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.

Living Cruelty Free is on its way!

Yay, Living Cruelty Free is now completed and is in the hands of the publisher. After auch a long journey to publication, I am looking forward to seeing it published. First as an ebook in January 2012 and then as a traditional book later on in the year.

One thing I am particularly glad of is that I no longer have to research the topics in the book. Things like veal, fur, foie gras. Reading about how these things are derived from such extreme cruelty has been heartbreaking.

What has been uplifting is reading about how so many people are turning their backs on things that come from such cruelty. In the UK where I live, people who wear fur are seen as social pariahs.

Another fact that makes me happy is that people's eyes are being opened to the cruelty involved in bringing low cost fashion to our high street chains. What's more, people are saying 'not in my name' and are shunning stores that sell wares made by slave labour (often child slave labour).

Together we can all make a real difference, I genuinely believe that and that's why I wrote Living Cruelty Free.

To be human is to show compassion to our fellow human beings and to animals. Those are words we can all live by.

The truth about Squalene

Sharks belong in the open sea, not in face cream

I received a free sample of something in the post today. Usually I'd be happy, but the first thing I noticed was the face cream was made in France. That set off alarm bells.

You see, most beauty products made in France seem to be tested on animals with L’Oreal the worst offender.

It was also an anti-aging cream, which made me a bit peeved because it suggested I needed it.

I ran my eyes down the ingredients and spotted squalene right away. Big no, no for vegetarians, vegans and anyone who loves animals. Squalene you see usually comes from shark liver oil. It can come from plant sources (all plants and animals produce squalene naturally) but unless it states its plant derived, you have to assume it comes from sharks.

Allowing for the cruel way it's obtained, who wants shark oil on their face?

I know I don’t. How about you?

Tip – Is it an antioxidant cream? Chances are it may contain squalene.

Tip – Save yourself some money and sharks some suffering and use a few drops of olive oil on your face instead. It’s a good and cheap source of squalene, but don’t use too much or you’ll look greasy.

Note – Squalene has been linked to Gulf War Syndrome as it was used in the Anthrax vaccines American servicemen and women were given.

Ways to make the world a better place today

It's daunting, isn't it when you see all the bad things happening in the world whether it's to people or animals and you feel helpless, that there is nothing we can do. But, the good news is that we can all change the world and we can start today.

Here are some tips -

1. Whenever you see something you don't like, complain about it, tell your friends. Blog about it, put it on Facebook, Tweet it. Let as many people know as you possibly can. Complain to the company concerned.

Example - Someone informed me that Amazon.com were selling fox tails, so I contacted them about it using this online form.

2. Buy products that carry the Leaping Bunny logo. That way you are helping to bring about the end of animal testing.

3. Do you know that neighbour or work colleague you've never spoken to or just said hi to? Try and have a conversation with them. Make them smile. Even better make them laugh. Loneliness is a terrible thing and you may be the only person they speak to that day.

4.Ditch the KFC. The company hasn't been dubbed Kentucky Fried Cruelty without good reason.

5. Do something nice for someone. Buy your mum some chocolates (dairy free as chocolate containing milk comes from the cruel dairy cow industry) or get you dad a DVD of his favourite show. Get your partner something you know they will like. Help create a world where we show the ones we love that we love them and don't wait until it's too late.

Say no to sweatshops, go Fairtrade

Living cruelty free isn't just about showing compassion towards animals: it's about caring about human beings too. That means trying to buy Fairtrade (called Fair Trade certfied in the USA and Canada) wherever possible.

Fairtrade in the UK

Fair Trade n the USA & Canada

With Fairtrade you have some kind of guarantee that the workers who produced whatever you are buying were paid fairly for their work and had decent working conditions.

When you buy Fairtrade you know -
NO sweatshops have been used
NO slave labor has been used
Workers and farmers are paid a fair price
You are helping to lift poor workers out of poverty
You are helping to benefit communities and not just the workers


There are certain things you can buy that it is easy to find Fairtrade alternatives for -

1. Coffee - Starbucks
2. Bananas - available in most major stores
3. Cotton garments
4. Tea
5. Chocolate - in the UK, Cadbury's is Fairtrade
6. Biscuits
7. Sweets
8. Wine
9. Flowers
10. Cereal bars

To learn more about Fair Trade certified products in the USA, visit www.transfairusa.org/
To learn more Fair Trade in Canada, go to http://fairtrade.ca
For the UK, go to www.fairtrade.org.uk/
For South Africa, visit www.fairtrade.org.za
For Australia and New Zealand, visit www.fta.org.au

Things I've learned whilst writing Living Cruelty Free

Writing Living Cruelty Free has been at times a distressing experience. I've had to research some things that were so upsetting I've had nightmares and wished that I could unlearn these things.

Things like what goes on in puppy farms, the shocking way that children are treated in Third World countries where they are taken advantage of by the suppliers to the big store chains to make things like clothes and toys, the appalling ways that animals are treated to make so called delicacies like veal and Foie gras.

There is one thing that I have come to realize whilst writing the book -

The countries with the shocking human rights records like China, are the ones with the worst animal abuses.

Could there be a link between human cruelty and animal cruelty? There definitely is. That's why in order to create a kinder, more compassionate world, we need to look out for each other and animals.

The other thing I have learnt is that we can never stop fighting for both human and animal rights, because there are so man people and animals who need our help.

6 Ways to be kinder to animals (without going vegetarian)

Not everyone is cut out to be vegetarian or vegan. Some people just can’t live without eating meat, or don’t think they should.

If that applies to you it doesn’t mean you can’t do your bit to make the world a kinder place for animals.

1. Don’t bet on or attend the Grand National. Between 2000 and 2011, 20 horses have died on the world famous Grand National course at Aintree in Liverpool in the UK.
2. Don’t eat Foie gras. If there wasn’t a demand for this ‘French delicacy’ ducks and geese wouldn’t be force-fed until their livers smell to several times their natural size. Imagine how painful that must be.
3. Eat free range wherever you can. This doesn’t guarantee that animals have lived a better standard of life than their caged counterparts, but there is more change than they haven’t lived their lives out in cramped cages in dark sheds.
4. Don’t buy fur. There is NO humane way to produce fur. Animals die in agony, without any pain relief. And it’s not just wild animals that suffer that fate: in China, dogs and cats are killed for their fur. Most of that fur finds its way to the USA and the UK.
5. Consider adopting a retired greyhound. Many greyhounds who don’t make the grade are killed. Animal rescue centres have the ones who are lucky enough to be given away.
6. Don’t get Botox. Every batch of Botox is tested on animals because it is treated like a medicine. Yet whilst medicine is essential, having a wrinkly free forehead is not. And, let’s face it, it never looks natural.

The cruellest things on the planet

I'm currently doing the research for my cruelty free book for a chapter on things that can never be cruelty free. Even if you're not veggie or vegan, simply by avoiding the filthy five you can be kinder to animals.

Here's my top five of particularly cruel foods -

1- Foie gras - force feed a goose or duck eat until it's liver gets several times its natural size. Then kill it to eat.

2- Veal - Put a baby calf in a crate and deprive him or her of sunlight and a mother and don't ever let this baby go outside.

3- Fur - Furry animals in cages. Some, if they're lucky, will be dead when they are skinned. Others will be skinned alive.

4- Lobster - How would you like to be tossed alive into a burning pot and cooked alive? If you did that to a pet the cops would cart you off.

5- Down (sometimes called feather down, duck down or goose down) – It may be well known that fur production is cruel but what many people don’t know is that goose and duck down involves animal cruelty. Many birds have their feathers plucked whilst their still alive, especially in China the major down manufacturers in the world.