Dear beauty bloggers,
I would like to start this letter off by saying, thank you, beauty bloggers. You got me through my awkward, self-hating teenage years. Who knows how my face would’ve looked without your expertise on make-up, particularly the dreaded winged liquid liner. Thanks to you, fourteen-year-old me finally gained some self-confidence. Not only that, but her creativity began to flourish- my old school Finepix point and shoot camera was full of selfies of me experimenting with different make-up looks. In many ways, you have provided many teenage girls with a platform to help them get to grips with this image-obsessed world.
And yet, when your images and videos appear on my Instagram and YouTube feeds, I get a weird feeling. Recently, I’ve felt a surge of disappointment in you, despite being a huge fan for many years. I can only blame my lifestyle shift to veganism- my mind has been opened to shopping with ethical awareness. What on earth does veganism have to do with beauty blogging? I hear you ask… Well, many assume being a vegan is about eating no animal derived products, but this extends to lifestyle too. This means no clothing or drinks made from animal products, and no beauty products tested on animals. After this lifestyle shift, it suddenly clicked for me, that many popular beauty bloggers are promoting companies that profit from the torture and murder of animals, gaining a not-to-shabby pay out themselves.
Its pretty undeniable that animal testing is cruel and inhumane. If the uncomfortable living conditions, lacking both freedom and comfort aren’t enough to break your heart, maybe the force feeding or food and water deprivation will give you the feels. Testing for cosmetics is particularly brutal, such as the Draize eye test, in which animals’ eyes are forced open for days, whilst products are left on their eyes to assess the irritation that they cause.
I know, you’re probably thinking about how cosmetic animal testing and the importation of products tested on animals has been illegal in Europe since 2013. A great milestone for animal rights, meaning that we don’t have to shop so consciously anymore, right? Well indeed, it was a wonderful legal move, but it hasn’t hit the core of the problem. Many cosmetics brands based in the UK are international brands, meaning that they are still selling animal- tested products in countries where testing is legal. And, even worse, if a company is selling in China, which has a huge beauty market, they are required to test the product on animals before sale. Similarly, many cosmetics brands have ‘mother’ companies, such a Unilever, which owns brands that test on animals elsewhere. So, although the consumer may believe that they are shopping ethically, their money is still going towards the torturous companies. Oh, and let’s not forget about Brexit- once the UK leaves the EU, the animal testing law will no longer be applicable.
What I find so damn heart breaking is that you are still promoting these brands for financial gain, at the expense of cruelty to animals. I see many of you have pets, and are supposed ‘animal lovers’, yet you show little consideration for animals if it means profit for you. You are inavertedly promoting animal abuse for your own financial gain. Today, in 2018, you have a huge public outreach and therefore a powerful voice. The marketing of many major brands relies heavily on your platform. You have the power to make a big impact on the world, both good and bad.
Of course, the entire responsibility for this issue isn’t solely yours, and I wonder where the responsibility truly lies. The companies? The cosmetics factories and scientists? Legislation? I am unsure. What do I know is that I follow your lives on the daily alongside many others, and that there is a great amount of changes that you can make by simply promoting cruelty-free brands.
I plea for you to rethink your work. Don’t take a free holiday, meal out or gift bag from companies that cause pain to animals. Don’t insta story an unboxing of cosmetics that profit from the torture of others. Increase your standards and promote cruelty-free brands. You have the potential to make a meaningful difference to this world. So please, stop.
Useful links to help you live cruelty free:
List of cruelty free brands UK
List of cruelty free brands global
List of brands that test on animals
More info on animal testing
You can find a list of my favourite vegan beauty products here
fantastic post!! well done 🙂