As many of you know, I am a strict vegetarian and refuse to eat anything that comes from factory farming, and am militantly opposed to using products that use any animal testing or by-products. Quite a lot of you have asked me to compile a list of my favorite cruelty free companies that I personally use. Basically all of the following companies that I am going to list are affordable — I’m a poor college student, remember. I can’t afford expensive things at all.
- Yes to Carrots
YtC produces organic, cruelty-free skincare and hair products. Relatively inexpensive and available at many stores (including Wholefoods, Target and my local organic food co-op), in addition to YtC the same producer has other lines including Yes to Tomatoes, Yes to Blueberries, and Yes to Cucumbers. - T.N. Dickinson’s
I don’t know if this company is very readily available, but I know that in North Carolina (where I live), it is relatively easy to come by in most supermarkets and drug stores, and is quite inexpensive. The only thing I use from this company is their Pure Witch Hazel astringent. - JĀSÖN
This company has been around since the late 50’s, providing organic, cruelty-free, often vegan alternatives to mainstream hygiene products. As is with most purely organic companies, these products are more expensive that the mainstream alternatives, but they are not exuberantly priced and are often worth it. - Eyes, Lips, Face (ELF)
ELF is the only makeup brand that I know of that is sold in the United States and that is also readily available that is 100% vegan and cruelty-free. Not only are the products by this company ethical, but they are also excellent quality and extremely inexpensive. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a products of theirs cost more than $5, and they offer a wide array of makeup brushes, eye makeup and skincare. - New York Color
A brand similar to ELF, except quite a few of you probably remember how terrible NYC products used to be. They’ve changed their tune and actually have many reliable, good quality and inexpensive as fuck products. There has been some concern about NYC’s animal testing policy after the company was taken over by Coty Inc. I have contacted Coty Inc. myself and have received emails back stating that Coty Inc. does not condone, nor does it use animal-testing unless FDA regulations force them to, however they have been, along with several other companies, trying to develop alternative methods of testing product safety non-contingent upon animal cruelty.
So I made this post a while back. In it, I cite three reasons that highlight how PETA is basically a giant for-profit scam under the guise of an animal liberation/rights group. One of those three reasons was directed to the website “petakillsanimals,” which is (or at least, should be) well known to be published by the Center for Consumer Freedom — and this point has caused the most uproarious amount of stupid.
Yes, CCF is a lobbyist group that actually opposes work done by animal liberation and other environmental groups, but this however does not negate the fact that PETA does in fact kill animals. They just happen to, unfortunately, be the only group talking about it.
Most people get hung up on this fact alone, which is understandable, I’ll grant. But then a good portion of people go off on a tangent that goes along the lines of something like this:
“BUT ANIMAL SHELTERS START RUNNING AT A DEFICIT SO EUTHANIZING THE ANIMALS IS THE ONLY THING TO DO BLAH BLAH BLAH BLAH PETA IS AMAZING.”
This is possibly the stupidest rebuttal one could come up with. PETA, as you may know, stands for People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals. Maybe I’m just a crackpot over here, but somehow an organization that parades around proclaiming to ~do good~ for animals that turns around and uses euthanization seems to me more like yet another example of individuals buying into the concept of speciesism — and dare I say that euthanization is not in fact ethical.
PETA makes insane amounts of money through donations so that they can open up their animal shelters. Unfortunately, I don’t have raw numbers because they’re very tight lipped about it, but I am going to go ahead and speculate that PETA is raking in a pretty penny of a profit (look at the high quality of the disgustingly sexist ad campaigns they run and the number of celebrities that are [most likely monetary] supporters).
Economically speaking, of course PETA needs to make at least some profit in order to ensure that the cause can continue to swell and grow larger. However, instead of making massive profit (which I am more than willing to bet they are), they could and quite frankly should be building animal sanctuaries instead of glorified slaughterhouses.
Long story short: If you call yourself a proponent of animal rights, don’t fucking support PETA. They’re hypocrites and murderers, taking your money under false terms and spending it to pad their higher-ups’ wallets.
