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1. Amy

   July 20th, 2007 at 5:18 pm

   Hi! Firstly I’d like to say thankyou for taking the time to put the cruelty free list together. It’s wonderful to know there are so many caring people out there.

   I’ve done a similar thing for my friends & family. I couldn’t just tell them to go cruelty free without telling them what to replace their products with.

   I’d also like to point out The Body Shop is now owned by L’oreal. As you know, L’oreal tests on animals, so although The Body Shop products are not tested on animals, if you buy them, you’re giving money to L’oreal. They’re making money off the consumers who do have compassion & who don’t have compassion. They’re winning either way. My recommendation is to boycott The Body Shop & hopefully L’oreal will see sense.

   Thanks for your tme.
   Have a great day.



2. Amy

   July 20th, 2007 at 5:22 pm

   I feel so silly, I just read on your site that L’oreal is to stop animal testing. That’s fantastic!! I too look forward to trying their products when they stop testing.

   Please disregard last message.
   Thanks,
   Amy



3. Emily

   July 27th, 2007 at 12:32 am

   Hi Amy,

   I’m so sorry — on my other cruelty free lists (the long one and the international one) I put a marker by The Body Shop and Tom’s of Maine to show that they are cruelty free, but they are subsidiaries of companies that do test on animals. I don’t know why I didn’t do that here . . .

   I’m personally a little on the fence about cruelty-free companies that are subsidiaries of evil companies — on the one hand, I think it’s a good idea to reward evil companies for attempting to be cruelty-free, so maybe I should buy stuff from the Body Shop and Tom’s of Maine. On the other hand, I, like you, would hate any of my money to support L’Oreal or Colgate and all their animal testing. It’s definitely a dilemma!

   But I definitely will not be buying any L’Oreal products until L’Oreal officially goes cruelty-free.



4. Sam

   January 13th, 2008 at 8:00 pm

   Hi, I am wondering did Loreal recently stop testing on animals? I would like to give their products a try if they did. But otherwise I’ll continue the ban. Thanks.



5. Emily

   January 19th, 2008 at 4:36 pm

   Hello Sam,

   Welcome to my blog! Unfortunately L’Oreal will continue testing on animals until 2013 (though it will stop doing most tests in 2009) in accordance with the EU’s ban on animal testing.

   http://www.livingcrueltyfree.com/2007/04/24/as-of-2013-all-european-union-cosmetics-and-household-products-will-be-cruelty-free/

   I’m so pleased to hear you are not buying products from L’Oreal in the meantime though!

   Regards,
   Emily



6. E

   March 5th, 2008 at 3:46 pm

   How about Bath & Body works??
   It stated, they don’t test on animals - but I don’t see anything on the list for them.



7. Emily

   March 5th, 2008 at 7:47 pm

   Hello E,

   Welcome to my blog! Um, well, Bath & Body Works doesn’t test its final products on animals, but it does not make sure that the ingredients it uses come from cruelty-free sources. So I don’t count it as 100%-cruelty-free, and so don’t include it on my list. I think it’s more like 50%-cruelty-free. (I only include 100%-no-animal-testing companies as certified by the CCIC.)

   Don’t get me wrong — I think it’s great that Bath & Body Works doesn’t commission tests on animals on its finished products. I just wish it would ask its suppliers to do the same thing. I’ve written more about this here:

   http://www.livingcrueltyfree.com/lists-of-cruelty-free-companies/



8. George

   April 13th, 2008 at 3:40 am

   Hi! Firstly thank you, for posting this.
   But I saw in your list that you have the body shop… though it doesn’t test on animals, it is owned by L’Oreal and all the body shop profits go to L’Oreal which test on animals!! Thanks



9. Emily

   April 13th, 2008 at 8:33 am

   Dear George,

   I include the Body Shop even though it is owned by L’Oreal which does test on animals because I believe that everyone who buys Body Shop products is sending a message to L’Oreal that it can make money on products it doesn’t test on animals. I think these people are much more effective at getting L’Oreal to stop testing on animals than any protesters.

   Regards,
   Emily



10. Natasha

    May 10th, 2008 at 7:25 am

    How about Maybelline? I can’t seem to get a straight answear for this brand. In the past PETA listed them as cruelty free but it’s not on their listed anymore. I’ve read they have stated they don’t test finally products on animals or ingredients but who knows if they are lyig or not.



11. Emily

    May 10th, 2008 at 11:33 pm

    Maybelline definitely doesn’t make sure its initial ingredients aren’t tested on animals, so at best I would describe it as 50%-animal-testing-free. Though if PETA has taken Maybelline of its list, I suspect it’s gone over to the dark side . . .



12. Natasha

    May 11th, 2008 at 6:48 am

    Yeah they probably went to the dark side.:( It’s so hard to find make up that’s cruelty free and doesn’t cost alot where I live. I would move if I could.

    Thanks.



13. Samsofe

    May 20th, 2009 at 6:31 pm

    I’m sorry to say that a company that does not test on animals is not necessarily “cruelty-free”. Some of the companies you have listed use cruelly derived ingredients (beeswax, honey, carmine) and many of the companies are subsidiaries of larger firms who practice horrible cruelty. When you purchase an item, say, from Jason, your putting your money directly into the hands of Heinz/Hain Celestial Group.

    “Cruelty-free” should mean just that - freedom from cruelty. The Leaping Bunny logo does not guarantee that.



14. Emily

    May 20th, 2009 at 8:14 pm

    Uh, well, that’s a little sanctimonious . . .

    But, to rebut your comments, first, I can see why you might think that using bee products might not be “cruelty-free,” and I assure you that I only use the term “cruelty-free” as a matter of semantics. What I mean is really “animal-testing-free,” because that is the way most people use the term “cruelty-free.” “Cruelty-free” is a very vague term that is used to mean many things, and many people use it many ways. I considered dropping the term “cruelty-free” all together but it just confuses people even more. Also, I’ve come round to the idea that there is a huge gray area in animal testing, and I like the way the many uses of the word “cruelty-free” encompasses that — it allows many people to come behind the banner of cruelty-free the way they don’t around more black-and-white terms. Second, I completely disagree with you that buying products from subsidiaries of companies that test on animals is a bad thing. In fact, it is a GOOD thing — it is financially rewarding “bad” companies to stop torturing animals. It is positive reinforcement — using a carrot instead of a stick to get companies to stop testing on animals. I feel it is a much more positive way to get my point across than just berating companies to stop testing on animals. I haven’t heard anything about Hain Celestial Group testing on animals, but there are definitely a few 100%-cruelty-free leaping-bunny approved companies that are subsidiaries of companies that do test on animals — Tom’s of Maine is owned by Colgate, the Body Shop is owned by L’Oreal — and I strongly support buying products from Tom’s of Maine and the Body Shop. I desperately want to show Colgate and L’Oreal that they WILL make money by selling 100%-not-tested-on-animals products. I desperately want that. It’s one of my main goals. I do however always make sure to mark those companies that are subsidiaries so people can make their own decision about whether they want to support Colgate or L’Oreal.



15. Kaie

    June 24th, 2009 at 6:39 am

    I have to admit i totally agree with you, i am against boycotting products just because the company still perform animal testing on various other products they make. At the end of the day if you boycott a cruelty free brand it may not sell very well! which means in time they may withdraw the product and what does that achieve? one less cruelty free brand to choose from which wouldn’t be doing the animals any favours long term in my opinion. I use Original Source and i’m not going to feel guilty about that.



16. Emily

    June 24th, 2009 at 11:25 am

    Hi Kaie! I’m so glad you agree with me! And I fully support your buying cruelty-free products from a company owned by an evil corporation. We’ve got to support those companies! Though I’ve heard things about Original Source

    http://www.vegaplanet.org/?p=507

    Just to warn you!



17. Kaie

    June 24th, 2009 at 2:08 pm

    Hi Emily, thanks for the link. I have to admit i’ve been using Original Source products because they have vegan on the back of the bottles, i have tried using various vegan products ranging from Faith in Nature through to Weleda etc. Unfortunately i am allergic to natural essential oils in organic products, so the only choice i had was to revert back to using an evil companies products again. I’m totally against animal testing but i’m also against using chemical laden products too, yet i have no choice



18. Emily

    June 25th, 2009 at 9:43 am

    Hi Kaie!

    Thanks for commenting back! Hey, we all have to make compromises, I fully understand.

    Yikes, that must be difficult being allergic to essential oils! I’ve only found one hypoallergenic 100%-cruelty-free line out there (that I can remember off-hand!).



19. jess

    December 2nd, 2009 at 9:10 pm

    Hey Emily,
    Thanks for all the info you have up here, it’s been really helpful! I am on a search for safe, animal friendly and *affordable* make-up in non-blah colors - do you know if Hard Candy’s standards are the same now that they’re being sold at walmart? No clue when that happened, I remember them seeming super fancy-pants & expensive 10 years ago, but when I tried to go to their website it links you to walmart.com! just wondered if you knew anything about that. Ugh. So hard to make these conscientious decisions sometimes! makes me want to just go smash some berries and rub them on my face for color.



20. Emily

    January 24th, 2010 at 6:49 pm

    Oh my gosh, Hard Candy is being sold to Wal-Mart? Say it isn’t true! Is Urban Decay as well? Oh, this is awful.

    Well, I did a quick check and Hard Candy is still on the leaping bunny list, so I suppose its standards are still quite high. But I’ll be keeping an eye on it in the future to make sure it doesn’t lower its standards now that it’s involved with Wal-Mart . . .



21. Crystal

    February 10th, 2010 at 8:40 pm

    Hi Emily,

    Love this list! Especially the fact that you’ve narrowed it down to items that can be bought in stores (and are 100% not tested on animals as opposed to the ambiguous stuff some companies try to get away with). Sometimes you just don’t want to buy things online. I’ll be printing it and bringing it with me next time I go shopping. Just wanted to let you know though, that you have Weleda on this list and your 50% cruelty free list.



22. Emily

    February 13th, 2010 at 11:36 am

    So glad you like it! Ooh — thanks for telling me about Weleda — I’ll go move it off the 50% list.