The price of beauty

I mean, who really even supports animal testing? And if no one supports it, then why is it still happening? The experimenting of cosmetics on animals takes the lives of over 100 million animals every year, animals like cats and monkeys, according to People of the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA). If you don’t think you have an opinion on animal experimentation, just imagine your kitten being barred down and forced to inhale toxic fumes. Imagine a monkey that deserves to be in the jungle but is instead deprived of the things it needs most and kept in a cage its whole life.

The price of beauty for myself is just a $17 tube of MAC lipstick. On the contrary, the cost of that $17 tube of lipstick for a rabbit is instead extreme pain and traumatic lab experiments as this tube of lipstick is tested in the eyes, mouth and skin. How sick is it to think that the lives of animals suffering behind the scenes is insignificant compared to our own vanity?

The Food and Drug Administration prohibits the selling of cosmetics that are mislabeled but does not require that animal testing be conducted in order to prove that a product is safe. So, if it is not required, why is it still happening?

Not only is it just plain cruel, it is also totally unethical and unnecessary to the health of humans. In other words, the animal testing does not actually translate to that of humans.

While we know our favorite makeup brands are, more often than not, not so innocent when it comes to the testing of their cosmetics on animals. This cruelty happens with cancer research, various disease research and polio.

While the curing of cancer is generally something that most people would like to happen, it should not be at the expense of animals. Especially since research clearly states that the data does not translate to humans. Despite curing cancer in mice, cancer has yet to be cured in humans, which makes sense because mice are mice and humans are humans.

“The history of cancer research has been a history of curing cancer in a mouse,” Dr. Richard Klausner, the former director of the National Cancer Institute said. “We have cured mice of cancer for decades, and it simply didn’t work in humans.”

Skin and eye irritation. Harsh chemicals. Restrainment. Repeated forced feeding. Health hazards like cancer or birth defects. “Lethal dose” effects. Death. No pain relief. And also, all for nothing because at the end, the test animals are killed usually by decapitation, neck-breaking or suffocation.

When people do these things to their own animals and it is talked about on the news, it is viewed as cruel and morally wrong. But I mean, it’s okay as long as we get to wear our MAC lipstick, right? Wrong. Our own vanity at the expense of an innocent animal’s life. How narcissistic to think that we, as women, choose vanity over the well-being of an animal.