We are now a woke society. The internet has changed how we think, and now, we are more aware of the consequences of our actions. 

We know that many companies in the world have abusive practices, and we should be thankful to the organizations that exposed such companies.  

For every purchase we make, we can trace where these products came from and how they were manufactured. Armed with that information, we can decide if we should still support a brand, especially if it is not a cruelty-free company. 

But what is cruelty, and what is the atrocity that many heartless companies carry out or turn a blind eye to? 

What is cruelty? 

Cruelty in manufacturing involves cruelty to animals and cruelty to humans. Both humans and animals can die of experimentation and forced labor.

As civilized people, we want to make sure that no human rights are violated—that no exploitation is involved with the processes to create products that we so desire. 

And once we can verify a cruelty-free skincare brand, we can buy the products and rest assured that nobody was harmed. 

What are examples of cruelty? 

If you have not noticed, a lot of branded products are priced low. They are inexpensive for a reason. The low prices we pay for these products come at the expense of animals and humans. 

• Animals – many cosmetic and beauty companies test their products at the expense of the lives of animals. 

These animals are injected with a lot of chemicals to see if the new product works. And if the chemicals are bad, they die. More than 200,000 animals die every year because of these tests. 

Most of the animals used are rabbits and other rodents like hamsters. Guinea pigs are also involved. But do not be surprised if dogs and monkeys are also used.

So, what do these companies test? They test skin irritation, eye problems, and so much more. And the animals they test on go through pain!

They become blind, or their skins gets burned - all because we want to see if a new chemical solution is going to work.

• Humans – a lot of cosmetic and primarily fashion companies, use what we call sweatshops. 

Sweatshops are manufacturing plants that involve child labor. Most of the time, these processing plants are located in third-world countries.

These people are so poor that children have to work instead of going to school. The conditions in these plants themselves are not conducive to healthy human life. These plants are hot, dirty, and the pay is too small. 

Children typically work for 16 hours a day, and they are only paid half the minimum wage. Some even work for free, and are only fed. 

This is modern slavery, to say the least. 

What can we do to change this? 

What we can do is simple: we need to stop supporting companies that are cruel to animals and humans. 

You can go to organizations like PETA and Human Society International to see which brands these are. If you support these brands, you are complicit to the crimes done to these animals and children.

We should only buy cruelty-free skincare brands. 

Summary

There is no product in the world that can be manufactured cheaply. To be able to do this, a sacrifice has to be made. Either animals die, or children are abused.

It is a sad thing, but it is happening. 

Only support cosmetic companies that do not use animals for testing, or companies that do not exploit poor people into working.

Thankfully, ECOKISS is a cruelty-free company. We do not involve children or animals in the manufacturing process or testing of our products. We only use natural ingredients derived from plants.