Living Cruelty Free

There are three cruelty-free companies that make dental floss — Dr. Kens, Tom’s of Maine (cruelty-free, but owned by larger company that is not cruelty-free), and Eco-Dent.

I decided to try some Eco-Dent dental floss (but when I run out I’ll try Dr. Ken’s). According to the Eco-Dent website, Eco-Dent makes a range of “premium natural oral care products” — toothpaste, toothpaste for sensitive teeth, tooth powder, whitening tooth powder, mouthwash, dental floss, toothbrushes, and dental gum. I haven’t looked for Eco-Dent products in my local stores (I just ordered the dental floss online), but the Eco-Dent website states that Eco-Dent products are carried in many local natural stores, which is nice.

Eco-Dent GentleFloss is “100% vegan” (though not vegan certified, to my knowledge), and contains no mineral waxes (it uses a completely vegan wax made from rice bran, which Eco-Dent claims is lighter, smoother, and helps the floss glide between teeth better). However, the floss is not organic, and not all-natural — it uses nylon filament, which is not natural, as a base. Eco-Dent explains that this is because the alternative, silk, would be worse because it would require chemical sterilization, might have to be bought from companies that may use child labor, and is not vegan. Each box of GentleFloss contains 100 yards of floss, which is 300% more floss than most dental floss packages (a smaller 40 yards travel size is also available), and each box is manufactured from a water-resistant coated-with-wax paper that is both recyclable and biodegradable.

So far, I have to say, Eco-Dent GentleFloss is great dental floss. Not only is it a bargain, but it glides through my teeth fairly well, it ’s strong, it doesn’t fragment on my teeth, and it has a nice minty flavor.

Eco-Dent GentleFloss is available for $5.48 from the Eco-Dent online store.

Ingredients: 100% Vegan-Waxed Floss impregnated with Natural Menthol & Anethole, Oils of Peppermint, Lemon, Orange, Fennel, Anise, Geranium, Bergamont, Basil, Lavender, Rosemary and Rose, and a naturally derived Enzyme System (water, potassium thiocyanate, lactoferrin, lactoperoxidase, glucose oxidase).

I just read an interesting article that states that Israel has passed a law outlawing all animal testing within Israel for cosmetic and cleaning products. Isn’t that fantastic? The law will go into effect immediately. MK Gideon Sa’ar, a political representative in Israel, proposed the law, saying that “This is an important law that reflects how our society is changing its regard for animal rights.” Unfortunately, while this will save the lives of 2,00-3,000 rats, mice, and rabbits (cats? dogs? ferrets? who knows?), numerous animals will still be used within Israel in tests for health/medical industry products. Though at least these animals are (I hope) at least being tortured and/or killed to save human lives.

Also according to the article, Gideon Sa’ar proposed the bill at the urging of his 16-year-old daughter Daniella, who convinced him that this was a bill that needed to be passed, because the “new generation wants a more humane society.” So, Gideon and Daneilla Sa’ar — you’re wonderful people! Thank you so very, very much! I can only hope that one day, the U.S. will pass this sort of legislation.

Anat Refua, the director of Let the Animals Live, a pro-animal welfare group in Israel, is quoted as saying that she thinks this will keep Israel from becoming the “backyard of cosmetic companies wanting to test their products.” The article suggests that this will keep Israel’s policies on animal testing in line with the EU’s policies on animal testing — the EU has already started a process of banning animal testing that will go into effect in 2013.

Unfortunately, while this is a fantastic event, it is not enough. Cosmetics companies that base their animal testing facilities within Israel will just move their animal testing from Israel to the Philippines and Vietnam, where animal testing for cosmetics and cleaning products will still be legal, and turn around and sell their products back to Israel. Luckily, Gideon Sa’ar has also sworn to advance a second bill that will ban the importation of products tested on animals. He already tried to pass that bill once, but it was defeated by one vote. I really hope this bill goes through — it will encourage companies not to outsource their animal testing, but instead to create new, more humane toxicology testing procedures that do not use animals, otherwise they will not be able to sell any products to people living in Israel. If they want to profit from the Israel market, they will have to not use animal testing. It will also set an example to the rest of the world.

Oddly enough, the article suggests that the U.S. has policies banning animal testing. This is news to me — I’ve heard nothing of the U.S. banning animal testing, and I’ve searched google news and the API for a few hours now. Maybe I’m just out of the loop though? Maybe the U.S. already bans animal testing for cosmetics and cleaning products within U.S. borders, and that’s why so many are outsourcing their animal testing to places like Israel? I shall go read lots of fine print on animal testing. Honestly, I’d be thrilled to learn that that is the case, that the U.S. does ban animal testing (though of course, it’s a half-measure, since companies just outsource their animal testing to other countries). But . . . I really doubt that’s the case.

In the meantime, as Anat Refua pointed out, it is important for people living in Israel (and elsewhere!) to “vote with their dollar and check to make sure the products they purchase are not tested on animals.” Not only will this support companies that do not torture animals, it will encourage the innovation of non-animal-using toxicology methods.

I went to Sephora over the weekend, and was thrilled to find out that the cruelty-free options have expanded! Really, there’s only Urban Decay, Too Faced, and Hard Candy, but still, I think the last time I went to Sephora (um, three years ago? Forever, anyway) there was only Urban Decay (which is the pioneer cruelty-free line, so I do like to support it — unfortunately the Urban Decay counter was out of a lot of stuff, so I didn’t end up trying much from it).

I ended up buying a Too Faced lip gloss, and I just love it. It’s a nice pale pink, and it has a slanted tip applicator(!). It’s a little sticky, but not as sticky as some lip glosses are, and it’s very sheer, so it’s hard to put on unevenly, which I also like. It is a little shimmery for everyday use (but not gritty at all the way some glittery lip glosses can be!), but I still wear it a lot because I like the color so much. It has a sort of . . . frosting-y scent that is kind of nice. Its overall ranking on MakeupAlley is 4.1/5 stars (out of 20 reviews). Best of all, it comes in three options of pale pink — “pink diamond,” which is a golden pink, “candy diamond” which is a pastel pink, and “fire diamond,” which is supposedly a hot pink. Unfortunately the store was out of “pink diamond,” so I didn’t get to try that, and the “candy diamond” pink was too pale for me — it made my lips look white-ish, but the “fire diamond” was perfect — the diamond gloss is very sheer so the “fire diamond” doesn’t look anything like hot pink, just pale pink, on me.

According to the Too Faced website, Too Faced diamond gloss is a “super-juicy sheer gloss tinted with a hint of candy color and drenched in shimmering liquid crystals that let lips sparkle like a ten-karat solitaire . . . and is enriched with lip-loving ingredients like Jojoba seed oil to nourish, Violet extract and Vitamin A to improve lips’ suppleness and tone.” It comes in 8 different beige to pink colors. (Too Faced also offers a lot of other lip glosses in varying opacities besides the Diamond Gloss as well.)

Companywise, Too Faced’s website states that the cosmetics line is “an irreverent, sophisticated and trendy cosmetic line for the hipster who demands the most glamorous and high-quality products available on the planet,” and “the premier color line for today’s multi-tasking woman/diva/princess/superhuman.” Too Faced appears to have a lot of celebrity fans, It does not appear to be certified vegan or organic.

The only reason I took one star off the Diamond Lip Gloss is that it does not protect against skin cancer.

Too Faced Diamond Gloss is available from the Too Faced Online Store or from your local Sephora for $14.00.

Ingredients:

Hydrogenated Polyisobutene, Simmondsia Chinensis Seed Oil (Jojoba), Calcium Sodium Borosilicate, Polybutene, Silica Silylate, Persea Gratissima Oil (Avocado), Polyethylene, PPG 10 Cetyl Ether, Benzyl Benzoate, Flavor (Aroma), Propylparaben, Pentaerythrityl Tetraisostearate, BHT, May Contain: Titanium Dioxide (CI 77891), Mica (CI 77019), Iron Oxides (CI 77491, CI 77492, CI 77499), Carmine (CI 75470), Yellow 5 Lake (CI 19140), Red 30 Lake (CI 73360), Red 28 Lake (CI 45410)

I picked up a container of Parissa Strip free Hot Wax a few weeks ago and have used it a few times, and I have to say it’s great stuff. You heat it a little on the stove till it becomes gooey, smear it on with the tongue depressor, wait till it’s mostly dry, and rip it off. I tried it, and all my hair was removed instantaneously. It’s pretty amazing how well it works without using linen strips or anything. I actually wish it would remove less hair — it really, really hurts to have every single hair removed at once. But then I had absolutely no hair whatsoever for weeks. It’s fantastic! And much more effective than the Parissa cold wax strips. Also, the azulene oil it comes with is nice for removing remnants of wax.

Unfortunately, while Parissa wax is not tested on animals and is made from all natural ingredients, it is not certified vegan or organic. This doesn’t bother me, but I know some people only like to buy organic and/or vegan products, so if you’re looking for that, Parissa isn’t for you. (Though I’m a little confused — Parissa claims its products are “made from natural ingredients,” and for the most part they contain natural ingredients like resin or beeswax, but one of the ingredients in this wax is paraffin — isn’t paraffin an oil by-product and therefore not natural? Maybe this is one product of Parissa’s that isn’t all natural?)

I only had a few problems with the wax that were so minor I decided not to remove a star from them. The first minor problem is that heating up wax is always messy and time consuming — it’s much less prep work to just shave. But that’s true of all waxing products. The second minor problem I had with the Parissa wax was that it’s green, so when it drips on something (which of course it does the way all wax products do) it leaves green wax that’s very obvious on the stove, on my tee shirt, etc. The green stain on my tee shirt is never going to come out — luckily I don’t care about that tee shirt, but still, it’s annoying. If I had used nongreen wax, of course that wax wouldn’t come out either, but it wouldn’t be so obvious. The third minor problem I had was that I don’t care for the metal tin you heat up to melt the wax. I don’t have a special wax melting kit, so I ended up having to heat it on low on the stove. I much prefer microwaving little plastic bottles of wax — they don’t drip wax that catches fire and causes flare ups and nasty black burnt wax spills on my stovetop, and it’s easier to control the temperature — sometimes it’s hard to watch the stove to make sure the wax isn’t getting too hot and boiling over or fallen over and spilling wax everywhere because the little metal tin is unstable. However, I’m sure this is perfect for people who hate microwaves or have a special wax melting kit. Plus I had an old surgi-wax plastic bottle that I put the Parissa wax into and microwaved after a few messy wax spills on the stovetop, and that works perfectly.

Parissa Strip Free Hot Wax is available for $8.00 at the Parissa online store, and many natural groceries/drugstores.

Ingredients: Wax: Gum Resin, Beeswax, Paraffin, Azulene Oil: IPM, Vitamin E, Azulene (chamomile extract), Menthol

This isn’t an animal testing issue, but a few months ago I saw the little American Humane Association award on some Clover dairy products at the grocery store. I finally got around to doing some research on the award — according to the American Humane association, this award is given to farms that are certified to have a commitment to the well-being of farm animals — their farm animals are raised humanely in cage-free environments, live and grow in a humane environment under conditions and care that limit stress, enjoy a healthy life, benefit from disease and injury prevention and rapid diagnoses and treatment, have ready access to fresh water and a diet that maintains full health and vigor, and are free to “express normal behaviors and live in an appropriate and comfortable environment that includes sufficient space, proper facilities, shelter, a resting area, and company of the animals’ own kind.”

I think this is wonderful — I don’t really know much about farm animal conditions, but I’ve heard they can be horrendous. One of my heroes is Temple Grandin — an amazing woman who designed cattle farm conditions to be more humane to slaughtered cattle. I read a book by her a year ago — I think it was this one — and it’s one of the most interesting books I’ve ever read, and it made me very glad that someone is thinking about designing the kindest and most humane ways to design “livestock handling facilities.” Inasmuch as the meat industry in this country is huge, it’s great that Temple Grandin is there to keep it humane — I don’t think the U.S. is going to go vegan or even vegetarian anytime in the near future, (nice as that would be).

I realize some people feel that supporting any sort of animal-based farming like dairy or egg farming is unethical and inhumane and should be stopped. I completely understand people who have that viewpoint, and I admire and respect anyone who feels that way. I wish there were more of you! However, I do feel that animal farming is not going to stop in the near future, so if people are going to be eating animal products, I hope they are obtained in ways that cause the least amount of animal suffering possible, so I am definitely impressed by Clover milk. According to the Clover website, not only does Clover milk have the American Humane Association award, but it also has a North Coast Excellence Program: Products Certified Healthy award, which sounds nice. Clover milk comes from Sonoma, Marin, and Mendocino Counties, so if you buy Clover milk in the bay area it will be fresh. Clover standards are higher than State or Federal rules require, Clover cows are not treated with the growth hormone rBST (great!), they are raised on certified organic farms where they graze on open pasture, eat organic hay and grains (fantastic!), and their living conditions, feeds, and health treatments were reviewed by an independent inspector and approved by a third party as certified organic, not treated with hormones or antibiotics (again, I don’t know much about farming methods, but I’ve heard that’s good), and that they have open pasture, plenty of walking area, fresh air, clean bedding, and humane milking and feeding conditions (excellent!).

The Clover website doesn’t address the issues I’ve heard raised by people who are against dairy farms — that the calves are taken away from the cows too soon, or that the cows aren’t put out to pasture, but instead sold at auction to be slaughtered to become dog-meat, after they stop producing milk (I don’t know if everyone cares about these issues, but I certainly do) — but I suspect all commercial dairy farms are really horrible in that regard, along with having inhumane milking conditions, so I’m not going to attack Clover for that.

So what is this American Humane Association? I, personally, had never heard of it before I saw the logo on the Clover milk. Apparently, it is not the American Humane Society or the Humane Society of the United States, which are two entirely separate pro-animal-welfare societies — but, according to its website, it is a national nonprofit organization dedicated to protecting both children and animals (I find this interesting because I’ve seen numerous situations where child-welfare-activists and animal-welfare-activists end up opposing each other). It’s been around since 1877 and is headquartered in Denver. Its focus is to develop policies, legislation, curricula, and training programs to protecting children and animals from cruelty, abuse, neglect, and exploitation. Many community humane societies, animal control agencies, and SPCAs are member organizations. The American Humane Association also raises awareness about animal abuse, the link between animal abuse and other forms of violence, and the benefits of animal-human interactions. The regional office in Los Angeles is the authority behind the “No Animals Were Harmed” End Credit Disclaimer in movies.

I learn something new every day by trying to buy cruelty-free products — the American Humane Association sounds admirable — I hope it creates more awards and more companies try to get them! (I’m going to make a disclaimer here — I know very little about farming standards — I hope that the American Humane Association awards are the “gold standard” of farm humaneness the way the CCIC certification is the gold standard of animal testing — but I . . . don’t really know if they are or not. The whole animal-testing doublespeak phenomenon has made me really paranoid.) I’m also psyched that I just learned who’s behind the “No Animals Were Harmed” in the making of the movie end credit line — I had no idea the American Humane Association was behind that.

The List of “American Humane Association: Free Farmed” Certified Farms/Producers:

American Grass Fed Beef (Doniphan, Missouri) (Beef)

Morris Grassfed Beef (San Juan Bautista, CA) (Beef)

Nature’s Premier Organic (Frankenmuth, MI) (Chicken)

Springer Mountain Farms (Baldwin, GA) (Chicken)

Clover Stornetta Farms (Petaluma, CA) (Dairy)

Kleinpeter Dairy (Baton Rouge, LA) (Dairy)

Humboldt Creamery (Fortuna, CA) (Dairy)

Rumiano Cheese Company (Crescent City, CA) (Dairy)

Loleta Cheese Company (Loleta, CA) (Dairy)

Gemperle Farms (Turlock, CA) (Eggs)

Leidy’s Nature’s Tradition (Souderton, PA) (Pork)

Pioneer Farms (Colorado) (Pork)

Plainville Farms (Plainville, NY) (Turkey)

Update: There’s a new addition to the list (courtesy of Pearl!)

Egglands’ Best (Eggs) (PA) (the organic and cage-free eggs, as this news release mentions)

I picked up a bottle of Aubrey Organics Ultimate Moist Lotion last time I went to the store. I like to support Aubrey organics because it is the trifecta — really cruelty free (bought the CCIC leaping bunny logo cruelty free), vegan (it has a vegan logo), and organic.

Aubrey Organics was one of the first organic skincare lines — it was founded in 1969 and has been producing completely natural products with no synthetics of any kind added since then — all Aubrey Organics products use only herbs, essential oils, and natural vitamins as additives, and citrus seeds, vitamin A, C, and E for preservatives. They are also formulated by Aubrey Hampton and hand-crafted in small batches in the Aubrey Organics Tampa, Florida, manufacturing plant.

So I bought a bottle of the basic unscented Aubrey Organics lotion. So far, I like it, it’s nice. Unfortunately it’s a mediumweight lotion — I’d prefer something a little more moisturizing. It goes on streaky, but fades to clear. The only real problem I had with it was that it’s not liquid enough — once the bottle is mostly empty and the pump stops working, it’s virtually impossible to get the last remaining ounce of lotion out. Also, while it is supposed to be unscented, it has a sort of . . . gluey . . scent. I much prefer the gluey scent to some weird chemical scent, but next time I may opt for a different Aubrey scent — the lotion comes in Green Tea & Rosemary and Passionfruit scents as well.

So far, the only drawback this lotion has (other than the price, which is a little high — $10 for 8oz — but considering the lotion is completely organic, understandable) is that it doesn’t have any UVA protecting sunscreen in it — it does come in a “Morning Meadow SPF 15″ option, but the spf in that lotion is Padimate O — not mexoryl, avobenzone, octocrylene, zinc oxide, or titanium dioxide, so it will not protect against skin cancer. I can sort of see why Aubrey Organics doesn’t use mexoryl or avobenzone — they’re not organic or natural, they’re synthetic (I think), and I can also sort of see why Aubrey Organics doesn’t use zinc oxide or titanium dioxide — they are natural, but they tend to not be transparent, which is very important in a lotion. So I’m taking a star off for lack of UVA-protection, but I understand why the lotion doesn’t have it.

Aubrey Organics Ultimate Moist Lotion (8 oz) is available for $9.95 at Aubrey Organics Online Store, as well as most natural drugstores and grocery stores. I’ve seen it at Whole Foods.

Ingredients: Coconut Fatty Acid Cream Base, White Camellia Oil, Organic Sunflower Oil, Macadamia Nut Oil, Aubrey’s Preservative (Citrus Seed Extract, Vitamins A, C and E).

I’m really out of the loop on this one, but I just learned that apparently L’Oreal is working on going cruelty free in the future. I am soooo excited!

Anyway, I think this is great — L’Oreal is a huge animal testing offender and owns a ton of cosmetics companies. According to Wikipedia, L’Oreal owns these companies: Kerastase, Matrix, Mizani, Redken, Garnier, Maybelline, Softsheen-Carson, Biotherm, The Body Shop (though the Body Shop is CCIC-approved — it was bought by L’Oreal last March — it’s kind of a gray area whether it’s cruelty free or not), Cacharel, Diesel Perfumes, Giorgio Armani Parfums and Cosmetics, Guy Laroche, Helena Rubinstein, Kiehl’s, Lancome, Paloma Picasso, Ralph Lauren, Shu Uemura, Victor et Rolf parfums, Dermablend, La Roche-Posay, SkinCeuticals, Vichy Laboratories, Inneov, Ombrelle.

Not only are there lots of people who use L’Oreal products who will no longer be contributing to animal testing, but I’ll get to try L’Oreal products too! I’ve heard great things about Kiehl’s, but never been able to bring myself to try any Kiehl’s products, what with the visions of tortured rats going through my brain when I look at the Kiehl’s logo, so if L’Oreal goes cruelty free I’ll get to try out Kiehl’s products! Also, Ombrelle is supposed to be a graet UVA-blocking sunscreen, and I think there’s a Ralph Lauren perfume I’d like to try as well. This is so exciting!

So, anyway, this article suggests that L’Oreal will begin replacing its animal testing with tests done on engineered human tissue. It’s the in vitro alternative to animal testing taken to a whole new level! It’s been named the “Episkin model” and its administered by a subsidiary called SkinEthic (what a great company — I shall send them fan mail), and it takes human skin reconstructed on collagen and runs tests on that. This will enable L’Oreal to stop using animals to test skin irritancy of “10,000 substances” not on 100,000 rats/rabbits, but on small pieces of human skin in petri dishes. Not only is this more ethical — to use dead human skin instead of live animal skin — but it’s more statistically valid. Animal skin is NOT a perfect substitute for human skin — human skin is the only perfect substitute for human skin.

The only thing that really bugs me about this is that L’Oreal is obviously just coming up with this elaborate in vitro alternative to animal testing because the EU has mandated that European companies must stop testing on animals as of 2013. However, L’Oreal is implying it’s doing it out of the goodness of its heart.

Wait a second — the whole “L’Oreal invented a great alternative to animal testing” thing really bugs me. First of all, in vitro testing has been around for quite a while, and the people at the Center for Alternatives to Animal Testing have been working on in vitro alternatives to animal testing long before L’Oreal got involved. Secondly, as you can see at StopAnimalTests.com, there is an alternative to EpiSkin called EpiDerm, which L’Oreal didn’t invent, which is a similar human skin equivalent (the picture at the top of this post is of EpiDerm).

Interestingly enough, human skin equivalent tests like EpiSkin and EpiDerm have already been validated and accepted in Canada, the EU, and many other western countries, except for the US, where the Interagency Coordinating Committee on the Validation of Alternative Methods (ICCVAM), the EPA, the FDA, and the Consumer Product Safety Commission have opposed it.

Here’s a link to information about EpiSkin and EpiDerm — though it has a really scary mutilated rabbit picture next to a description of how animal tests than EpiSkin and EpiDerm replace — I’m really squeamish about that sort of thing so I didn’t read up on how most skin irritancy tests are done on animals, I unfocused my eyes really fast and just read the bottom of the page. StopAnimalTests.com woudl so be my new favorite website if they didn’t have that sort of picture lurking on the site. Or if at least they were links with warnings on them. Yeesh.

Anyway, overall, I’m really glad L’Oreal willl become cruelty-free. I realize this won’t happen for another few years — it takes a while for large companies to change their production processes — it’s likely cruelty-free L’Oreal products will not be rolled out until 2013 — but it’s a really promising step in the right direction.