Fact or Fake: "cruelty free" mink lashes

So I’m sure we’ve all seen lash companies or makeup companies selling and advertising what they insist are completely “cruelty free”  animal hair lashes. I’ve personally been contacted to affiliate with a lash company – no, I’m not gonna be name dropping here 😉. I’m in no way pretending to be famous here, we all know I’m not! But if I’m being contacted, god knows how many other bloggers are as well! 

In contact with a particular lash company, I was assured that their product was completely made from the seasonal sheddings of “free range” minks on a farm. Really? I wasn’t exactly born yesterday, and I can’t imagine a hundred minks running free on a farm to be carefully combed out for shedded fur. It just can’t be a reality. So I did a little research, and it’s absolutely not.  While these lashes are being touted as long wearing, natural looking and a good beauty investment as they can be reused, the fact remains that companies are simply not being transparent about the production process.

A quick google search later, and I found Mandy Carter writing for “The Dodo”. As she says in her informative piece, there is no such thing as a free-range mink farm. They are aggressive animals that cannot be allowed to “free range” with each other. It’s behaviorally impossible. The reality is they’re kept in tiny wire cages, deprived of natural habitat and basic quality of life. Mandy contacted several companies that purported to selling these so called “cruelty free” mink lashes, and was unable to get any response as to the realities of their true cruelty free status.

Gabriella from Glamby.weebly.com also wrote an excellent piece on the realities of fur farming, and I would encourage you to check her page out for more info as well.

Interestingly enough, many of these so called mink lashes are actually synthetic and not true mink. Due to the harvesting process, authentic mink lashes are typically extremely expensive and are mainly imported from China, according to eyelashlab.com. If a brand is selling them on the cheap online, they are probably lying twice over about the product.

The fact is that there is no way to actually verify these lashes are cruelty free at all, and in all likely hood came at enormous suffering to the animal. Fur farming conditions are horrific, the animals being caged tightly, terrified and eventually outright killed for their fur. There is no kindness here. There are so many better, kinder options to wear on your face than mink lashes. Some popular favorites I always see being recommended are by ELF, Urban Decay, and Ardell.  Check out the final link below to find Peta’s list of the best cruelty free lash options!

Don’t just take my word for it- check out these helpful sources:
https://www.thedodo.com/ethical-mink-fur-eyelashes-1117255634.html

http://glamby.weebly.com/blog/are-mink-lashes-animal-friendly

http://www.eyelashlab.com/index.php/product-information/2-uncategorised/26-truth-about-mink-lashes

http://www.peta.org/living/beauty/cruelty-free-false-lashes-guide/

THE CRUELTY FREE TAG!

Hey babes! Long time no see ;) It's been a while since I've been around- the semester got real rough, you guys. But I'm back, and hopefully headed into a regular posting schedule! What better way to break back into the blogging game by filling out the cruelty free tag! This was originally created by Jacquelyn Lovene and Hala Gabrealle on youtube, but I thought I'd give it a shot on here!

Something I think that needs to be raised in the cruelty free community is the tendency towards "policing" each other in a way- people make different choices in their journey towards going cruelty free and people jumping on them for being unsure of a companies testing status or something they had previously purchased is just unnecessary. You can educate without attacking. People make mistakes and people learn. Jumping all over them makes the community unfriendly and hostile. Instead of leaving a harsh comment, maybe send them a message with a link or two.

CRUELTY FREE Q&A TAG QUESTIONS:

- What was your first impression of cruelty free makeup?

Hmm, I don't know if I can truly remember my very first impression. But I remember when I first started wearing makeup, I never paid much attention to cruelty free or not. It wasn't even something that was in my universe- once I finally learned about it, it was just a sort of extra thing, it was never really a consideration either way.

- What is your opinion on parent companies?

People tend to get real fired up about parent companies, and I think it's something that people need to decide on for themselves and make an educated decision. Personally, I do buy from cruelty free companies that are owned by a parent company that isn't. I feel that by putting my money towards the sections under a larger parent company that are cruelty free will help show the parent company that it matters to consumers. It can also be extremely hard to find completely stand alone cruelty free as well, unless you're going completely natural or indie brands.


- What was the turning point in you going cruelty free?

Quite honestly, it was when I started doing my own research about animal testing and what it actually entails. The realities of the testing process is absolutely horrific, and in my opinion, unnecessary. I was pretty horrified at what I'd been blindly supporting in the past.

- What would you say to someone considering going cruelty free?

Makeup at the end of the day is something that is unnecessary to me.  Its a fun little luxury hobby, and something you're allowed to be as choosy and picky about as you want. I don't want my eyeliner to be a product of suffering of another living being.  I would strongly encourage people to do some research for themselves and educate themselves on what the realities of testing are.

- What are your best cruelty free dupes?

I don't have much dupe wise, but I've found a lot of success finding cruelty free brands and stickign with them. My current go to's are Wet N Wild for face products, ELF for lip products and Urban Decay for eye stuff, as I've been finding they work really well with my skin chemistry!

- What items have you not found a cruelty free dupe for yet?

My hardest items so far have been body products. Perfume, hair products, skincare. I would absolutely love recommendations if anyone has any?

- What's your favorite cruelty free brand? Drugstore & High end?

Drugstore wise, I've been really loving ELF, WET N WILD, and Essence. I don't really branch into "high end", but some of the more expensive brands I've been enjoying have been Urban Decay, Becca and Anastasia Beverly Hills!

- Which brands and/or items do you most wish were cruelty free?

I so very much wish MAC would return to cruelty free! I love their lip products so much!

- What advice do you have for the temptation to buy non cruelty free products?

The biggest thing for me is to recognize that it's just stuff. I'm not going to die without a lipstick. It's okay to be tempted, of course. It happens! Another thing I find is important to acknowledge is that people aren't perfect. You might make mistakes! I know I've done it on accident- it can be hard to find a companies status as many are switching back and forth all the time. Often you might find conflicting blog sources. If you mess up, it's not the end of the world, it's just a learning experience.

- What do you do with your non cruelty free products? Declutter? Use up?

For the things that were older or I didn't care for, I passed on or just plan threw out. Other things I've been slowly trying to work through. In my mind, the money's already spent, I might as well finish the product off!

- Do you think animal testing will end one day?

I think it ultimately will. I sure hope so at least!