Love animals? Have you seen “Legally Blonde 2” when Bruiser’s mom is held against her will? Well, believe it or not, the cruel treatment of animals occurs daily in the beauty industry.

You may be in a committed relationship with your beauty products, or maybe you are only an occasional cosmetics user. In any case, if you care about animals, you should be as conscious of what you put on your skin as what goes in your mouth.

LHumane Society International estimates that 100,000 to 200,000 animals suffer and die from animal testing every year. That does not just sum up lab rats and other less-cuddly rodents. There is a lot of animal testing on more familiar animals, such as dogs. If only one animal is suffering so I can have moisturized skin, that is one animal too many.

Don’t be fooled by well-known products marketing themselves as fresh, natural and nurturing.

To make things a bit easier for you during your next run for toiletries, check out this list of cruelty-free products:

Well-known:

Dr. Bronner’s, Trader Joe’s, Aveda, Bath & Body Works, Urban Decay, Paul Mitchell, Lush

Less-known:
Alba, Milani, Giovanni Cosmetics, Pacifica, Mrs. Meyer’s, Method, 365, Obsessive Compulsive Cosmetics, NYX, Jason, Yes to, Pangea Organics, Dermalogica, Kiss My Face, Nature’s Gate, Toms, Smashbox, Physicians Formula

It is also important to keep in mind that companies who sell their products in China are required to test on animals because of Chinese laws. So although a company may claim to be cruelty-free domestically, you may also want to check out the brands’ sales abroad.

There are countless websites with interesting articles on the subject of animal testing and extensive lists of ethically sound products, including PETA, Humane Society International, Cruelty-Free Kitty and the Beagle Freedom Project.

Get out there, do some research, educate yourself and help save some helpless animals!

Peace, love, Clog, pups.