Bleeding for Beauty: The Traumatic Truth Behind Animal Testing
Being cruelty-free is one of the many things we boast about at Sacred Child Beauty. We believe nobody, human or animal, should suffer at the hands of our cosmetics. Animal testing is an outdated practice that kills more than 500,000 animals per year. Although there are many alternatives, some companies prefer the convenience of using animals to experiment with cosmetics.
What Happens During Animal Testing?
Animal testing is a practice that involves forcefully applying drugs and chemicals to an animal’s skin and eyes in order to see the reaction that might take place. For practical reasons, the most common animals used in testing are rabbits, mice, rats, and guinea pigs. They are small creatures with very short life cycles that are easy to maintain and easily bred…which means more test subjects and faster results. However, no animal is seemingly off limits. Cats, dogs, fish and pigs are also being used to facilitate experiments.
These helpless creatures are forced to live in a lab, deprived of their natural lifestyle and ability to act on instincts. When testing occurs, the animals are put in restraints to keep them from pawing at their eyes or skin which can interfere with the accuracy of the test. Chemicals are rubbed into their eyes and skin, or forcefully injected into their throats. There is no pain relief administered and many animals suffer with swelling, blindness, and bleeding before they are killed or reused for other experiments.
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Alternatives to Animal Testing
Not only is animal testing cruel, it is also highly unnecessary. There are modern methods such as human cell-based tests and sophisticated computer models that eliminate the need for any infliction of physical harm. Not to mention, there are thousands of existing ingredients stamped safe for use with no additional testing required.
We love living creatures of all kinds, which is why there’s no suffering tolerated in the manufacturing of our clean cosmetics. In SCB labs, paid volunteers are hired to undergo these low-risk experiments. The test subjects are usually a diverse group of individuals who have different skin types- some sensitive. Their skin is exposed to our products repeatedly over a specific length of time to see the effects that might take place. I mean, humans are wearing these products, so why wouldn’t we test on them? Not to mention they have the ability to consent… unlike animals.
While all of this may sound troublesome, the U.S. is taking small steps in the right direction. As of August 2022, nine states banned cosmetic testing on animals. Nine down, forty-one to go!
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