Wednesday, February 2, 2011

Cruelty Free Products - Bathroom and Beauty

One of the things that started my whole journey was a simple question asked by my husband in one day as I was joking about having to buy Oil of Olay eye cream...
"Did you know that company tests on animals?" 

I thought that nobody tested on animals anymore. I thought that was a thing of the past. They don't still do that!  Didn't all the animal rights organizations and PETA take care of that years ago?

I was so dumb. I was really dumb. (For real.)

So, I began researching.
I realized that MOST of the products I had in my house were either tested on animals or made by companies who still test on animals. So, I made the decision to try my best to not support the companies who still do test (even if the product itself is not tested on.) Much harder than it seems since so many household and beauty products are owned by the naughty companies, but I am slowly getting the hang of it. For example, I thought that I was doing well by buying Toms of Maine toothpaste until I realized that they are owned by Colgate. Ugh. So, even though Toms ITSELF is not tested on, my money would ultimately go to the bad guy. Not where I want my hard earned cashola to go.

I have been transitioning all of my household and beauty products to cruelty-free choices as much as I can since last May. As I use up the last of certain products, I find cruelty-free alternatives to replace them with. A great resource for me has been Leaping Bunny. They even have an easy to use  Compassionate Shopping guide to search your favorite products and see who the bad guys are. I even have their IPhone app on my phone for easy reference.

I will start with the the beauty products in my bathroom that I use and enjoy, then I will do another post on my cleaning products and makeup.Maybe it can inspire some people to change even just one product they buy :)

Hand soap - I use Method pump soap in Lavender (and Unscented for hubby,) which luckily can be found at Target and even has nice, cheap refill bags.


Air Spray - I used to love the Method Lemongrass and Lavender spray until they discontinued it. Now I use the Orange Air Therapy. I buy this at Trader Joes.

Toothpaste: Kiss My Face Anticavity. Sometimes when I need my Vanilla fix, I will use Jason's Powersmile Vanilla Mint, too. Both of these I buy at Whole Foods or Vitacost.com

Face Cream: I had been using Oil of Olay or Dove moisturizers before, but now I use DeVita's Perfecting Time (available at Whole Foods)
Face Soap: I have used Dove bar soap to wash my face for as long as I can remember. Since Unilever is one of the worst companies when it comes to animal testing, I have had to say goodbye to Dove. :( My new face soap of choice is Kirk's.

Shampoo: My life has been made much easier since finding out that Paul Mitchell was cruelty-free. I use his conditioner and detangling spray (my hair has always tangled like a 4 year old.) I like to use different shampoos - right now I am using the Nature's Gate Lavender. 

Sometimes for fun I'll go with the Kiss My Face Mistreated duo. I like the smell.


Speaking of hair, for Hair Color my absolute favorite product is Naturtint. I never feel like I am putting chemicals in my hair like I used to before. It doesn't burn or stink. And the color lasts :) I could seriously color my hair everyday and be happy, but I don't have to with this product. It is not listed on leaping bunny, but from all that I have read about it, I feel safe with it until I read otherwise. It's made in Spain's Phergal Labs. This can be bought at Whole Foods (make sure you wait until it goes on sale) or through vitacost.com for much cheaper.



Body wash: Another product that I love to have a few to choose from each day. Right now my 2 favorites are Shikai Vanilla (or Coconut when I want to switch it up...)
 ...and Kiss My Face Lavendar and Lily (yes, I love lavender!)


Body Lotion: I had a bunch of Bath and Body Works Aromatherapy Lavender lotion that I was using up. On the back it says, "Never Tested on Animals" but that could mean the finished product ONLY. It doesn't necessarily mean that some of the components weren't tested. It is not listed on the leaping bunny site as being cruelty free, so after its done, I will be switching to a Nature's Gate or Whole Foods brand lavender lotion.

Until it's done....







then I switch to this...


I also love the body lotions, hand soaps and body washes from Hugo Naturals (Whole Foods and vitacost.com)

Now, I am far from perfect. My eyes are very sensitive, so for my contacts I am still using CibaVision to clean them and saline for a rinse. I did find this product to use in the future, but my eye doctor wanted me to stay status quo while I am clearing up an eye issue:

Shave Cream: I am still using up the last of my stock of old stuff, but when I am done, I plan on trying the Kiss My Face products.

Deodorant: I bought a shitload of Dove when it was on sale a long time ago and I'm on my last one. I am nervous about finding a good cruelty-free one, but once I do I will let you know!

Toilet paper: I try my best not to buy from the nasty companies by getting my TP from Trader Joes whenever possible. 


Vitacost.com is a great place to buy some of these products at a discount!

*Just FYI - companies do not have to carry the leaping bunny symbol ON the product for it to be cruelty free (that is an extra step companies take for marketing.) As long as the company is LISTED on the leaping bunny site, it is a cruelty free product :)

I think that is it for my bathroom products (if I forgot something, I will add it.)
Next up....
household cleaning products and makeup!

8 comments:

  1. cool, i'll have to check out some of these products!

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  2. Thanks for the comments Debbie! :) I loved reading this post the other day because I am just starting to change out my products for kinder and cleaner ones too. It is good to hear your suggestions! thanks so much.

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  3. Thank you very much for posting :-)

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  4. Tom's of Maine has the leaping bunny logo on the back and it is listed on the site.

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    Replies
    1. Yes, it is not tested on itself, but the parent company does test their products. I try to not support even parent companies who test when I can, but...if you use Tom's you are ultimately still using a cruelty free product itself :)

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  5. Let me know when you find a deodorant...also what kind of cleaning products do you use for your house?

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  6. Live Beautifully makes a great deodorant. Method is no longer cruelty-free. Please feel free to check out my Facebook Page The Great Cruelty Free product Swap, for some of my swaps

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