Animal-Friendly Fashion Part 1: Cosmetics

As consumers, we are faced everyday with a number of choices as to which products to buy, companies to support, and advertisements to process and store in our long term memories. If this was not already hard enough, we also have to make value calls, choices based on which moral codes we have decided to follow.

As a bona fide carnivore, I had never before realized how hard it is to steer away from animal products. As a person who (embarrassingly) has not made the choice to have a completely animal-friendly lifestyle, I had been really ignorant as to the degree to which animals are indeed suffering in order for us to stay "pretty". Thanks to a few friends I have who do live this lifestyle, my eyes have recently been opened.

I have heard of many cosmetic companies that are allegedly "animal-friendly" but have learned recently that this may not be as true as we have been led to believe. Perhaps they are not testing on animals, but many animal by-products go into the production of many of our day-to-day products such as soap, lotion, toothpaste, hair care products, make-up and so on. Two such offenders include the very common cetyl alcohol and glycerin. It should noted however, that both of these can also be derived from vegetables, but unless it is stated that way be cautious. Both of these substances are sure to pop up in many of your cosmetics (men's and women's!) so keep an eye out for them.

Two companies that support an animal-friendly policy and that can be found in Toronto are Lush and Burt's Beeswax. Obviously, as you can tell by the name, Burt's Beeswax is not vegan-friendly (they also use milk products) but do not test on animals, and use (as is noted on their products) vegetable glycerin and many other natural ingredients. Lush offers a great (and yummy smelling) line that includes many vegan products.