A cruelty-free chat | why I went CF, how I did it + more

I've been wanting to write a cruelty-free chat for a while now. I've been cruelty-free for nearly a year and although I've done a lot of posts about cruelty-free makeup, I wanted to do one about why I went cruelty-free, how I went cruelty-free and more. Lets basically have a chat about cruelty-free. This post has been sat on Blogger for ages waiting to be published and I'm finally uploading it. It might be a bit of a ramble, but here's how I went cruelty-free and my story.

Why I went cruelty-free

I went cruelty-free because I care a lot about animals. Its not fair how animals get tested on and suffer for our products. Before I went cruelty-free, I wasn't aware that so many brands tested on animals and I was uneducated in animal testing. 

Lets rewind to 2016. A few weeks before I went cruelty-free, I researched into animal testing and I was very disgusted that so many brands I've purchased from test on animals. The photos I came cross of animals with their fur missing and looking in pain, made me extremely sad and upset. The minute I researched into animal testing, I knew I had to put an end to purchasing from brands that test on animals. For a few weeks, I didn't purchase anything until I'd found a list of brands and researched into them to find out if they test on animals or not. 

How I transitioned to cruelty-free

I didn't have the money to scrap all of my old products and replace them with cruelty-free products in one go. I decided that the best way to do it was by replacing each item bit by bit once I ran out. It worked out well and I managed to replace all of my everyday and most used products fairly quickly. At the time, I wore makeup every single day and my products ran out quicker than they do now. 

What I did with my non cruelty-free products 

I kept the majority of my old cruelty-free makeup (mostly the more pricey ones). You don't need to throw away all of your non cruelty-free products, you've already purchased it. I had quite a few products from MAC, like lip products, a loose pigment and Fix+ spray, that haven't yet ran out. 

After reading a lot of posts/watching YouTube videos, people have also said that they keep their old non cruelty-free products too. I gave a lot of my old products away or used them up, I still own my MAC products.

What makeup I replaced

I've replaced my everyday makeup items with cruelty-free products. Although theres been a few I hadn't really liked, I now own all products that I like and thought I'd share. Most of these are drugstore as thats what I tend to go for. Some products I already had are cruelty-free, so I haven't included these. 

• Primer | I replaced my old L'Oreal primer with firstly an LA Girl primer and then a Makeup Revolution primer. I prefer my Makeup Revolution primer so much more to the L'Oreal one.
• Foundation | I had only used non cruelty-free foundations before and I never got along with the ones from the drugstore. I replaced my Maybelline and Rimmel ones with the Barry M Flawless Finish foundation and I really like it. Its the best drugstore foundation I've tried.
• Concealer | I used to use the Rimmel Wake Me Up concealer for years. After replacing it with a cruelty-free one, I first chose the NYX HD Photogenic Concealer and I now use the LA Girl concealer, which I absolutely love. 
• Powder | I used the Rimmel Stay Matte Powder for pretty much the whole time I've been wearing makeup. I replaced it with MUA's Matte Loose powder. I actually prefer the MUA powder and for less money, you get more product.
• Eyeliner | I had tried many non cruelty-free eyeliners over the years, but before I went cruelty-free, I owned a L'Oreal one. I replaced that with a Zoeva eyeliner, an MUA eyeliner and recently a NYX one. All of which are incredible and I much prefer them to the L'Oreal one. The MUA eyeliner is a lot cheaper too.
• Mascara | I used to love the Maybelline Lash Sensational mascara and had gone through multiple tubes of it. When I went cruelty-free, I tried a NYX one that I liked, but then I bought a Barry M and Too Faced one and I like that even more.
• Contour | Besides my Barry M Chisel Cheeks Contour Kit, I had two other non cruelty-free contour products, which are by Maybelline and Clinique. I started to use my Barry M Chisel Cheeks contour more and also purchased an LA Girl concealer to contour with.
• Pencil eyeliner | I used to use a Rimmel eyeliner, but I purchased an MUA one, which was so much cheaper and it works just the same. 

Brands 

There are a huge amount of brands that don't test on animals to choose from. I usually opt for drugstore brands, which I usually order online. In my local Superdrug and Boots (that are fairly small), there are three makeup brands between both of them that are cruelty-free, thats why I order online mostly. 

• Barry M
• Too Faced
• Makeup Revolution
• Urban Decay
• MUA
• Anastasia Beverly Hills
• NYX
• Tarte
• ELF
• Becca
• LA Girl
• NARS
• B.
• Liz Earle 
• Charlotte Tilbury 
• Superdrugs Own Brand
• Spectrum
• Real Techniques

I'm considering doing a second part to this at some point, or chats about being vegetarian. I like doing chat posts and I don't do them enough.

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