for talking on that subject!
I would love it if you had a video about all the different bees byproducts sourcing. how a brand like I'm From or Farmacy can portray themselves as like nature loving and all that, and still make popular lines with honey, beeswax propolis, etc...
could these ingredients actually be a positive for the bees and the environment or is it always harmful?
All this goes back to the message, women get ,that they need to improve their looks, when there is nothing wrong with our looks. It's all about the money.
I really appreciate your videos on this kind of topics. Thank you Jen.
A FANTASTIC resource for finding cruelty free and vegan products is Logical Harmony! Not trying to tear anyone away from your channel, but Toshina is an excellent resource!
She’s amazing! Totally agree!!!
It is a complex topic, but I don‘t care what Perry says, no test should be tested on animals. Just because we are vain does not mean animals are our to test on. I buy only cruelty free, I don‘t buy in stores that are not cruelty free ( for example sephora) and I already knew everything you said in the video. Who wants to inform oneself, one can do so. There are enough information online if one really wishes to find the information.
I use only IT cosmetics and pacifa. I know that some of their ingredients might include ingredients and it makes me sad. However, if I can find companies that do not test on animals I will gladly use them.
NOTHING is cruelty free if it's not vegan.
Thank you for speaking up.
Jenn what do you know about MaryAnn Organics?? Someone got me their skincare line for Xmas and I am enjoying it, but I really can’t find any reviews by known beauty bloggers on it??
Absolutely love this video Jen. This is a very important topic.
I have to take many medications, and I have allergies. Sadly, often products that aren't cruelty-free are a lot safer as the ingredients have been tested more extensively and have stronger preservatives to prevent them going off and triggering my allergies due to mold or rancid ingredients. I would prefer I have something tested, frankly. I'm careful about the meat I eat, and I do what I can to avoid causing unnecessary animal harm, but due to my health & money constraints I don't have a great choice or options of how to avoid it here. I try to reduce, reuse and recycle, and that's often all I can do.
I buy as much as I can cruelty free but calling products "cruelty free" seems ridiculously heavy handed.
Not really. Look at pictures of animals being tested on for makeup,skincare,haircare,etc and tell me if they’re not cruel
@@ashcruz904 children mine the mica that goes in products that are labeled cruelty free. Factory workers make less on a day than the products they make sell for. Makeup that isn't tested on animals is still pretty cruel. I'm not arguing animal testing is good just that calling it "cruelty free" is pretty narrow sighted.
@@ashcruz904 I think they were just meaning the term is used to only describe one type of cruelty but doesn’t reflect on other things that are cruel such as additional environmental damage or unethical working conditions. The term should only be used when the complete sourcing of that product is completely ethical and causes little to no harm to everyone and everything.
So Kaleidos says China lifted this January 2020. They also say as of January 2018 products made in China were no longer required for to be animal tested, only imported items.
But post market testing can be conducted at anytime, on any product without the prior knowledge or consent of the company. So selling in bricks and mortar stores in China runs that risk, which means they cannot claim to be cruelty free for the very fact it could happen. It doesn’t count for online sales into China.
Most CBD comes from hemp rather than marijuana. This way the CBD is isolated and there is very little THC. I am very sensitive to THC and therefore only use CBD products produced through hemp.
There's no difference. Many folks have fallen for the propaganda that they are different, aka, one is 'good' and one is 'bad'. Difference species, however, have different levels of CBD and/or THC.
Hemp and marijuana are the same plant. There are just several sub-spieces with different levels of THC and CBD in them.
@@KimberlyLetsGo I looked into it a little more. There has been a lot of cultivating going on, of course. Now the industrial hemp, and the marijuana people seek to get high are each bred for their uses. The benefit of the individual hemp is as I said. Yes, species wise the same, but different in many ways now. There are so many plants like this, so many examples. For me the THC really matters. I have spasticity, and when all else fails I can have a little CBD and it helps. I think, like many things it can become a fad and over used. Shot, I just went to CVS and saw stuff with CBD.
@@Mantuamaker I was just over at CVS and that was a huge display of CBD products! I'm glad that you are able to find something that helps your issue. Since I live in Colorado, learning all this about hemp and marijuana has been very interesting. It's unbelievable the different strands they have of marijuana! Each with their own attributes. All these different tastes and strengths and levels of THC/CBS is mind boggling. Science, right? :D
@@KimberlyLetsGo I live in Colorado too.
Thank you for the great information, I'm cleaning out my makeup and trying to educate myself more on this topic. Please advice what makeup brands is "clean".
The term clean isn’t regulated. It’s a made up term to market products based mostly on twisted science and scare tactics. Unless you are allergic or sensitive to something, “clean” is just a marketing trick.
@@jenluv Thank you for the feedback. I guess it goes back to food also, will we ever really know if it's "organic". Love the content thank you
We ALL owe many comforts of life to both animal and human testing in our history (medical and cosmetic developments). So many compounds and ingredients are now generally recognized as safe due to the history of animal testing. We would not have Cruelty Free today without the knowledge testing has provided us, which we now all benefit from. I’m more concerned about cosmetics that are manufactured in China and those workers’ rights, but that’s just me.
The shaming is so ridiculous. Unless you are 100% vegan, sustainably sourced and can prove that all the workers involved in the processes of creating products have ethical working conditions you are really not that much better than anyone else. The whole clean beauty is another thing that drives me nuts. Synthetics were created for people like me who have reactions to natural products. There are reasons for everything.
I will forever be angry at Bite Beauty for going vegan - their OLD formula Agave Lip Mask saved me while running outside in the winter. I’m a knitter, so it can’t be overstated how much I love sheep and all their products! I’m still trying to find a good substitute😭