I did say I would be continuing with beauty reviews because quite frankly, I love makeup and toiletries! I did mention that there would be a cruelty free slant to it all too, as I’m aiming to get my make up and toiletries bag to 100% cruelty free (it’s hard yards I won’t lie!). It was Paul Mitchell and Barry M’s recent Bunny campaigns that really got me into researching cruelty free. Most assume (as did I) that as the laws in the UK and Europe have banned animal testing that everything should be fine to use.
It’s not.
The main issue is with other countries, that have laws that an item must be animal tested (and paid for by the company) before it can be sold in a shop in their country (China, I’m looking at you). So good old faves like MAC, Rimmel, Max Factor and Clinique all aren’t cruelty free as they are sold in China. Most carry statements along the lines of ‘we do not test on animals except where it is required by law’ in which case they aren’t cruelty free, even if they are finding alternatives and working with those governments to change their laws. At the end of the day of no one sold any cosmetics in China they’d soon have to change right? It’s not as easy as that I know, but to find out more here is Peta’s UK info on how to go cruelty free easily.
Some animal protesters will not support brands who sit under a bigger (non cruelty free) brands umbrella. A great example of this would be The Body Shop. They were acquired by the Loreal group (non cruelty free) so they class The Body Shop as not being cruelty free even though they are accredited as being so. Personally I would still buy from them as they as a company are cruelty free (it’s their owners that aren’t).
Hopefully that’s given you a bit more context into it all anyway, let me know if you’d like to know a bit more too as I can do more posts into brands if people are interested!
So back to one of the brands that made me take notice- Paul Mitchell. I’ve recently joined their Salon Sucess programme which allows me to try their new products to the block and some old favourites too. I got these about 6 weeks ago and have been using them ever since so I can give a good opinion on these and how they work for me. I must point out I am still using my Moo Goo shampoo on my scalp and then use other shampoos on the length of my hair (avoiding my scalp). So roots wise I can’t often comment as that’s all down to the Moo Goo!
I was sent a duo containing the the Shampoo Two which is the clarifying shampoo, it’s got a lovely fresh lemony scent. It lathers great and hasn’t weighed my hair down which is good. It’s good for oily hair which I’ve found my roots to have been so I have tried to get it as close as I could to help with that! It has done too and I’ve found normal non oily hair service has resumed. Winner.
The other product that came in this duo is the Super Strong Liquid Treatment. When I had my hair dyed lighter I found breakage was starting to be more frequent so the team at Salon Sucess sent me this in the duo to try out. It sprays on after washing when damp and has helped with breakage, and split ends. Again it’s not been a product that has made my hair limp or weighed it down, so is some thing I would buy if my hair went back to that breaking state(in hoping now I’ve been kinder with the dye it might sort itself out!). The duo is called Strength and Clarifying Duo and has an RRP of £24.
The next product I was sent is the leave in conditioner. I used this as a proper conditioner to start with- ooooops! Then read it properly! It’s blue which feels strange for something that is then left in the hair. It’s not my favourite product of Paul Mitchell’s, but I am sticking with it a little longer to see how I get on, as it hasn’t had a completely fair trial so far! 
The other set was a gift set that’s been released to celebrate their No Animal Testing campaign, which is celebrating the fact they have never tested on animals from the companies start in 1980(that’s older than I am!). Sales from all their take home bags will be donated to the non profit organisation Cruelty Free International – the creators of the leaping bunny logo which symbolises a cruelty free product. The take home bags have a leaping bunny bookmark in them.
Mine was the forever blonde shampoo and conditioner, which I haven’t got round to trying properly but first impressions are good! I don’t think you ever know if a colour protect product does what it says on the tin, as you don’t know what your hair would look like if you hadn’t of used it, but after my recent hair colour change this week I’ve started to use it to maintain it and so far so good!
Hopefully this has helped you if you were thinking of going cruelty free, or if you were just thinking about trying out some new hair products! Would you like to see more cruelty free posts? And if you are already cruelty free let me know your favourite brands so I can check them out!