Do you know if your health and beauty products were tested on Animals? If you are wearing Maybelline, L’Oreal, or Covergirl makeup, it was tested on animals. If you use Suave shampoo or deodorant, yes. If you are wearing Axe, it was. Do you brush your teeth with Crest or Aquafresh? That’s tested on animals. If your mouthwash Listerine or your shampoo Garnier? Ditto. I could go on and on about even more well-known brands that are cruel to animals!

The treatment of animals subjected to product testing is inhumane. Many creatures are abused through product testing, and there are many alternative products!

First of all, animal testing is inhumane. Is it right to make animals suffer and die so girls can buy cheap mascara? If you say “Yes,” see what the tests are like! Two types of tests are the Draize test and the LD50 test. There are two varieties of Draize tests, the skin test and the eye test. In the skin tests, animals are shaved then potentially harmful products applied to their skin. In the eye test, the product is rubbed into their eyes, and then their eyelids are clipped back so they cannot blink the stinging, painful product away. After both, the animals are slaughtered so their internal organs can be examined for damage. The LD50 tests are even worse. LD50 stands for “Lethal Dose: 50%”. In the LD50s, they give enormous groups of animals the chemicals used in the large doses until half of the animals die from the lethal doses of toxins. The survivors don’t survive for long; The animals are killed after the LD50 is over to dispose of them after a brief, miserable life full of pain, all so people can be pretty/

I’m sure rats and mice value their lives as much as any other animal, but they aren’t the only ones being victimized! Animal testing is done to rabbits, guinea pigs, hamsters, and gerbils as well. Cats and dogs are more often used in drug tests, but are sometimes tortured in cosmetic tests as well. Do you like our “cousins”, the gentle primates? They also undergo experimental surgery, drug tests, and yes, cosmetic tests! Would you ever allow your pets to have an LD50 or Draize test done to them?

You don’t even have to give anything up to avoid products involved in animal cruelty! Many good and often inexpensive brands are cruelty-free. Also, there are many ways to test products without animals, so they are safe, too! Bath and Body Works, Bare Minerals makeup, Urban Decay, Sephora and Hot Topic brand makeup’s are humane. Do you buy Bedhead, Tresemme, or Herbal Essences shampoo? They are also kind to animals. It’s not that hard- Just quickly look on the internet to see whether your brands are cruelty free and do your part to save animals!

Animal testing is an unfortunate and unnecessary part of modern life. Teenagers are the consumers of tomorrow’s products. If you are convinced that making animals die for our beauty is cruel and unnecessary, show it by purchasing humane products. Together, teens can convince companies to take action for a more humane tomorrow!