Thursday 25 September 2014

Animal testing again ... 2.0


credits for the picture : http://metrouk2.files.wordpress.com/2013/03/1903-animal-testing-new.png


Carrying on with animal testing, this picture shows the numbers of people who agree and disagree to animal testing for cosmetics, what do you think? are you against it ? Many companies do not use animal testing and still are selling huge amounts of safe cosmetics and sometimes sell more as people agree that animal testing is bad.


Questions and answers about animal testing taken from this website: http://www.hsi.org/issues/becrueltyfree/facts/about_cosmetics_animal_testing.html show what companies are doing to stop animal testing and alternative ways to test make up. (more questions on the website)


Q: Do these animal tests have scientific limitations?
A: Yes, because different species can respond differently when exposed to the same chemicals. This means that results from animal tests may not be relevant to humans, under- or over-estimating hazards to people. Animal test results can also be quite variable and difficult to interpret. Unreliable and non-predictive animal tests mean consumer safety cannot be guaranteed.
Q: How can companies avoid animal testing?
A: More than 500 cosmetics companies—including LUSH, JASÖN and Kiss My Face—have sworn off animal testing, yet still produce new, safe and fabulous beauty products. They do so by choosing combinations of the thousands of existing cosmetic raw ingredients that have already been established as safe for human use, instead of purchasing newly developed chemicals that will also have been newly animal-tested. In addition, the safety of new product formulations made from these existing ingredients can be assured using available state-of-the-art non-animal tests. Find out more about cruelty-free companies.
Q: What are the alternatives to animal testing?
A: Advanced non-animal tests represent the very latest techniques that science has to offer, replacing outdated animal tests that have been around for many decades and haven’t stood the test of time. More than 40 non-animal tests have been validated for use, and these modern alternatives can offer results that are more relevant to people, often more cheaply and efficiently, too. For example, there are a number of skin tests available that use human reconstructed skin, such as EpiDerm, as well as the "3T3 NRU" test for sunlight-induced “phototoxicity,” and the Bovine Cornea Opacity and Permeability test for eye corrosion. Find out more.


Do you agree with everything been done? I don't think animal testing is correct however I don't believe products should be sold without being tested which could harm customers, this dilemma is being looked into seen in the above questions. do what you can to help prevent animal testing.. In the end what if you were that poor bunny rabbit with scars and rashes because you were the test dummy for a moisturizer that went wrong. Websites like WWF helps fight and protect animals against animal cruelty and testing.



Thursday 18 September 2014

Animal testing is it right? 1.0


Okay so, who thinks animal abuse is right?.. No one, then why do we harm or kill animals for a material needs? I think it’s just not right. In brazil on the 8th of May 2014 animal testing for cosmetics and toiletries was banded in hope to show something to the world and to influence other countries to do the same and in March 2013, the European Union banned the sale of any cosmetics or cosmetics ingredients that have been tested on animals. This is all an effort in trying to make other countries adopt similar laws and restrictions however the US and china along with many other countries are having none of this and still have not banded the sale of cosmetics tested on animals. Do you believe they should ban the testing on animals? Why should they suffer because we want more than we need?
Here are some facts about animal testing from the website: https://www.dosomething.org/facts/11-facts-about-animal-testing
1. Over 100 million animals are burned, crippled, poisoned and abused in U.S. labs every year.
2. 92% of experimental drugs that are safe and effective in animals fail in human clinical trials because they are too dangerous or don’t work.
3. Labs that use mice, rats, birds, reptiles and amphibians are exempted from the minimal protections under the Animal Welfare Act (AWA).
4. Up to 90% of animals used in U.S. labs are not counted in the official statistics of animals tested.
5. It’s mandatory for all products to be tested on animals in China. Meanwhile, the European Union issued a ban on the sale of new cosmetics that are tested on animals.





Animals aren’t just used for testing, we looked at them being used for cosmetics and guess what, they are also used for other things related to cosmetics. The most common one being makeup brushes ‘’ Makeup brushes are commonly made from squirrel, mink, sable, horse (sometimes called “pony” or “camel”), or goat hair. Mink and sable brushes are products of the cruel fur industry. Every year, millions of animals are trapped, drowned, and beaten to death in the wild and strangled, electrocuted, or beaten and skinned alive on fur farms. Horse hair is commonly obtained from horses who are slaughtered for their flesh. Squirrels are hunted or trapped, and goats are shorn like sheep. Workers are often paid by volume, so they shear the goats quickly, which can result in serious injuries. Many makeup brushes are manufactured in developing countries where there are few or no animal welfare regulations.’’  http://www.peta.org/living/beauty/synthetic-make-brushes/

Other credits:


Friday 12 September 2014

Whats in your makeup products?


What is really in your makeup, do you really know what you are putting on your skin and where it comes from? Now a days people don’t read the labels as much as we used too, as we think all the ingredients would have been approved and checked; so there is no need for us to read the labels as we think it is safe, more than likely they all are but some ingredients are weirder than you might think and would still have been approved.


Let’s start off with lipstick, main ingredients are wax, alcohol, oil, and pigment. We all love a lush red lip stick, the red dye used is actually crushed parasitic beetles, and these are perfectly safe for our lips so no need to panic. The reason the beetles are red is because the beetles love to eat red berries that’s why there perfect for colouring lipstick. Another weird thing is sheep grease, ‘(New York-based dermatologist Dr. Marina Peredo. "Applied directly to the skin, it can reduce roughness and cracking and continued use shows overall increased skin smoothness.")’


Next is perfumes, Perfumes are made from plants and plant extracts along with other ingredients but worse of all is whale vomit.. ‘ambergris, a musky compound that’s regurgitated by whales.’ It is used in the more fancier and expensive perfumes. The whales used for cosmetics are usually found in the major oceans, the question is are the whales killed just so we can have perfume? Other expensive and fancy perfumes have other repulsive ingredients which can be seen on this website: http://nymag.com/thecut/2013/11/lady-gaga-and-perfume-ingredients


We put moisturizers on thinking it will soften our skin and will help our skin improve, more than none of the time this is correct, but the ingredients to make that happen will shock you. One ingredient is snail slime, Oil from a shark's liver and lamb fat. Oil from sharks liver are used because ‘Squalene is a fat naturally found in our skin, which serves to protect and hydrate our skin barrier’ and the lamb fat is used because “It has soothing and hydrating properties, making it an ideal ingredient for skin care products,” says Zeichner. However none of these ingredients are bad for our skin, but are these animals dyeing or being tortured for us to wear makeup? Snails are very plenty full and live all over the world in many different conditions and climates; also will not extinct anytime soon, but is that a good reason to use them for our material needs? I will be discussing animal abuse for cosmetic reasons in the next blog.





http://media4.s-nbcnews.com/j/streams/2014/July/140717/1D274906385210-weird-beauty-ingredients-today.blocks_desktop_medium.jpg (credits)
http://www.today.com/style/weird-gross-beauty-product-ingredients-bird-poop-snail-slime-1D79939563 http://makeup.lovetoknow.com/How_Are_Cosmetics_Made
http://www.care2.com/greenliving/6-weird-ingredients-in-your-makeup.html?page=2
http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2013/06/11/article-2339419-1A4129B7000005DC-303_634x489.jpg







Monday 8 September 2014

Ingredients in your makeup (video)


Here is a video , whiich gives you a quick insight of what is in makeup, in the next blog I will be talking about ingredients in cosmetics, that comes from animals.. some weirder ingredients then you may think. credits:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RA61jh8HwPI

Friday 5 September 2014

Effects on your skin and shipping information


Now a day’s make up is almost an essential for some people, but do you know the real truth behind makeup? This first blog will be about the effect and the production of makeup, facts you probably didn't know before. The following blogs with be talking about animal testing and ingredients in makeup and cosmetics.

When you apply makeup, you are doing it to fix or change your appearance, right? Most of the effects of makeup aren't serve or long lasting otherwise they wouldn't be sold. However 80% of things placed on your skin is absorbed into your blood stream. Think about how long you have been wearing makeup for and imagine how much of it is being absorbed into your blood stream. Certain oils in many cosmetics can cause or worsen acne this is called acne cosmetica. A good way to avoid this is by having a morning and evening routine where you wash you face and get rid of all makeup using water and sometimes face washes that are clinically proved by doctors. Also reactions and rashes can appear a good way to avoid this is by wearing oil free and fragrance free makeups, also make sure make up is also clinically proven and use a moisturising lotion will also help prevent or cure skin irritations. Under pressure from the CSC, top cosmetics companies L’Oreal, Revlon, and Unilever recently said they have voluntarily removed phthalates DBP and DEHP from products sold in the US. Avon, Procter & Gamble, and Estée Lauder agreed to remove phthalates from their products in 2004. (link below for the website about removing phthalates) ‘Phthalates are a group of chemicals used to make plastics more flexible and harder to break. They are often called plasticizers. Some phthalates are used as solvents (dissolving agents) for other materials.’

The production of makeup varies for each brand, for instance even though Rimmel says 'get the london look' most of their products are not made in the UK. They are owned by a company called Cotys. Coty's manufacturing facilities are located in Ashford, UK; Granollers, Spain; Chartres, France; Monaco; Jiangsu Province, China; Sanford, North Carolina, Los Angeles, California, Phoenix, Arizona, USA. Imagine the money it would cost for the shipping of the goods to different countries, for makeup, although Rimmel have quite a few locations which mean that they don't need to ship as far as other cosmetic companies who don't have as many bases and production lines.



Links to information that I had found:


Thursday 4 September 2014

Introduction to my blog

My name is Michelle and in this blog, I will be talking about the truth behind makeup, how it effects your skin, the true ingredients in makeup and animal testing for cosmetics.