Living Cruelty Free

It’s been about a year since I started this blog, and I can’t believe it, but I’ve written 145 posts. Shocking, no? And I’ve had a great time doing it, and made certain of my commitment to buying products that haven’t been tested on animals. It’s been great to have this whole experience written up online — I’ve learned so much about nonanimal-using toxicological testing, humane farming, pet food, large corporations that fund animal testing, the European ban on animal testing, etc.

I mean, if it weren’t for this blog I’m sure I never would have learned anything about any of those topics. Keeping the blog made me think about those issues, research them, and write up blog posts about them. It’s amazing how all that stemmed from writing down the types of lip gloss I buy.

It’s also made me realize what a good cause it’s been for me to get on board with. I think everyone probably has a cause they can care passionately about, and for me it’s animal testing. I really believe that any country with a decent infrastructure and noncorrupt government should be able to pass laws to encourage a shift away from animal testing in medicine, and a ban on animal testing for cosmetic purposes. Wouldn’t any citizenry of any country support that sort of thing? I certainly hope so.

Over the course of the past year I have replaced most of my household products with cruelty-free ones (though I’m still not there yet! Actually I don’t think I’ll ever run out of Bedhead After Party smoothing creme. Or Goo Gone. And I know there are very nice cruelty-free alternatives for both of those). I am glad to think that my money is supporting people who do not engage in animal cruelty, and I do feel like I’m donating to an animal welfare charity just by buying cruelty-free toothpaste. I’ve really enjoyed all the new products I’ve tried — even the ones that haven’t worked out have been interesting. So overall, the time and effort I’ve put into finding these products has been well worth it to me. (And I think it would be psychologically beneficial for anyone who wants to do that sort of thing! Really! You’ll enjoy it.)

I think I’ve also come to believe that cruelty-freeism is a spectrum. You can pick where you want to be on that spectrum. You can never be completely cruelty-free — it’s about finding the place that’s right for you. Don’t give up on being cruelty-free because you can’t promise to be cruelty-free 100% of the time (no one has that amount of time to research everything, I swear. Well, except for me :)). Heck, do you decide to give up being environmentally-friendly because you know you could never live in a yurt in the woods? No. You do the environmentally friendly stuff that’s easy for you — you buy greener toilet paper and paper towels, start recycling more, and stop being wasteful of plastic bags. Similarly, if you’re not obsessed with cruelty-free stuff the way I am, don’t knock yourself out making sure everything you buy is 100%-cruelty-free. Try, occasionally to buy CCIC-approved brands. Work them into your routine. If you see them at Whole Foods, go over and look at them, and see if any of them appeal to you. If you can’t find a CCIC-approved brand for some product you really need, don’t sweat it. Go buy the cruel version and drop me a line — I’ll happily spend days trying to find out if there are any CCIC-approved products that would fulfill your requirements. Do you have any idea how much time I spend trying to figure out which CCIC-approved brands were organic? It took hours. Luckily, I enjoyed it.)

So anyway, over the course of the past year I’ve written 6 posts about myself:

Why I’ve Started this Blog

Vacation!

My new site!

Vacationing again!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Things I Wish I Could Buy Cruelty-Free

8 posts about animal testing news:

Boycott Procter & Gamble Day!

L’Oreal Is Going Cruelty-Free!

Israel Is Going to Ban Animal Testing for Cosmetic and Cleaning Products!

Coca-Cola is Going Cruelty Free!

Statistics on the animals used in experiments in Europe

Hypocritical and Cruel ActivistCash.com Attacks the Humane Society of the United States

Veterinary Students: Merchants of Death?

Mars, Inc. Tortures Animals

9 posts against animal testing:

Rats Have Rights

All About Animal Testing

The Coalition for Consumer Information on Cosmetics (CCIC)

The American Anti-Vivisection Society (One of the CCIC Member Organizations)

The American Humane Association (Another CCIC Member Organization)

The Doris Day Animal League

The Humane Society of the United States (Another CCIC Member Organization)

(The Final) CCIC Member Organization — The New England Anti-Vivisection Society

My (negative) thoughts on Burt’s Bees being bought out by Clorox

17 posts about animal testing alternatives:

Modern Alternatives to Animal Testing

Well-Known Science Magazine Acknowledges That Animals Are Not Perfect Substitutes for Humans

More Alternatives to Animal testing

An Agency Created to Promote Alternatives to Animal Testing that Does No Such Thing: ICCVAM

The benefits of using non-animal tests

A brief biography of ECVAM, an organization that validates alternative testing methods for the European Union

Center for Alternatives to Animal Testing February Newsletter

The equivalents to human skin (that can be substituted for live animals) that MatTek Corporation and SkinEthic Laboratories produce

The non-animal-using tests that the Institute for In Vitro Sciences and In Vitro International perform

Dr. Bjorn Ekwall’s invention of an alternative to the inhumane LD50 test

Corrositex — the alternative to the Draize test.

50 Million Euros ($78 million) to go to Research into Animal-Testing-Alternatives in the Netherlands

A Breakthrough in Alternative Testing Methods: Using In Vitro Methods to Mimic Joint Tissue

The European Union Will End the Use of Primates in Medical Research

Sens-it-iv: Creating Cruelty-Free Hypoallergenic Products

3 posts about other cruelty-free blogs

Other blogs that have written reviews of cruelty free products

W. Koenigsmann’s Cruelty-Free Blog: Cruelty-Free Cosmetics

Raffaella’s Cruelty-Free Blog: Cruelty Free Shop Links

3 posts about cruelty-free shopping:

White Rabbit Beauty

The Cruelty-Free Shop (Australia)

Cruelty-free Shopping, Anyone?

1 post about the European animal testing ban:

In 2013, All European Union Cosmetics and Household Products will be Cruelty Free

7 posts about lists of cruelty-free products:

The Long List of All the Cruelty-Free CCIC-Approved Companies

The List of International Companies that are CCIC-Approved

The Short List of Cruelty-Free Companies

The List of Cruelty-Free Pet Food

Cruelty-Free Charities

A list of European companies that don’t test on animals compiled from organizations in European countries that follow the humane cosmetics standard

A list of organic, cruelty-free companies

11 posts about humane farming:

Clover Milk — Certified by the American Humane Association

Cruelty-Free Meat and Dairy: People Who Only Eat Humanely-Raised Meat and Dairy

Cruelty Free Farming: Certified Humane

The rising popularity of cruelty-free eggs

The new California anti-farm-animal-cruelty ballot initiative

Cruelty-Free Farming: Cornucopia.org Can Help You Choose Dairy Products to Buy

Humane Farming: Fias Co Farm is A Truly Amazing Farm in Tennessee

A New Gold Standard in Humane Farming: the Animal Welfare Approved Seal

Humane Farming: You Can Petition to Put the California Prevent Farm Animal Cruelty Initiative on the Ballot at Your Local Whole Foods

100% Vegetarian Cheeses

How to Become a Humane Omnivore

9 posts about pet food:

Poisoned Pet Food

Update on the Pet Food Recall

Newman’s Own Organics Senior Dry Chicken and Rice Dog Food (4/5 stars)

Why are there no cruelty-free specialty diet pet foods?

Cruelty-Free Senior Diet Dog Food

Why did Menu Foods intentionally poison its laboratory cats and dogs?

Cooking for my dog — My solution to poisoned pet food problem

Halo Pet Food: Pet Food that is Animal-Testing-Free

Vegedog: An Alternative to Commercial Pet Food

3 posts about pop culture references:

Pop culture reference to animal testing in Supernatural

Cruelty-Free Pop Culture Watch: Eureka

Pop Culture Watch: Supernatural again!

1 post asking for advice:

Advice Needed: What Do You Do if You Suspect a Sanctuary of Selling Rescued Animals to an Animal-Testing Facility?

2 posts about adorable animal pictures:

What a jerboa looks like

a lovely new photograph in the sidebar.

And 65 (!) cruelty-free product reviews:

Alba Botanica Sea Moss Moisturizer SPF 15 (4/5 stars)

L’Occitane Aromachologie Purifying Deodorant (4/5 stars)

Aubrey Organics Natural Sun SPF 25 (2/5 stars)

Dermalogica Shine Therapy Shampoo (4/5 stars)

Dermalogica Silk Finish Conditioner (5/5 stars)

Method Dish Soap (5/5 stars)

Freeman Body Butter (2/5 stars)

L’Occitane Rose Velvet Body Cream (5/5 stars)

Gabriel Lip Gloss SPF 8 (3/5 stars)

Trader Joe’s A Midsummer Night’s Cream Moisturizing Lotion (4/5 stars)

My Lip Stuff Lip Balm (4/5 stars)

Paul Mitchell Super Clean Spray (5/5 stars)

Seventh Generation Automatic Dishwashing Detergent (5/5 stars)

Crystal Roll On Body Deodorant (3/5 stars)

Alba Botanica Facial Sunscreen (5/5 stars)

Juice Beauty Green Apple Peel (2/5 stars)

Parissa Quick and Easy Wax Strips (1/5 stars)

L’Occitane Eau des 4 Reines Perfume (4/5 stars)

Seventh Generation Chlorine Free Tampons (5/5 stars)

Method Laundry Detergent (5/5 stars)

Paul Mitchell Super Charged Moisturizer (Conditioner) (5/5 stars)

L’Occitane Verbena Pure Shea Butter (5/5 stars)

Earth’s Beauty Mineral Colors Plus SPF 15 Foundation Powder (5/5 stars)

Method Dryer Sheets (5/5 stars)

L’Occitane Candles (5/5 stars)

Aubrey Organics Ultimate Moist Lotion (4/5 stars)

Parissa Strip Free Hot Wax (5/5 stars)

Too Faced Diamond Lip Gloss (4/5 stars)

Eco Dent GentleFloss (5/5 stars)

Jason Glycerine and Rosewater Hand and Body Lotion (4/5 stars)

Method All Purpose Spray (5/5 stars)

Eco-Dent Toothpowder (5/5 stars)

Alba Botanica Tuberose Bath and Shower Gel (5/5 stars)

L’Occitane Verbena Ice Hand Cream Gel — 5/5 stars

Paul Mitchell Volumizing Spray (3/5 Stars)

Paul Mitchell Super Skinny (Smoothing) Daily Shampoo — 5/5 stars

Paul Mitchell Extra-Body Daily Boost (3/5 stars)

Questionably Cruelty-Free — Elon Moisture Therapy Replenishing Masque (4/5 stars)

Aubrey Organics New Men’s Line of Face and Hair products

Method Glass Cleaner — 5/5 stars

Alba Botanica Very Emollient Body Lotion (4/5 stars)

The Body Shop Aloe Antiperspirant and Deodorant

Method Hand Wash (5/5 stars)

Method creamy hand soap

Method foaming hand wash

Dermalogica samples of the Ultracalming Cleanser and the the Essential Cleansing Solution

Dermalogica Skin Prep Scrub

Dermalogica Dermal Clay Cleanser

Dermalogica Multi-Active Toner (4/5 stars)

Dermalogica Oil Control Lotion (4/5 stars)

Tom’s of Maine Sensitive Toothpaste (4/5 stars)

Alba Un-petroleum Multi-Purpose Jelly (5/5 stars)

Pureology Super Straight Shampoo (3/5 stars)

Pureology Super Straight Conditioner (1/5 stars)

Aubrey Organics B5 Design Gel

Paul Mitchell Color Protect Conditioner

Paul Mitchell Super Skinny Daily Treatment (1/5 stars)

Aubrey Organics Petal Pink Lip Gloss (3/5 stars)

Juice Organics (4/5 stars) — Nourishing Cleanser, Vitamin Antioxidant Serum, and SPF 30 Light Tint Moisturizer

Biokleen Dishwasher Detergent (5/5 stars)

John Paul Pet (Paul Mitchell) Tooth and Gum Wipes (4/5 stars)

Finally! A Cruelty-Free Three Bladed Razor! (Hoke2’s Wally Razor — 5/5 stars)

New cruelty-free products! Method Lil’ Bowl Blue and Le Scrub toilet cleansers

Hard Candy Lip Stain and Shine (4/5 stars)

The Method Microfiber O Mop (5/5 stars)

Ah, March is finally over.

This past month I found another (!) cruelty-free blogger:

An Italian Cruelty-Free Blog!

I wrote 4 posts on cruelty-free products:

Finally! A Cruelty-Free Three Bladed Razor! (Hoke2’s Wally Razor — 5/5 stars)

New cruelty-free products! Method Lil’ Bowl Blue and Le Scrub toilet cleansers

Hard Candy Lip Stain and Shine (4/5 stars)

The Method Microfiber O Mop (5/5 stars)

1 post on anti-animal testing news:

Many new companies have pledged to go animal-testing-free!

1 humane farming post:

How to Become a Humane Omnivore

And 1 pop culture referencing post:

Pop Culture Watch: Supernatural again!

I feel like this is one of the few things I’m extremely qualified to judge — I have bought not one, not two, but THREE poor excuses for microfiber mopping devices. Though technically one was the swiffer, which really isn’t a microfiber mop thing, it’s more a huge waste of trees and money bad for the environment kind of paper mop/sweepy thing, which I gave up a few years ago because I hated paying for the (expensive) disposable mopping things, of which it usually took four to clean my (tiny) apartment at the time. But I thought the swiffer itself was perfectly fine — just overpriced with all the disposable mop heads, so I gave it away and bought a Bona Kemi mop.

The Bona Kemi microfiber mop was awful. It didn’t maneuver very well, and usually managed to unscrew parts of itself while mopping — it was just a very poorly designed mop. The handle is made of four parts, and they all screw together, so if you apply the slightest pressure counterclockwise, one of them will come unscrewed. If not the part where the handle screws into the base, which is also prone to becoming unscrewed. It’s just a nightmare. I really didn’t care for it (though the Bona Kemi floor cleaning solutions were excellent, and I think the Bona Kemi people were totally ahead of their time — the first microfiber mops I ever saw were Bona Kemi, and the microfiber parts were very high quality. I think I might have a few of them left around and I’m hoping they will work with the O Mop so I can keep using them — they seem pretty similar.)

So, after the Bona Kemi fiasco, I moved on to the Real Simple microfiber mop. This one was definitely better constructionwise than the Bona Kemi mop — the handle was one solid piece of metal! It only had the part where the handle screws into the base that would become unscrewed if pressure was applied in a clockwise direction! So it was less prone to self-destructing, but it was still a little difficult to maneuver — not only could you not apply much counterclockwise pressure, but it also was very inflexible so it wouldn’t go very far under edges of tables, and the base was kind of curved upwards instead of lying flush to the floor, so it has to have constant pressure applied downwards or it would not actually pick anything up. So you can see — these features made it not as maneuverable as it could be. So I ended up promenading around my house pulling a microfiber mop in a pattern of parallel lines to get the floor clean — I always felt like I was mowing a lawn or something. It was just insane. So I ended up not really using it that much. Though I’ve had it for the past two years and used it weekly (ha! more like monthly) because I wanted to get some use out of it before ditching it.

However, a few days ago I was at Target and I could not resist buying the O Mop. It was in the Method section, and I needed to buy more wood floor cleaner (my Bona Kemi wood floor cleaner finally ran out!), and I’ve never been very happy with the Real Simple microfiber mop, so the O Mop magically found its way into my cart.

My first impression of the O Mop was good. I took it home, and put it together, and it seems much more sturdily made than the Real Simple or Bona Kemi mops, and much more aerodynamic and cool-looking. The parts chink together and just looking at them you know they’re not going to fall apart if you accidentally maneuver the mop counterclockwise.

Then . . . I swept my ENTIRE HOUSE in about FIVE minutes with the microfiber attachment (1500 sq feet? something like that). Usually it takes me 20 minutes with the highly annoying Real Simple mop that has the maneuverability of a lawn mower. This Method one though it’s like I stand in the center of the room, swish the mop around me in a giant circle, and the mop uses its own weight to glide over the floor and pick up all the dog hair (you have no idea how much dog hair my dog produces — it’s frightening) and dirt that coat the floor in a few seconds, and the room is clean! I managed to clean the area behind the toilet while standing two feet away from it, with one hand! The Real Simple mop required my standing with one knee on the toilet, and two hands trying to maneuver the wretched base of the Real Simple mop behind the base of the toilet, and then having the base of the mop fall off at some point because you have to twist the mop counterclockwise to get it out from behind there. It was aggravating.

So I’m a complete convert. I really didn’t think the O Mop would be that much better than the Real Simple mop — I figured anything HAD to be slightly better because that thing doesn’t even seem to have a mop surface that is parallel to the ground. But the O Mop is a lot better.

So I HIGHLY recommend this mop. If you’re still using one of those wretched bucket contraptions, seriously, you need to buy one of these. (Microfiber mops are so much less trouble than bucket mops — and they’re much better for wooden floors than bucket mops because those leave huge puddles of water on your (expensive) hardwood floor, and that’s bad for it. You can prolong the life of your floor finish by using a microfiber mop, the floor dries a lot faster, and if you use it dry it makes an excellent broom. Though you should still keep your bucket mop for the really heavy jobs — microfiber isn’t good for soaking/scrubbing caked on filth.)

(Method products are cruelty-free and vegan — but not organic.)

The Method O Mop is available for $30 at the Method Online Store, your local Target, or Orchard Supply and Hardware. It comes in two starter kits — one is for hardwood floors, the other is for nonwood floors. The “wood for good” starter kit contains 1 wet/dry microfiber mop pad that velcroes on to the mop base, 3 compostable sweeping cloths (I think these are pointless — just use the wet/dry microfiber pad and buy a few more — you’ll save a lot of money in the long run), and a 14 oz container of Method wood floor cleaner. The “all floor starter kit” contains 1 wet/dry all floor microfiber mop pad, 3 compostable sweeping cloths and a 14 oz container of Method all floor cleaner.

I assume most of you who read this blog aren’t subscribed to the Center for Alternatives to Animal Testing’s updates. I mean, I certainly haven’t been. I don’t think they used to offer an rss feed. But good news (for me, anyway!) is that now there is an rss feed — you can put this feed straight into your rss feed reader, if you’re interested.

Or, you can just read the monthly newsletters I’m going to start posting here.  All the latest news in alternatives to animal testing! Here goes!

Here is February’s newsletter:

ALTWEB Newsletter February 2008

• NIH, EPA Announce Collaboration on Toxicity Testing
  • NIH Collaborates with EPA to Improve the Safety Testing of Chemicals: New Strategy Aims to Reduce Reliance on Animal TestingPlan Expedites Alternatives to Animal TestingNICEATM-ICCVAM Five-Year Plan
• CAAT Winter 2007/2008 Newsletter
  • CAAT’s Winter 2007/2008 Newsletter features a wrap-up of the 6th World Congress in Tokyo; an interview with CAAT Advisory Board member David Owen about the implementation of REACH legislation in the EU (and what it means for U.S. industry); a feature article about the “economic imperative” of alternatives; updates on grants, new programs, and much more.You can download the full PDF of the newsletter, for reading online or to print, by clicking here. (Requires Adobe Acrobat Reader.)
• Save The Date: TestSmart DNT 2
  • Developmental neurotoxicity (DNT) is a major issue in children’s health worldwide. The developing human nervous system is susceptible to many toxicants, and chemical exposure during development may cause lasting neurological deficits.CAAT’s first TestSmart DNT meeting, held March 2006, sought to identify the concerns relating to the science and policy of DNT and to the development of alternative testing methodologies. DNT II will assess progress made in developing DNT alternatives, reassess the priorities and recommendations established at DNT I, and outline new and continuing goals.This meeting will bring together diverse stakeholders from around the globe, including research scientists, government scientists, regulators, policy analysts, industry representatives, academics, and advocacy groups concerned with children’s health, animal welfare, and environmental protection.The meeting will be held at the Hyatt Regency Reston in Reston, Virginia.More information here.
• Altweb: Special Section on Refinement
  • Altweb has introduced a new special section on the topic of Refinement, the third of the “Three Rs” of alternatives. The section features introductory text explaining the topic in non-technical language, accompanied by a set of links to relevant databases, web sites, books, articles, abstracts, and more.More…
• CAAT Blog: “A Boundless Ethic”

  • “We need a boundless ethic that includes animals also.”
    —Albert Schweitzer

    CAAT’s animal news blog, “A Boundless Ethic,” was launched in the summer of 2007. Designed to appeal to lay audiences, as well as scientists and those interested in alternatives, the blog has grown steadily, attracting visitors from over 120 countries.

    Please visit, add your comments, and suggest stories!

• CAAT 2009-10 Grants: Call for Preproposals
  • The Johns Hopkins Center for Alternatives to Animal Testing (CAAT) is soliciting projects which focus on the implementation of the NAS Report: Toxicity Testing in the 21st Century: A Vision and a Strategy in the following areas:
    • Refinement: maximum grant amount is $25,000 per year. These grants should focus specifically on the issues of alleviating pain and/or distress in laboratory protocols. These studies should focus on the development of better methods for pain assessment, alleviation, elimination and/or prevention of pain in animal experiments.
    • Proposals relating to toxicology: maximum grant amount is $25,000 per year. These grants should be developed to provide understanding of mechanism/mode of action and to consider how one would be able to translate the mechanism to a method that can be used to evaluate/predict health consequences.
    • Developmental Toxicology: maximum grant amount is $50,000 per year. The Center is interested in grants focusing on Developmental Toxicology and Developmental Neurotoxicology. These studies can be either in vitro, involve embryonic stem cells, or involve species such as c. elegans or zebrafish. These grants should be developed to provide understanding of mechanism/mode of action and to consider how one would be able to translate the mechanism to a method that can be used to evaluate/predict health consequences. Whole-animal, mammalian studies are not appropriate

    More….

• AltTox: New Website Devoted to Non-Animal Methods of Toxicity Testing
  • The Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) and Procter & Gamble (P&G) have launched a new website devoted exclusively to non-animal methods of toxicity testing. AltTox.org covers toxicity testing subfields, non-animal technologies, relevant government programs and policies, and challenges and opportunities in validation and regulatory acceptance.In addition to providing succinct background information on these
    topics, AltTox also features a series of discussion forums and invited
    commentaries on the way forward in pivotal areas.The website’s content is overseen by an international editorial board of distinguished scientists and policy experts, who also serve as moderators of the discussion forums.Link….
• Alternatives to Toxicity Testing in Animals: What a Changing Regulatory Landscape Will Mean for Lawyers, Scientists, and Animal Advocates
  • This summer, the National Academy of Sciences released its report “Toxicity Testing in the Twenty-First Century: A Vision and a Strategy.” Commissioned by EPA, the report advocates sweeping and transformative changes in regulatory toxicity testing. It envisages a shift from the current whole animal-based testing systems to testing founded primarily on in vitro methods that evaluate changes in biologic processes using cells, cell lines, or cellular components. This change is expected to generate more robust data and expand capabilities to test chemicals more efficiently. It is also expected to improve animal welfare and substantially reduce (and ultimately eliminate) the use of whole animals in toxicity testing. Applying twenty-first century toxicology to regulatory testing creates challenges and opportunities for scientists, risk assessors, environmental attorneys, and animal advocates. At this seminar, panelists examined this report, the vision it sets forth, and the forces bearing on its implementation.Audio of the seminar available here (RealPlayer format)
• iPhone or iPod Touch User? Add a Webclip Bookmark Icon for Altweb and CAAT
  • We’ve made it easy for you to access Altweb and CAAT from your iPhone or iPod Touch. Just visit the main page in mobile Safari, click “Add to Home Screen” and you’ll have a one-touch access to the sites.
• CAAT on Facebook
  • You can join the CAAT Facebook group and become a fan of CAAT (Facebook membership necessary).
• News from Around the Web
  • Global news about alternatives and the 3 Rs:
    

    Cefic-LRI and EUROTOX Invite Proposals for 2008 Innovative Science Award

    Thousands of rodents saved from drug testing

    HSUS January Pain and Distress Report (pdf)

    What’s New at ILAR (January 2008)

    NC3Rs Newsletter #14

    Stay up-to-date by visiting Altweb or subscribing to our RSS feed.

• Upcoming Meetings
  • PRIM&R: 2008 Annual Institutional Animal Care & Use Committee (IACUC) Conference
    March 25-28, 2008
    Atlanta, GA

    Alternatives to Animal Testing: New Approaches in the Development and Control of Biologicals
    April 23-24, 2008
    Dubrovnik, Croatia

    Engineering Tissue Alternatives to Animals
    April 30, 2008
    London, UK

    Conference: Nanotechnology Towards Reducing Animal Testing
    May 28-29, 2008
    London, England

    For a complete calendar of upcoming meetings, visit the Altweb Calendar.

My favorite cruelty-free coalition — the Coalition for Consumer Information in Cosmetics, aka the “Leaping Bunny” people — recently overhauled its website. It has a whole new look — it’s all purple and blue — here is a screenshot:

Isn’t that nice? I think it’s pretty. Even better, if you go to the CCIC’s list of cruelty-free companies, you can see that the list has grown to 189 companies. This means there are now 189 companies that produce 100% animal testing free products (both the ingredients and final products are animal-testing free). Seriously, this list just keeps growing. I can’t remember how many were on the list last year, but it was definitely fewer than that. Isn’t that fantastic?

Do you see these four beautiful cats in this photograph? They belong to Raffaella, the cruelty-free blogger who runs Cruelty Free Shops Links, which is a MARVELOUS Italian blog devoted to all things cruelty-free and places to buy them. Yes! There’s another cruelty-free blogger out there! If you ever wonder where you can buy cruelty-free products or want to discuss what it means to be cruelty-free in Italian, go visit Cruelty Free Shops Links. I only wish I could read Cruelty Free Shops Links, but since I don’t speak Italian, I can’t. I’m very sad about that.

Those of you who’ve commented or emailed me about where to find cruelty-free stuff in Europe — I bet Cruelty Free Shops Links would be a fantastic resource for you. Drop Raffaella a line! I’ve put Cruelty Free Shops in my blogroll, so you will always find it there.

Enjoy!

In some ways, Hard Candy lip stain and gloss is the best lip gloss ever. However, it has some serious drawbacks.

The Good: it’s translucent, yet lasts for hours. It is NOT opaque — it looks nothing like lipstick — it really is a permanent lip gloss. It’s gorgeous stuff. If you’re like me, and are totally addicted to lip gloss, but hate lipstick, this stuff is perfect. You can eat with it on and the color won’t rub off — you just reapply the clear lip gloss after you eat, and you’re good to go. It will never flake off in that disgusting manner the way permanent lipsticks do. You can apply it first thing in the morning (with a rollerball applicator that works really well), make sure you get the edges perfectly placed, and then you can be slap-happy with the clear gloss for the rest of the day, and always have perfect lip gloss. (You might have to touch up once more in the evening if you’re going out — it only lasted on me about eight hours.)

The Bad: it comes in an (I kid you not) frightening purple color. I got it in “piglet” color which looks rosy pink on Hard Candy’s webpage, but is really very purple (it also comes in “stop” which is a siren red berry color). It’s one of those if you can wear a purple colored lip gloss, I would highly recommend this stuff. I can’t — I look like I just painted my lips with grape koolaid. Even if I apply it on very, very faintly I look kind of blue-lipped and like I’m losing oxygen. (That being said, I always wear ultra-pale-pink lip glosses because very faint colors look very bright on me, and anything that isn’t pink-pink-pink looks orange on me. Really. I’m unlucky that way. I’m jealous of people who go around wearing plum shades of lipstick. You’re so lucky!) So I’m taking half a star off because I don’t like the colors Hard Candy Stain and Shine comes in. (Hello Hard Candy? What are you thinking only having purple and red colors of lip stain? Red also looks frightening on me. I ‘d love to do that retro moviestar red lipstick/white complexion thing, but it just does not work for me). Also I’m taking another half a star off because Hard Candy Stain and Shine has no UVA ray protection, so it will not protect you from skin cancer.

On MakeupAlley a lot of people seem to have the same views I do about this lip gloss — it gets an overall 4.05/5 from 23 reviewers. A lot of people remarked on how oddly purple the piglet color was, but how natural the stain looked, and how it really does stay on for a long time. The good news is many people recommended the “stop” color as a nice red shade, so if you can wear red lipstick, it’s probably a good choice. (Though there were a few complaints about the rollerball — a lot of people seemed to like it, some did not. I like it, anyway.)

(Hard Candy products seem to be related to Urban Decay products, and they are vegan and of course 100%-cruelty-free. Unfortunately they are not organic.)

Hard Candy Stain and Shine is available in purple or red for $15 from HardCandy.com. (Hard Candy products were no longer available at Sephora the last time I checked.)

Ingredients:

Stain Ingredients:
Aqua (Water), Glycerine, Polysorbate-20, Phenoxyethanol, Methylparaben, Butylparaben, Ethylparaben, Acrylates Copolymer, Isobutylparaben, Propylparaben. May Contain: CI 17200 (Red 33), CI 42090 (Blue 1 Lake), CI 19140 (Yellow 5 Lake)

Citylights Ingredients:Polybutene, Paraffinum Liquidum (Mineral Oil), Silica Silylate, Synthetic Fluorphlogopite, Propylparaben, BHT. May Contain:
CI 77891 (Titanium Dioxide)

I’ve gotten a bunch of emails lately about this, so I thought I’d devote a whole post to it.

Basically, if you’re an omnivore and you’re trying to stop supporting the animal abuse that goes on at factory farms, it’s very simple. I swear. I myself am no longer an omnivore, but I was one not so long ago, and I like and admire people who are trying to switch from being inhumane omnivores to humane omnivores (I do! I think you’re fabulous.) I think there is a world of difference between promoting factory-farming animal abuse and promoting a pleasant environment for animals before they are slaughtered.

I think there is a spectrum of cruelty-free-ness – at one end there’s torturing and killing animals. At the other end, there’s not killing them at all. On a one-to-four scale it would go something like this:

• 1 – tortures and kills animals (factory farming, animal abusers, people who run inhumane tests on animals)

• 2 – not torturing animals, but killing them quickly (humanely raised meat/dairy + not supporting animal testing)

• 3 – not torturing animals, not killing them (humanely raised dairy/eggs + not supporting animal testing)

• 4 – not buying any animal products whatsoever (vegan + not supporting animal testing)

I myself was an omnivore, then I switched to eating humanely raised meat and dairy, then on to vegetarianism, and I’m slowly working my way towards veganism, which I think is the kindest way to live (but it’s really hard . . . ).

(Quick disclaimer — “humanely raised” means the animals live short but free-from-pain-inflicted-by-people lives — basically, while they are alive they are not physically abused, but they are usually killed long before the end of their natural lifespan — for a meat-providing animal, usually at about six months of age, and for an egg/dairy providing animal, when they stop producing eggs/milk. Chickens that are humanely raised are not kept in cages the size of laptops for their entire six month existence, and they don’t have their beaks cut off. Pigs and veal calves that are humanely raised are not kept in crates they literally cannot turn around in for their entire existence. So again, “humanely raised” does not mean “no kill,” and it has other drawbacks as well. Chickens that lay “humanely raised” eggs are slaughtered when they stop producing eggs, which is usually 3 years of age out of 9 year lifespan. “Humanely raised” dairy cows are slaughtered when they stop producing milk. Male chicks born to layer hens are slaughtered right after they are born; male calves born to dairy cows are slaughtered when they are six months old for veal. Dairy cows are kept continually pregnant to provide milk for people, and their calves are taken away from them at a very young age and fed on milk substitute. So, while humanely raised meat/dairy products are without a doubt far, far better than inhumanely raised, they are not as kind to animals as veganism.)

So,

The Three Steps to Becoming a Humane Omnivore:

Step 1 — Buy Humanely Raised Meat/Dairy Products at the Grocery Store:

The first thing you should know is that there are three very good lists of humane meat and dairy products:

1) The Animal Welfare Association’s Animal Welfare Approved List. This is the strictest and best list — it has very high standards (unfortunately it just started out, so there aren’t that many farms listed on it. But it’s growing every day). I wrote a blog post about it not too long ago.

2) The American Humane Association’s Free Farmed List. This is another good list — I wrote a blog post about it too.

3) The Humane Raised and Handled Certification list: I wrote a blog post about this one too.

The best thing about these three lists is that they have logos that are right on packages of meat and dairy products — the “Animal Welfare Approved,” the “American Humane Certified” logo and the “Certified Humane Raised & Handled” logo — so go to the meat section of your local grocery store and check to see if anything in the cases has those logos, and if they do, buy them.

What to do if you can’t find anything with either of those logos in your area:

If there’s nothing with one of those logos available in your area, the “free-range” label actually means something as well — it is definitely a step up from factory farming, so go ahead and buy anything that says it is “free-range.” I’d stay away from anything else — “natural,” “naturally nested,” “happy,” etc., mean absolutely nothing. (I suspect you’ll probably have better luck at natural/health food stores or upscale markets than Safeway/Luckys/etc.)

You can also use localharvest.org — it lists information about numerous farms. So if you find a meat product from a farm you don’t know anything about, you can look the farm up on Local Harvest and decide if it is humane enough for you.

The absolutely easiest way to find humanely farmed products:

The easiest way of all to buy humanely raised meat and dairy products is to shop at Whole Foods — every animal product at Whole Foods (in the prepared foods and the unprepared foods sections) had to pass Whole Foods humane standards (thanks to Pearl for telling me about this!), which are not as stringent as the other three standards, but are pretty good:

So you can just go to Whole Foods and pick any meat product out, you’ll be fine.

Step 2 — Go Out to Eat at Restaurants that Serve Humanely-Raised Meat/Dairy Products.

Eatwellguide.org is a lifesaver in this situation. Just put in your zipcode and it will tell you all the restaurants around you that have free-range, pasture-raised, sustainable, and biodynamic meat/dairy products, and it will even tell you which ones each restaurant carries (unfortunately not many restaurants seem to carry free-range eggs — in this area, I think Chez Panisse is the only one). Write these down, go to the restaurants, and be sure to order the humanely-raised meat/dairy products they offer. (Unfortunately Eatwellguide also won’t tell you whether any of the farms are AWA certified, AHA certified, or Humane Raised and Handled Certified. Hello, Eatwellguide? That would be nice. Along with making the search feature easier to use — I’d love to be able to do a search and find every free-range egg restaurant in the area.)

(Edited to add: As you can see from the comment down below from Erin of EatWellGuide (so cool!) — you CAN actually use EatWellGuide to find out which restaurants carry free-range eggs.  I was just confused because I was trying to find free-range eggs and dairy products at the same time, and the search engine showed me results with some restaurants that didn’t carry free-range eggs.  So anyway, go ahead and use EatWellGuide’s advanced search feature to find free-range products — it’s very useful — and, um, just search for one free-range item at a time!)

Google is also your friend — google your area, plus words like “free-range” and “restaurants.” You’ll be surprised by how many restaurants have that sort of thing.

(Optional) Step 3 — Allow Yourself to Eat Inhumane Products If You Really Crave Them

This is an optional step, but it helped me out a lot, so I thought I’d include it. Basically, you’re not going to stick to eating only humanely raised foods if you cut yourself off immediately from your favorite things. If you’re at a fabulous expensive restaurant you adore, let yourself eat whatever you feel like. Then, the next day, if you’re offered something you’re only kind of “meh” about, absolutely refuse to eat it unless it’s humanely raised. An animal suffered and died for that — if you don’t absolutely crave it, it’s just not worth eating it. The difference between faux-tofu-based-bologna and back-of-the-fridge- watery-and-rubbery -in-the-first-place-inhumane-bologna is not one of taste — trust me, they both taste fairly blah — it is that one caused a great deal of suffering, pain and torment, and the other did not.

It’s hard to believe, but after a few months you will be able to refuse fabulous expensive delicious product-of-torture-meat/dairy products. I promise. After you’ve spent a great deal of time eating only humanely-raised products, the thought of eating something that caused that much suffering will be psychologically difficult to take. At least eventually it became that way for me, anyway . . .

(If you have any (positive) advice that would help people trying to eat more humanely farmed foods, please add it here. If you want a personal description of what it’s like to start eating humanely farmed foods all of the time, check out Pearl’s comments on my humane farming posts.)

Good luck!

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