What they’re saying about Living Cruelty Free over at Moxie Reviews TM

Even this wee fella will be reading the review (once he gets a haircut, so he can see)

This week I’m delighted to have Living Cruelty Free reviewed over on the fantastic Moxie Reviews TM site.

To check out the review, click here

One of the most highly regarded sites on the net, Moxie Reviews TM is a fantastic beauty blog with cruelty free, natural & organic product reviews. To be featured on the site, companies must be cruelty free, which means NO animal testing.

Moxie has also done an interview with me where I explain what inspired me to write the book.

I’d like to thank Moxie for spreading the word about Living Cruelty Free. The book was very much a labour or love for me and the more people who read it the better.

We can all make the world a more compassionate place.

You can follow Moxie on Twitter and Facebook as well as on the Moxie Reviews TM blog.

My book Living Cruelty Free has travelled a long way...

From Frankfurt

to London in fact.

Don't you just love that cover?

Would you have given her 20p?

Would you give someone 20p?

A young woman catches the bus. It's 3am. She's been to a Christmas party. It's below freezing outside. She's 20p short of the fare.

She pleads with the driver to let her on. The driver refuses.

Can the bus wait for her as she goes to an ATM? ‘No,’ says the driver.

As the young woman tries to persuade the bus driver to let her on a dozen people are caught on CCTV boarding the bus. Despite hearing the woman's pleas, nobody offers to give her the 20p.

She has to get off the bus. It drives off leaving her stranded. She phones her mum and explains what happened. Her mum drives to get her and the young woman starts walking.

A few minutes later, she's pounced upon by a rapist. She's beaten so badly her mother doesn't recognise her.

Would you have given her 20p?

The police officer in charge of the case is so disgusted he tells the passengers and bus driver they need to examine their consciences.

This story really happened http://www.key103.co.uk/news/uk-and-world/20120608-woman-raped-after-being-thrown-off-bus-over-20p/

And I tell it here because it's so sad that a lack of human compassion led to a young woman being raped.

The next time you see someone who needs help, ask yourself 'should I help them?' and say 'yes.'  Because it's only when we reach out to one another we stop bad things from happening.

Note - this piece was initially posted on my Living Cruelty Free Facebook page.

Urban Decay's full statement about selling in China

In case they order another site to take it down, I'm copying and pasting the full original statement from Urban Decay about their decision to start selling their products in China. A decision which means this company who boast of their cruelty free credentials are going to be selling in a country where the animal testing of cosmetics is compulsory.

It's a bit two-faced when a company says one thing & does another.

The full statement originally appeared on the company's site, then they removed it and replaced a long statement with a few paragraphs.

Urban Decay Press Statement: Animal Testing and China

Wednesday, June 6th, 2012

From Urban Decay:

Urban Decay is going to sell our products in China. Because of China’s policies on animal testing, we know that this will not be a popular decision with some of our loyal customers. But the decision is a thoughtful one.
For 16 years, we have been committed to two key causes: women’s rights, and the fight against animal testing. Our dedication to those causes will not waver.
For those of you unfamiliar with China’s policies, the sticking point is this: the Chinese government reserves the right to conduct animal testing with cosmetic products before the products are approved for use by Chinese citizens. The government has not told us if they have exercised this right with our products. So, our brand does not test on animals, but the Chinese government might conduct a one-time test using our products. Do we like China’s policies? No…and that is really the point. Going into China was a huge decision for Urban Decay. But, we believe that change cannot and will not happen by outside pressure alone in a closed market. Change can only happen from within. When we enter the Chinese market, we will do our part to help make those changes.
When we were considering expanding into China, a group of marketing consultants told us to remove the section of our company history that describes our crusade against animal testing. “It doesn’t mean anything to the Chinese beauty customer,” they said. Of course, we refused. Our “no animal testing” policy is part of who we are, and has been since day one. The news that animal issues don’t even register with the average Chinese consumer was one of the biggest factors in our decision to go there. During Urban Decay’s infancy, we worked hard to inform consumers about animal rights in the United States and Europe. The battleground for animal rights is now in China, and we want to be there to encourage dialogue and provoke change.
We also hope to shed some light on women’s rights issues in China. As a company that caters to a female customer, this is extremely important to us. For one thing, going into China is a way for us to advance women into important professional positions. We will help grow the cosmetics industry, which primarily employs and creates career paths for women. Although workers’ employment rights are a relatively new concept there, progress has been made partially because of pressure from businesses, consumers, and advocacy groups from other countries. Based on this, our belief is that both an outside force and inside pressure for change can result in helping transform both the importance of women and animal testing policies in China. And more importantly, we hope to influence the perspective of the citizens on both of these issues.
If we don’t go to China, other companies without our beliefs will, and the culture will never change. We want to encourage a culture of consumers who care enough to buy cruelty-free products, and who view professional women as role models who influence their lives on a daily basis.
Yes, we are a for-profit company. And yes, we would eventually like to make money in China. But we don’t stand to turn a profit in China for quite a while, partially because the market isn’t quite ready to sustain an untraditional brand like ours. If it were only about the money, we would wait a few years. But our foray into this market is also about participating in an amazing time of change in China. We don’t like animal testing (and neither do the 13 dogs in our office), but we are trying to change the world… even if it is one eye shadow at a time! Sitting on the sidelines isn’t our style. We understand that you might not like our decision, but we hope you can respect it.
For any advocates or Urban Decay fans interested, Urban Decay founding partner Wende Zomnir will host a live chat on urbandecay.com to answer questions about our entry into China.

A sad day as Urban Decay turn to the dark side

I was very sad to hear that Urban Decay, who were one of the mainstays of cruelty free cosmetics, have decided to sell their products in China. Under Chinese laws, cosmetics and their ingredients that are sold in China must be tested on animals. Urban Decay (isn't that a great name for a company with decaying morals) know this.

Ironically, this is one of the ads still on their company site. Misleading or what?

After their announcement the company has quite rightly lost their Leaping Bunny accreditation. This means that although they are listed in my paper copy of the Little Book of Cruelty Free 2012 they are no longer a cruelty free company.

What Urban Decay say

In their statement (taken down from their site because of their customer's anger at what they're doing), Urban Decay claim that ‘For 16 years, we have been committed to two key causes: women’s rights, and the fight against animal testing’ yet China has an appalling human rights record especially when it comes to women who are treated like second class citizens.

Here’s their ‘it isn’t us, it’s them (the Chinese government)' statement.
They claim they won't make a profit for some time, so they're going their for humanitarian reasons? Of course not, China has over a billion people. It's money Urban Decay want and I personally believe saying otherwise is misleading.

What their customers are saying

Customers have quite rightly vented their anger at this decision on the company’s Facebook page.

What the Leaping Bunny people are saying
The Leaping Bunny program quickly acted and have removed Urban Decay from their lists as well as issuing a statement saying why.

How do I know now if a company is completely cruelty free?
For a free downloadable guide to cruelty free companies (Urban Decay have been removed), go to http://www.leapingbunny.org/shopping.phpthere’s also an option to have the paper version sent to you. I have one and it comes in very handy. It will fit in your purse or back pocket.

I would also advise people to AVOID any products made in China. You can't even trust clothing from China for fear that the faux fur is real fur from cats or dogs.