Trading Animal Lives for Beauty

Via greenmatters.com

Have you ever wondered why vegan cosmetic products are more humane and preferred over others?

In this era, where humans take over everything disrespecting the boundaries of the wildlife and forests, it is quite essential to pause and think how these actions affect our animals who equally have rights and freedom to live a healthy life on this very own planet. The sole reason we use to manipulate these boundaries is the fact that animals are incapable of voicing their opinions, consent, fears and so on. We often conveniently forget how animals are also capable of feeling emotions, pain and much more.

Via sciencemag.org

In 2020, we have come a step closer to banning animal tested cosmetics in almost all markets except a few like China, though we hear they have passed bills regarding the same and the Act might come into effect later in 2021.

According to Cruelty Free International, “An animal test is any scientific experiment or test in which a live animal is forced to undergo something that is likely to cause them pain, suffering, distress or lasting harm.

Animals used in laboratories are deliberately harmed, not for their own good, and are usually killed at the end of the experiment.” The various types of experiments include skin and eye irritation tests, where chemicals are rubbed onto their shaved skin or dripped into the eyes of the restrained animals like rabbits without any pain relief. Another type of experiment is repeated force-feeding studies, where possibly toxic ingredients are forced down the throats of these animals so as to look for any signs of health hazards such as cancer or birth defects. Then comes the most hated experiment which is known as the lethal dose wherein they try to determine the dosage that is likely to cause death.

Most animals that are used in such experiments are usually bred in the laboratories itself, making it impossible for them to cope and survive if sent into the wild after such tests. Sometimes tissues or organs are removed for analysis after the treatment. Due to these ugly practices, at the end of a test, animals are killed either by asphyxiation, neck breaking or decapitation. Pain relief during or even after the tests are not provided in most of these cases. A very huge percentage of animals that are laboratory-bred are not recorded in the official statistics hence denying them their rights. Animals that are usually used in laboratories include rabbits, hamsters, mice, rats, guinea pigs among others.

Via peta.org

In the modern era, it is hardly relevant to be still practicing animal testing considering how much science and other technologies have evolved. In fact, the modern alternatives to animal testing are way more cost effective, accurate and less time-consuming. There are hundreds of non-animal tests that are being developed each day. A few of them include the usage of vitro methods (i.e. sophisticated tests using human cells and tissues), advanced computer-modelling techniques and the like. Moreover, animal tests can be misleading and inaccurate considering not all diseases that humans can contract are acquired by animals. The results obtained from such experiments may not be relevant to humans as they can underestimate or overestimate the real impact it can cause on human beings. Furthermore, there are thousands of tested ingredients that are labelled as safe and are still in use since a long time ago.

Therefore, companies and newly launching products or brands can always manage to create their product without any more animal cruelty by making use of these safe ingredients.

The effective ways by which we can curb such cruelty towards animals are by voicing our opinions for these poor creatures who cannot do it for themselves. We as consumers and producers should make a deliberate effort in showing our strong preference for vegan cosmetic products.

Here, the question might arise as to what is the difference between vegan and other animal testing banned products. Vegan products do not use animal products such as honey, dairy, guanine (derived from scales of fish), tallow (commonly known as animal fat) and so on. Another initiative is to press the government for renewal of legislations and policies regarding the use of animal products and testing.

Here at Aromablend, we manufacture 100% vegan, and cruelty free products. Visit www.aromablendbeauty.com for getting your hands on some of the best products that are natural and affordable.