Organic and Cruelty Free
Recently, I've been getting into the cruelty free and organic products for facial washes and lotions. For recent classes, I did my reports on animal cruelty and although I haven't researched much about animal testing with cosmetic/beauty products, I know in the back of my mind that it exists. During the last few weeks of the semester while doing research for my last speech on the animal exploitation of pet stores, I came across the Draize Test that scientists use on little white bunnies and it's truly sickening. They basically strap the bunnies heads into a brace/lock, force their eyes open, and drop toxic substances into their eyes, in many cases causing them to go blind, simply to test if some lotion or eye makeup will harm OUR eyes.
Imagine if you were one of those bunnies and how horrible it would be. You don't have a choice. Of course with animals, people don't give a shit.
I'm not saying that I'm a true vegan nor am I saying that I'm some kind of saint because I don't use products tested on animals; I've probably purchased countless products that have tested on animals in the past but I am trying NOW to stop supporting animal testing by NOT buying products that test on animals and taking the time and effort to SEEK OUT cruelty free and organic products. With all the advanced technology we have today, I don't see why humans can't stop their barbaric and cruel ways against animals. We're truly the stupidest, foulest, and most ignorant beings on this Earth because we do idiotic things like pollute it, fight and kill each other, and most of all, act cruel not only to our own kind, but also to other creatures just because we can and we have power so we abuse it by exploiting them.
Enough of my ranting. Sorry, I can get really carried away when it comes to cruelty to animals and I am so ashamed of myself for all these years of ignorance and basically turning a blind eye to what kind of hell is going on behind pretty packaging and convenience.
*****Before I begin, if you want to find out which companies test on animals and which don't, you can easily find them by googling or even faster, here's a link to the Peta.org website where they have conveniently marked hundreds of companies who do or do not test on animals:
http://www.peta.org/living/beauty-and-personal-care/companies/default.aspx
I've found another link to AnimalRightsKorea.org aka KARA for some Korean products too (since I also love Korean makeup and skin care products):
http://animalrightskorea.org/bad-science/korean-cruelty-free-cosmetics.html
Okay, now lets start with the reviews~! :D
SOAP/FACIAL CLEANSER/SHAVING CREAM
For this picture above, please try to ignore the St Ives and Aveeno in the middle and focus on the EOS and Yes to Tomatoes. I was still an ignorant idiot when I bought the two middle products which aren't so great anyway.
I don't want to repeat this all the time so I say now that all the products I review are paraben and cruelty free.
Yes to Tomatoes Clear Skin daily clarifying cleanser works great for my face. The smell at first, takes a little time to get used to but I eventually grew to like it. The smell is just like sweet tomatoes! It works very well for removing dirt and makeup on the face (excluding waterproof makeup and mascara of course).
The EOS evolution of smooth shave cream is okay but honestly not all that great. I have a drain net in the tub and the EOS shave cream sort of clogs it. I don't know if it's the oils mixed in with the product but it's a little annoying to have to run the water into the drain to clear it. It also doesn't really last too long after you put it on your arm or leg. You have to shave it right away or the effectiveness wears off fast.
This is Dead Sea Mineral Salt Soap. I think it works great and smells really nice but like the EOS shave cream, it also has a tendency to clog the drain net. -__-
My skin does feel rejuvinated after I use this though. It's like the salt in the soap takes out all the impurities from my skin through a process that I like to call osmosis. Sort of like how you get wrinkly after swimming for a long time in the ocean. The salty water is more concentrated than the inside of your cells so the water in your cells move toward the higher concentration of the salty water, probably taking a lot of toxins out with it.
A small collection. These soap bars were on sale for a good price so mom bought me a bunch. Luv ya mom! ^o^
The Yes to Carrots company has a lot of different names for their products depending on the main fruit or vegetable used. This particular one is called Yes to Blueberries and it's specialty is anti-aging. These two are the age refresh cleanser and eye firming treatment.
I was a bit disappointed with the Yes to Blueberries age refresh cleanser, mostly because it doesn't take off even the simplest of makeup: foundation. I don't expect facial cleansers to take off eye makeup because I know that eye makeup can be very stubborn as it's usually waterproof. But if the facial cleanser can't even take off foundation, I'm going to have a problem with it.
The eye firming treatment has this really strong spicy kind of smell, like the kind of spicy you smell in a flower. I don't personally care for that smell because it's fairly strong but I think it does prove to be rather effective in firming the delicate skin around the eye area.
FACE LOTION/BODY LOTION
Alas! More 'Yes To' products!
The Yes to Tomatoes clear skin moisturizer is very nice. It has a pleasant scent and it goes smoothly onto the skin. It's a facial moisturizer and it holds in moisture fairly well, I would say, above average. I just feel really healthy putting this stuff on my face because I know tomatoes have tons of antioxidants and this lotion is infused with tomato extracts.
Yes To Cucumbers is another spin off line and it focuses on soothing, refreshing, and cooling effects for the skin. I got the Yes To Cucumbers soothing eye gel and although it definitely cools the under eyes, it leaves this gel like film on the skin that peels over time. It's a little gross looking since it's like peeling skin except for the fact that it's peeling gel. Aside from that little fact, it probably wouldn't be a problem if you're simply putting this on before going to bed or taking a nap. Maybe if you're just doing a little spa at home, the gel film that this product leaves under your eyes shouldn't be an issue as you can just rinse it off. ;)
About a month ago, I started using the Alba sea plus renewal cream. After trying a good couple Alba products, I started to notice the trend of thick lotion. So, like most Alba products, it stays true to its nature and this facial moisturizer is rather thick in consistency. But it's good in a sense because a little goes a long way. The only thing that irks me is that it takes a bit of effort to blend into the skin because it's a thicker lotion. Therefore, I have to pull more on the skin on my face by rubbing this lotion in more and I feel like it's stretching out my skin, possibly causing premature wrinkling. In the end, I think I'll stay away from Alba products that's for the face and instead, buy hand lotion or body butter from them.
I haven't used the Avalon Organics ultimate moisture cream yet but I hope it's not as thick as the Alba face lotion...
Here's an Alba body cream/body butter. It works great and smells like coconut, yum! ^^
FACE MASKS
So far, aside from trying the My Beauty Diary face masks (sorry, not sure if those are cruelty free but I do know that they have parabens that I like to avoid) that my friend had gave to me, the Skin Food Rice Mask and the Laneige Strawberry Yogurt Mask are facial masks that you rub onto your face and let sit for about 15-20 minutes.
The Skin Food Rice mask is cruelty free as stated by the Korean website KARA. It smells amazingly good, similar to rice pudding, and it has tiny exfoliating beads in the mixture. My skin always feels softer and brighter after using this face mask.
The Laneige Strawberry Yogurt mask also smells amazing and yummy but I'm not sure if Laneige is cruelty free or not. Laneige is not listed on the KARA website and Peta.org doesn't tell me anything as they haven't branched out to doing background checks on Asian companies. I'm yet again ashamed to say that I wasn't thinking much before buying this product and didn't do my research to see if it was tested on animals or not.
I shall try harder in future's time. u.u
Imagine if you were one of those bunnies and how horrible it would be. You don't have a choice. Of course with animals, people don't give a shit.
I'm not saying that I'm a true vegan nor am I saying that I'm some kind of saint because I don't use products tested on animals; I've probably purchased countless products that have tested on animals in the past but I am trying NOW to stop supporting animal testing by NOT buying products that test on animals and taking the time and effort to SEEK OUT cruelty free and organic products. With all the advanced technology we have today, I don't see why humans can't stop their barbaric and cruel ways against animals. We're truly the stupidest, foulest, and most ignorant beings on this Earth because we do idiotic things like pollute it, fight and kill each other, and most of all, act cruel not only to our own kind, but also to other creatures just because we can and we have power so we abuse it by exploiting them.
Enough of my ranting. Sorry, I can get really carried away when it comes to cruelty to animals and I am so ashamed of myself for all these years of ignorance and basically turning a blind eye to what kind of hell is going on behind pretty packaging and convenience.
*****Before I begin, if you want to find out which companies test on animals and which don't, you can easily find them by googling or even faster, here's a link to the Peta.org website where they have conveniently marked hundreds of companies who do or do not test on animals:
http://www.peta.org/living/beauty-and-personal-care/companies/default.aspx
I've found another link to AnimalRightsKorea.org aka KARA for some Korean products too (since I also love Korean makeup and skin care products):
http://animalrightskorea.org/bad-science/korean-cruelty-free-cosmetics.html
Okay, now lets start with the reviews~! :D
SOAP/FACIAL CLEANSER/SHAVING CREAM
For this picture above, please try to ignore the St Ives and Aveeno in the middle and focus on the EOS and Yes to Tomatoes. I was still an ignorant idiot when I bought the two middle products which aren't so great anyway.I don't want to repeat this all the time so I say now that all the products I review are paraben and cruelty free.
Yes to Tomatoes Clear Skin daily clarifying cleanser works great for my face. The smell at first, takes a little time to get used to but I eventually grew to like it. The smell is just like sweet tomatoes! It works very well for removing dirt and makeup on the face (excluding waterproof makeup and mascara of course).
The EOS evolution of smooth shave cream is okay but honestly not all that great. I have a drain net in the tub and the EOS shave cream sort of clogs it. I don't know if it's the oils mixed in with the product but it's a little annoying to have to run the water into the drain to clear it. It also doesn't really last too long after you put it on your arm or leg. You have to shave it right away or the effectiveness wears off fast.
This is Dead Sea Mineral Salt Soap. I think it works great and smells really nice but like the EOS shave cream, it also has a tendency to clog the drain net. -__-My skin does feel rejuvinated after I use this though. It's like the salt in the soap takes out all the impurities from my skin through a process that I like to call osmosis. Sort of like how you get wrinkly after swimming for a long time in the ocean. The salty water is more concentrated than the inside of your cells so the water in your cells move toward the higher concentration of the salty water, probably taking a lot of toxins out with it.
A small collection. These soap bars were on sale for a good price so mom bought me a bunch. Luv ya mom! ^o^
The Yes to Carrots company has a lot of different names for their products depending on the main fruit or vegetable used. This particular one is called Yes to Blueberries and it's specialty is anti-aging. These two are the age refresh cleanser and eye firming treatment.I was a bit disappointed with the Yes to Blueberries age refresh cleanser, mostly because it doesn't take off even the simplest of makeup: foundation. I don't expect facial cleansers to take off eye makeup because I know that eye makeup can be very stubborn as it's usually waterproof. But if the facial cleanser can't even take off foundation, I'm going to have a problem with it.
The eye firming treatment has this really strong spicy kind of smell, like the kind of spicy you smell in a flower. I don't personally care for that smell because it's fairly strong but I think it does prove to be rather effective in firming the delicate skin around the eye area.
FACE LOTION/BODY LOTION
Alas! More 'Yes To' products!The Yes to Tomatoes clear skin moisturizer is very nice. It has a pleasant scent and it goes smoothly onto the skin. It's a facial moisturizer and it holds in moisture fairly well, I would say, above average. I just feel really healthy putting this stuff on my face because I know tomatoes have tons of antioxidants and this lotion is infused with tomato extracts.
Yes To Cucumbers is another spin off line and it focuses on soothing, refreshing, and cooling effects for the skin. I got the Yes To Cucumbers soothing eye gel and although it definitely cools the under eyes, it leaves this gel like film on the skin that peels over time. It's a little gross looking since it's like peeling skin except for the fact that it's peeling gel. Aside from that little fact, it probably wouldn't be a problem if you're simply putting this on before going to bed or taking a nap. Maybe if you're just doing a little spa at home, the gel film that this product leaves under your eyes shouldn't be an issue as you can just rinse it off. ;)
About a month ago, I started using the Alba sea plus renewal cream. After trying a good couple Alba products, I started to notice the trend of thick lotion. So, like most Alba products, it stays true to its nature and this facial moisturizer is rather thick in consistency. But it's good in a sense because a little goes a long way. The only thing that irks me is that it takes a bit of effort to blend into the skin because it's a thicker lotion. Therefore, I have to pull more on the skin on my face by rubbing this lotion in more and I feel like it's stretching out my skin, possibly causing premature wrinkling. In the end, I think I'll stay away from Alba products that's for the face and instead, buy hand lotion or body butter from them.I haven't used the Avalon Organics ultimate moisture cream yet but I hope it's not as thick as the Alba face lotion...
Here's an Alba body cream/body butter. It works great and smells like coconut, yum! ^^FACE MASKS
So far, aside from trying the My Beauty Diary face masks (sorry, not sure if those are cruelty free but I do know that they have parabens that I like to avoid) that my friend had gave to me, the Skin Food Rice Mask and the Laneige Strawberry Yogurt Mask are facial masks that you rub onto your face and let sit for about 15-20 minutes.The Skin Food Rice mask is cruelty free as stated by the Korean website KARA. It smells amazingly good, similar to rice pudding, and it has tiny exfoliating beads in the mixture. My skin always feels softer and brighter after using this face mask.
The Laneige Strawberry Yogurt mask also smells amazing and yummy but I'm not sure if Laneige is cruelty free or not. Laneige is not listed on the KARA website and Peta.org doesn't tell me anything as they haven't branched out to doing background checks on Asian companies. I'm yet again ashamed to say that I wasn't thinking much before buying this product and didn't do my research to see if it was tested on animals or not.
I shall try harder in future's time. u.u
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