No VoiceBox Should Not Equal No Voice- The (Deliberately) Forgotten Ingredient

Imagine your beloved dog, cat, rabbit, mouse, rat, guinea pig or bird trapped in a less-than-appealing cage, being poked, prodded, burnt and poisoned until the day they die- that's if they don't die from the tests. 
Oh? You don't want to picture that? Not surprising, but why would you allow other innocent animals to be deprived of a normal life with a doting family? 

Nowadays, everything is tested on animals- from paint to cosmetics to glue and to toothpaste. It's a worldwide trend that needs to go out of fashion, quick (sorry for corny metaphor). 

Here's some facts for you:

1. Over 100 million animals are burned, crippled, poisoned, and abused in US labs every year
2. When used in cosmetic tests, mice, rats, rabbits, and guinea pigs are often subjected to skin and eye irritation tests where chemicals are rubbed on shaved skin or dripped into the eyes without any pain relief.
3. No experiment is illegal, no matter how cruel, irrelevant to human health, redundant, or painful.
4. Ninety five percent of animals used for experiments are excluded from the only federal law offering any sort of protection.
5. Even when valid alternatives to animals are available, the law doesn’t require that they be used.

Up until about a year ago, I used any make-up that took my fancy. Nowadays, I'm not so lavish. That's not to say I'm perfect, there has been times where I've picked up a magazine with a Revlon mascara in it (Could I really resist Blake Lively, though?). There was also that time when there was no foundation to be seen in my colour, so I had no choice but to grab a Maybelline foundation (In hindsight, I probably could have waited AND this was in the early days of my conversion to cruelty-free). 
Yes, it is hard at times when brands bring out eye shadows that look like they've been created by a make-up goddess, but I've come to learn that the brands that are cruelty-free tend to bring out similar version a few weeks after- it's all about self control. 

Here's a list (Courtesy of PETA) of some well known brands that either DO test on animals or DO NOT test on animals:

DO TEST ON ANIMALS L

•  Revlon
•  Estee Lauder
•  Maybelline
•  Covergirl
•  MAC
•  Benefit
•  Bobbi Brown
•  L'Oreal
•  Chapstick
•  Clinique
•  Clean & Clear
•  Dove
•  Elizabeth Arden
•  Garnier
•  Chanel
•  Johnson & Johnson
•  Max Factor
• Nair
• Olay
• Pantene
• Ralph Lauren Fragrences
• Schwarzkopf 
• Shu Uemera
• Stila
• Sun Silk
• Tresemme
• Veet
• Wella

DO NOT TEST ON ANIMALS J Nars (yay!)

•  Aesop
•  Too Faced (yay!)
•  Anastasia Beverly Hills
•  Jeffree Star
•  Colourpop
•  Burt's Bees
•  Chi Chi
•  Australis
•  Face of Australia
•  Model Co
•  Meiskin
•  Models Prefer
•  Essence 
•  Bondi Sands
•  Lush
•  The Body Shop
•  Illamasqua
• Dermalogica
• E.L.F
• Manic Panic
• Paintbox
• Jordana
• Lime Crime
• Natural Instinct
• NYX
• Smashbox
• Barefaced Minerals
• LORAC
• Urban Decay
• Wet n Wild

Hopefully now you have a better understanding of the good comapnies and the cruel comapnies and will start to make a change. Animal testing is so outdated and if SO many companies nowadays can make amazing make-up (Ahem! Nars and Too Faced) then I honestly cannot see ANY reason to use this stupid method. 

I just wanted to say, though, that what I've said on this post is my opinion and I'm sorry if I have offended anyone but this is such an important topic to me and I really want people to realise that all their favourite brands torture what should be household pets and I really strongly urge you to stop using these brands. That way the company will get the picture and switch to cruelty-free (well, that's the dream) and millions of innocent little furry creatures will be set free to roam their natural habitat or an adoptive family AND you will be able to buy those perfect MAC lipsticks without your guilt conscience. Like I've said, you wouldn't like knowing that your beautiful pet could be locked up and tortured so you shouldn't like knowing that millions of innocent animals around the world are having that exact thing happening to them, as you are reading this.