Is Sleek Makeup Tested on Animals?

            I am a Youtube person.  I honestly learned everything about makeup by watching famous makeup artists and amazing everyday gurus on Youtube.  Somehow I follow an unproportionally high number of British makeup gurus so, although I’ve never bought makeup in the UK, I know what they have.  Sleek is one of these brands I’ve noticed in numerous videos so I sent them an email.

April 26, 2013
“I have some inquiries about Sleek's animal testing policies.  I understand the EU ban on animal testing recently went into effect, but I would appreciate if you would still answer these individual questions for all of Sleek's products, not only those produced/sold in the EU.

Does Sleek test ingredients and/or finished products on animals or have a third party do so on its behalf?  Does Sleek direct sell to China or any other place which requires animal testing of products?  Also, are any of Sleek's products free of animal products and suitable for vegans?
Thank you in advance”

April 26, 2013
“Thankyou for your interest in Sleek Makeup.

We do no currently test ingredients or finished products on animals.
We do not test ingredients or products on animals through a 3rd party
Our manufacturers do not test ingredients or products on animals.
We are not owned or affiliated with any companies that test products or ingredients on animals.
We do not currently sell our products in China and have no future plans until the laws there change on animal testing.
A list of our vegan products is attached.”

            As far as this list of vegan products is concerned, you can see it is very well organized.  When I compared this list to Sleek’s website there seem to be more items online.  Some of this has to do with repackaging certain products in palettes but other than that I’m not sure.

I’m happy and satisfied with this complete and clear response I received from Sleek.  This is the kind of prepared, comprehensive, and competent response we should be receiving from forthright and professional companies.  While I wish they had a greater variety of vegan products, I’m happy to know there is a drugstore/high street brand that I feel comfortable purchasing. 

I will purchase from Sleek’s selection of vegan products.

Vegan Food in Paris, London, and Dublin

I’ve spent the past few months traveling much more than usual.  Therefore, I’ve been out eating awesome food and not emailing companies about their animal testing policies.  It only makes sense that I post a blog on vegan food and not my usual shtick.   I have six places that I will be covering split between two posts.  This post will cover vegan food in Paris, London, and Dublin while the previous post covered Los Angeles, Seattle, and Israel [link].

Paris

This was my first time in Paris as a vegan.  I thought Paris would not be the best place for vegan food, but I was wrong.  I went to Loving Hut and had a nice bowl of pho and the pictured seitan in orange sauce.  East Side Burgers has the best vegan burger I’ve had to date.  I have no photos because I ate it so quickly.  This is a vegetarian restaurant but almost all of their burgers are vegan and can be made with vegan cheese.  I also got this awesome apple tartlette with a crème brûlée-ish sugar top.

MOB is also another burger restaurant which I believe is all vegan.  I had their signature burger, and while I was eating I wasn’t too into it.  It was very plain with bun, patty, sauce, and some onions (I believe).  However, I’ve been thinking of it since and would probably try it again if I were around.  I also got this amazing chocolate cheesecake.

London

London has two Loving Huts. Yes, two both off the Northern Line.  I personally like the one farther from central London, but they are both good.  Maybe buffets are big in London (?) because both offered a buffet for a really reasonable price with many good options.  They were also selling these cute illustrations of vegan sources of vitamins and vegan holistic remedies that I wish I had picked up.

Ms. Cupcake was pretty good, if I do say so.  My first time there I got the Pecan Madness cupcake and enjoyed it.   However there was a lot of frosting and it was very sweet.  The second go around I got this amazing chocolate chip cookie sandwich.  Yum!

I ended up spending a lot of time around Trafalgar Square during this trip and there was a great grocery nearby (had co-op something in its name).  I could be in and out in about 3 minutes as they have a sort of express hot food station set up already.  I was particularly fond of their potato wedge fries for a warm option and a bigger package of cut up fruit.

Dublin

Dublin was the last stop on my whirlwind Fall/Winter travel extravaganza.  By this point I had picked up some weird congested cold thing from an Australian girl.  I needed to take things a bit easier, so my first night in Dublin I headed out for the closest vegan restaurant called Govinda’s.  The food was so tasty, the portions so big, the prices so reasonable, and the people so nice that I ate every other meal there. 

If you go, get the small plate.  Trust me they will pile it up with all the food you ask for.  They make five new entrees a day plus rice and soup.  The vegan items are marked, but I simply walked in and asked for a bit of all the vegan food.  Again, I ate so quickly that when I remembered to take a photo I had demolished most of it.

Is elf (Eyes Lips Face) Cruelty Free?

Most people have heard of elf cosmetics or Eyes Lips Face because it is one of the most inexpensive cosmetics brands on the market.  I have purchased quite a few of their products in the past even before going cruelty free.  Honestly, I was disappointed with most of their products although the few I do like, I really like.  Please leave a comment if anyone is interested in a post on the elf products I enjoy.

I’ve emailed elf at least twice before without receiving a response which, to say the least, was annoying.  I was happy to finally get a reply with my last email since I was chiefly concerned about whether their ingredients were vegan or not.  On elf’s FAQ page [link], seen in the image below, they state all their ingredients are vegan, but then only discuss beeswax and lanolin.  I wanted to confirm that all their ingredients were vegan not only their lanolin and beeswax replacers.  Of course, their animal testing statement was also very narrow so I wanted to confirm they met all of my cruelty free requirements.

April 26, 2012
“I have emailed elf about its animal testing policies multiple times, but have yet to get a response. Can you please let me know if elf animal tests ingredients and/or finished products at any stage of development or has a third party do so on its behalf? Does elf sell in China or any other country which requires animal testing? Also, many elf products contain ingredients which can possibly be plant based or animal based. Are any elf products free of animal ingredients and therefore suitable for vegans? Thank you”

April 26, 2013
“Thank you for your support and interest in e.l.f. cosmetics. At e.l.f. Cosmetics, we believe that beauty comes from within all of us. Our line of luxurious cosmetics captures great looking skin with gorgeous colors and quality ingredients. Our products are designed to let your inner beauty shine through.

We are proud to say that we do not test on animals or endorse such practices. We currently support PETA and are partners with PETA in the Caring Consumer Project. All of our brushes in our essential line are made from cut natural horse hair and have genuine wood handles. Our brushes in our studio line are vegan friendly and made of anti-bacterial, synthetic Taklon hair. You can find all e.l.f. ingredients indicated on the packaging of our products as well as on our website. All ingredients used in e.l.f. cosmetics are vegan friendly, safe and meet F.D.A requirements. Ingredients are listed on our website as well as on the packaging of our products.

Our vision is to empower and educate women to play in innovation without sacrificing their budget and feel confident in herself and the products she's using. We offer a complete line of makeup and professional tools-all at an extreme value price! To learn more please visit eyeslipsface.com.”

May 20, 2013
“Thank you for answering my original email but can you please answer these three questions clearly.  Does elf or a third party test ingredients?  Does elf or a third party test elf's finished products?  Does elf sell in China or any other country which requires animal testing of products? Thank you!”

May 21, 2013
“We manufacture our products in our own factories. We test our own ingredients and products. We do not sell our products in China, although we do manufacture them there. Please feel free to contact us with any other questions or concerns.”

I was happy to learn that all of elf’s cosmetic ingredients are vegan friendly.  However, I was a little surprised that they sell horse hair brushes.  As I discussed in my Real Techniques post [here], synthetic Taklon brushes have numerous advantages over natural hair brushes.  As always, I don’t believe PETA’s animal testing standards are up to par, so elf’s association with them is not a plus to me.

The only element of their response that strikes me as controversial is their relationship with China.  They do not sell in China and therefore their products are not subject to Chinese government animal testing.  However, they manufacture their products in China making their products extremely inexpensive and presumably bolstering the Chinese economy.  This distinction is another one of the personal comfort decisions to be made when deciding what you consider cruelty free.  At the moment, I am personally fine with this as I do not purchase much or often from elf.

I will continue purchasing elf’s products.

I'm Moving to London!

I will be moving to London to earn a MA degree this year!  To prepare, I’ve been doing some research and will have some upcoming posts that discuss cruelty free standards in the UK and correspondence with brands there about their cruelty free status. 

The brands I have been researching sell mainly inexpensive makeup in case I ever need/want to pick up something new.  Since I already order the majority of my hygiene and household cruelty free products online to save money, I’m not too nervous about finding alternatives for these.  I checked with Vitacost, and they do ship to the UK.  Although some products can not be shipped into the country, I’m assuming this has to do with possibly harmful ingredients which wouldn’t be in my products anyways.

I’ve gotten some requests for information on foreign (to me) cruelty free brands before, so I figured it wouldn’t hurt to post this info.  As always, I recommend you email companies yourself using my guide here if there are brands specific to your area.

Stay tuned for UK-centric posts!

Does Tarte Test on Animals?

So Tarte… I’ve never actually purchased any of their products, but I was interested in picking up their vegan BB cream after swatching Too Faced’s orangey one that I had to pass on buying. While Tarte is not a 100% vegan company, they do have a section on their website for their vegan products.  Although it is not an extensive collection, it is enough to point out. So BB cream lust led to this email which I assumed would come back with a clean bill of health.  However, I became increasingly incredulous as I wrote this post.

April 11, 2013

“Could you please provide some more information about Tarte's animal testing policy.  Does Tarte animal test products or contract a third party to animal test on their behalf?  Does Tarte sell to China or any other country which requires animal testing of beauty products?  Is Tarte owned by a parent company?  Are any of Tarte's products free of animal ingredients and suitable for vegans?
Thank you for your help”

April 12, 2013

“Thank you for contacting tarte cosmetics customer service. tarte cosmetics is not owned by a parent company. We are a cruelty free brand recognized by PETA that does not support animal testing or work with companies that do. Also, our products are not sold in China. The only vegan products we offer are located on the vegan friendly cosmetics page offered on tarte.com. These products are free of beeswax, stearic acid, and carmine, this page will also be updated this summer. Please email me if you have any other questions. Thank you!”

Tarte did not respond to whether their ingredients or finished products were tested, instead simply stating that they are on PETA’s list which I find to be a bad judge of cruelty free status.  To get on this list a company must state that they do not test ingredients or finished products nor have a third party test on their behalf.  However there is no independent audit or proof of these claims as with Leaping Bunny certification.

I emailed back to get clarification:

April 25, 2013
“Thank you for responding to my original animal testing questions.  However, I find being on PETA's cruelty free list rather inadequate.  Does Tarte animal test ingredient and/or finished products or contract them out to a third party?  I would appreciate if you could clearly answer all parts of this question.  I recommend that Tarte look into getting free Leaping Bunny certification.”

April 26, 2013
“Tarte does not test any ingredients or finished products on animals nor do our suppliers or manufacturers. Please email me if you have any other questions. Thank you.”

Whenever I have encountered this type of response in the past, trouble usually follows or claims are quickly proven false.  Even in my follow up email they did not answer my question about contracting out to a third party to animal test on their behalf.  Why would a company that offers a vegan selection of items not have their animal testing policy response in order?  To me, the whole response and approach is purposely misleading.

While I obviously have no proof that Tarte is animal testing, the parallels between their incomplete responses and those of companies who have recently decided to revert to testing are too similar for me.  I very clearly asked questions, and to disregard them shows, at minimum, a lack of respect for consumers.  

I will not be purchasing anything from Tarte.

Vegan Food in LA, Seattle, and Israel

Vegans sharing a (great) meal at a "Bedouin camp" in the Negev

I’ve spent the past few months traveling much more than usual.  Therefore, I’ve been out eating awesome food and not emailing companies about their animal testing policies.  It only makes sense that I post a blog on vegan food and not my usual shtick.   I have six places that I will be covering split between two posts.  This post will cover vegan food in Los Angeles, Seattle, and Israel, and the next will cover Paris, London, and Dublin.

Los Angeles

My favorite place in the city is Vegan Glory, an Asian restaurant in a small strip mall.  As I was eating a lot of regulars came in, which is the mark of a great place.  The prices were great as well.  I got a combo with coconut vegetable soup and seitan stir fry.

Another day I visited Cruzer Pizza with my travel companions.  The pizza wasn’t bad it just wasn’t great to me.  We chose our own toppings so maybe a store designed pizza would have been better.  However, my travel companions absolutely loved the food and have gone on and on about it.

Seattle

The number one vegan restaurant in the country, forget just Seattle, for vegan comfort food is the Wayward Vegan Café.  The Club Sandwich tasted absolutely amazing, was large enough for two meals, and had a tiny price tag.  To help keep prices down you bus your own table, but I’m fine with that.  My travel companions also highly approved of their crunchwrap supreme, quesadilla, and fried mushrooms.

Across the street from the Wayward Café is Vegan Haven, a small charity store that sells only vegan, cruelty free products.  I picked up these Go Max Go brand candy bars (which do contain palm oil) and my mom got a beautiful wallet there.  They truly sell everything from jewelry to dog food  to tampons to food.

There is also a Loving Hut location in Seattle which is pretty good.  The building is in a weird location in China town, but their menu offered some choices that I enjoy in general.  My group ordered spring rolls, hot and sour soup, and Sesame Cha Cha (wheat gluten).

Israel

I figured I’d eat a lot of falafel in Israel even though I don’t particularly like falafel.  However, the falafel in Israel is amazing.  They fill it up with all kinds of vegan awesomeness (hummus, tahini, spicy sauce, lettuce, eggplant, cucumber, tomato, etc.) and french fries!  The pita is the best pita I’ve ever had and has ruined all American pita for me.  Don’t get me started on laffa.  I miss laffa.

However, Israel is also a country of many salads.  I eat salad. I like salad, but that is not all I want to eat for a month except for three trips to a falafel stand.  Israelis say it must be so easy to be vegan in Israel, but they are also the people who think vegans only eat salad.  The only Israeli who understood my food longings was the vegetarian.  He took me to Village Green, a vegetarian restaurant in Jerusalem with clearly marked vegan food but no clearly marked prices.

Boff-lote: these babies were amazing, and yes, that was my best attempt at transliteration.  They’re wafers with a chocolate filling.  No lie- I went through three packs of these to even out my salad consumption.  Also, Aroma, the Israeli Starbucks, had a lot of vegan options including this apple strudel.

Is Obsessive Compulsive Cosmetics Cruelty Free?

I’ve been interested in purchasing from OCC or Obsessive Compulsive Cosmetics for a while because of their amazing lip tars.  I am a lipstick/lip color person when it comes to makeup.  OCC not only has an awe inspiring range of opaque colors but equally amazing reviews.  My communication with OCC occurred in November of 2012, but to my knowledge there have no been no changes to their animal testing policies or ownership since then.

While I usually include email correspondence in my posts while discussing a company’s cruelty free status, OCC stated that it is prohibited to copy or disseminate their emails. Instead I will say that from my correspondence with them, they meet my standards of a cruelty free company.  OCC does not animal test nor contract out animal testing on their products.  OCC does not sell in China or any other countries with mandatory animal testing policies.  In addition, this is a 100% vegan product company.

As far as I can tell, OCC is still owned by its founder, David Klasfeld [Link].  The FAQ section of their website states that they are a 100% vegan company not only to raise the bar on what is considered cruelty free, but also, because animal ingredients are the most common allergens and skin irritators.  Given the back and forth of a lot of companies recently, this practical reasoning for being vegan is reassuring [Link].

I’m looking forward to purchasing some of OCC’s amazing lip tars in the future!