This weekend, I ran out of conditioner and so I needed more, really fast. (My hair is super dry because of chlorinated pools)
I went to Wal-mart to pick up some stuff. Well, I didnt have my cruelty-free companies list (animal testing) with me, so I just had to gun it since I didnt know any of the brands by memory.
So I ended up buying the cheapest container I could (so if the company DID test, I wouldnt be giving them very much money).
I ended up getting "Tropical Coconut" by Suave. They also had a special where they attached a free humectant (deep conditioner) to it.
Because of this, the ingredient list was completely covered! Since I couldnt see the list, I didnt even think of checking it. Most conditioners are okay for vegans (if your'e not a bio-chemist who knows what all the mystical chemical names are)
So, about 5 minutes ago, I was about to take a shower and so I ripped off the carboard that attached the free sample to it. It also happened to cover the "with silk protein" part of the bottle. So as I looked on the back, here's what I found:
Second ingredient: Cetyl Alcohol!!! (animal fat!!)
Later down the list: silk amino acids, and honey.
What sucks most is that I have to use it because I cant afford to throw it out and buy another brand, and my mum would get on me for wasting stuff. (I cant return it, the store is too far away and I opened it) Not to mention, technically its already paid for and throwing it out wont do anything to the company that made it.
SOOOO, now that I have a really guilty conscience, I'm warning you NOT to buy this product. I'm also considering personally boycotting Suave for being stupid and covering up the ingredient list, and where it said they product had silk in it. It even covered the place on the bottle where it would say if they didnt test (which they do, I think).
I just looked at the wrapper (covering the list) AGAIN, to make sure I wasnt mistaken, incase the list was on the wrapper. It had the ingredients, but the font was illegible!! It was completely smudged and impossible to read.
RAWRRRRRRR!!!!!
9 comments:
I work for Unilever, makers of Suave. I'll pass along your comment, but I suggest you call the 800 number on the back of the bottle.
Thank you very much!!
It's truly appreciated!
Well hun.. regardless of the animal issue (and you know I am a looker-outer for the critters!) There are all the horrible toxic chemicals in there. (See list at my store at http://www.holistichealthhut.com) that you need to worry about too. Yes, look out for the health and welfare of the animals. But look out for your own too. You aren't going to find "safe, healthy" soap at any conventional store.
Wal-mart takes anything back- open or not. just take it to the closest one and return it.
The nearest wal-mart is really far away...
I rarely use "regular" care products. I havent bought regular conditioner in over 6 months, its just I needed something quickly or else I'd be bald (no joke, if I dont use conditioner for a week, my hair gets dry and breaks off)
Another thing to consider (in addition to the contents) is animal testing. Unless it says "not tested on animals" & "contains no animal ingredients," assume it does. It sounds like you live in a rural place - otherwise I'd suggest stores like Whole Foods to shop for toiletries. It can get a little expensive, but if you buy a lot at a time (& potentially get free shipping), there are some online merchants like Pangea who *only* sell animal-friendly products. I'm sorry you had the bad experience, but kudos to you for being conscious about it!
Hey Allie, I had the ugliest experience with animal products lately as well... One year ago I got as a present a lip balm from the The Body Shop. Now, they have always declared to be AGAINST animal testing and none of their products are tested. And recently I read on a pretty picky website that all their products are vegan also, but for the bath gems, which contains gelatin. All happy and honestly not totally aware of all ingredients in the three pages, tiny character print leaflet, I just went with what I thought a 'others know best' situation.
HELL NO! What's one of the main ingredients of that thing? Castor Oil. Holy! And I have used it aready! Bad Karma to me for the next 10 generations for not checking better and evil points to the Body Shop for using something so bad!
About what Chase said, sorry I disagre with sternght. I started a few months ago an email campaing targeted towards a lot of beauty products manifacturer, especially those who once labelled "not tested on aniamsl". I thought they started testing on animals since the label had gone.
Well. It turns out MANY of those companies do not test on animals. Just they found that the label, which is not mandatory by law, was somewhat decreasing the sales (I guess the non vegan population was thinking the products may not be as safe as their cruel counterparts). Granted I am in Europe and that changes things dramatically about these issues, but... always worth calling the 800 number!
I def think you're making a big deal about this, but I respect you choices so I thought I would try and make you feel better. Obviously, your bottle of suave is long gone, but here goes. That alcohol is technically animal fat, but most of these sorts of complexes are made synthetically. Natural ingredients are more expensive and I highly doubt a commercial company like Suave is using real animal fat. If they were, your bottle of conditioner would have been much more expensive. The other thing I would like you to know about animal testing is...just because a certain product does not perform the testing does not mean they would not. So much testing has already been done and the research is solid, so it does not require animal cruelty anymore. I do not want you to think that I am attacking you, but I want to make sure you are aware of these things (It could help you make a better argument for yourself as well). My last question: do you get vaccinations for the flu, etc.??
What kind of animal testing does Suave participate in? I've been trying to research it today and haven't been very successful.
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