I have been pescatarian for about 3 years now. The decision came because of inspiration from a dear friend who is a hardcore vegan who was always so sweet and encouraging about her ideals – not pushy and preachy like some can be. I grew up on a ranch, so hearing her claims about animals being “friends not food” was not alien to me. I had grown up feeding drop calves and pigs, I hung out with goats and full grown holstein cows and could not argue that they have personalities. Much of their personalities, in fact, reminded me of one of the most common household pets – dogs. I wouldn’t eat a dog, so why am I okay with eating other animals? Once I gave myself this perspective, I knew it was time for a change. And I love it! It’s not nearly as difficult as I thought it would be, and I really truly feel like I am making a difference for animals. Now, I do still eat fish, I left this in my diet because I felt like it gave me one last source of meat-based protein, and to be honest, I guess I just don’t feel that emotional connection with fish. Maybe someday I will venture down the vegan road, but for now, I am happy with my mostly vegetarian lifestyle with the occasional sushi roll.

BUT, another area of my life that I realized was still not completely cruelty-free was my cosmetics. I had never really thought about the “tested on animals” factor until I recently started getting back into purchasing makeup. Why would I cut meat out of my diet only to allow animals to still be tortured through cosmetic and chemical testing?

So, this year I’ve decided that all purchases I make, cosmetic and otherwise, will be cruelty free from here on out. And luckily, I’ve learned that I don’t have to give up couple of my favorite cosmetic brands – Too Faced and e.l.f. – both of which are cruelty free. I did not know much about cruelty free options until I started to do a little research and found that many of the drugstore cosmetics are sold in China, which means that BY LAW they must be tested on animals. China makes it an absolute requirement for cosmetics sold in their country. I find it so odd that something like this would be lawful and required. WHY!? Is it really any better than finding other ways to test? I can’t believe that to be true.

The best resource I have found for information on animal testing and changing over to a cruelty free lifestyle is at http://www.crueltyfreekitty.com/ (and isn’t that name so cute!?). They have lots of articles on the history of animals testing, what markings or logos you can trust when looking for cruelty free products and an entire list of cosmetics that stand by their cruelty free standards. Definitely check them out, I have found their cosmetics list in particular so helpful when switching over to a cruelty free cosmetic routine. And I check that list quite often as I have been restocking all of my beauty products. I feel so much better about my makeup bag, as well as about what I’m putting onto my face and into my body.

What do you think? Do you use cruelty free cosmetics? Are you vegetarian/pescatarian/vegan? Why or why not?

I really hope this inspires you to also change over to a cruelty free lifestyle. Animals are so precious and helpless and really need us as humans to protect and care for them. Make the change today! It’s not as hard as you think.