Lipstick is for people, not animals!

I really am a huge animal lover. I've been a proud dalmatian owner my entire life, am thrilled to watch animal documentaries (like Whale Wars, which I think is incredibly cool if not a bit scary), and want to be reincarnated as a dolphin.

Sadly, animals are often not treated with the respect and care they deserve. Even in today's modern, forward-thinking society, there are STILL cosmetic companies that torture animals by testing new products on them. This is a terrible practice that should definitely be banned (a la Legally Blond II) because animals do not react to most cosmetics the same way humans would. The ingredients that wouldn't hurt a human could cause a test subject puppy to develop infections, irritation, sickness, or even worse things. How sad is that?! And it's not like these animals are lining up voluntarily to have makeup applied to them. Oh, no! Cosmetics are forced upon these animals and because their natural instinct is to resist, this leads to pain and injury to the animals.

Think about it: you're a little, innocent rabbit and when some big researcher comes and sticks an eyeliner pencil right next to your eye, you're going to jerk your head away, right? Because that thing is scary and your natural instinct is to get the heck away! But no matter how much you squirm, that researcher is still going to test the eyeliner on you and that could lead to a pretty severe injury on your part.

I'm sorry to get so graphic on you, Beauty Brains, but I really don't think people understand the terrible conditions test animals are kept in and forced to live in. If you have any sympathy in your heart for helpless animals that have cosmetic products tested on them daily, you'll join me in supporting PETA's Caring Consumer Project which aims to eventually eliminate all animal testing.

You'll be happy to know that there ARE companies out there that do not test their products on animals. Thankfully, PETA publishes an annual list of these fantastic companies and it can be found here (as well, of course, as a list of companies that have continued to test products on animals).

Some stand-out cosmetic companies that are on PETA's No Testing list that also truly produce some of the best makeup and beauty items on the market are:

Almay
Bare Escentuals
Bath & Body Works
Bobbi Brown
The Body Shop
Bonne Bell
Bumble and Bumble
Burt's Bees
Caswell-Masey
Clarins of Paris
Clinique
Conair
Crabtree & Evelyn
Dermalogica
Dr. Bronner's
DuWop
Eco Tools
e.l.f. Cosmetics
Essie Cosmetics
Estee Lauder
got2b
Hard Candy
Hello Kitty
Josie Maran Cosmetics
Juice Beauty
Kiss My Face
La Mer
Liz Claiborne Cosmetics
L'Occitane
LUSH
MAC Cosmetics
Mary Kay
Merle Norman
Obsessive Compulsive Cosmetics
OPI
Origins Natural Resources
Orly International
Palmers
Paul Mitchell
Physician's Formula
Perscriptives
Queen Helene
Revlon
Skyn Iceland
Smashbox Cosmetics
Stila Cosmetics
Too Faced Cosmetics
Urban Decay
Victoria's Secret
Wet n' wild
Yes to Carrots

There are many more companies listed on PETA's website and perhaps, even more out there that are not currently on the list. I strongly urge you to look at this list and the one of companies that are still testing products on animals so that you can make the right choices when it comes to buying items that make you feel pretty.

Makeup doesn't have to be superficial. You can make the choice to shop ethically and feel gorgeous both inside and out.

This post is in honor of my gorgeous puppy, Xena.

She means the world to me and I can't imagine some sick researcher ever wanting to hurt a precious being like her. (Old picture! Notice my brown hair. Lol. Clearly, my love for Xena has not changed!!)

I LOVE YOU, XENA! And I pledge to stop supporting cosmetic companies that hurt innocent animals like her. Can you, reader, do the same? (All photos are my mom's!!)