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A truly beautiful woman is aged, not Prada-ed or Jimmy Choo-ed.  

(What on earth did she mean by that?)

I adore cosmetics and clothes, gorgeous shoes and magic skin creams. But if they‘re made of dead animals, or if the products are tested on animals, then they somehow lose their glitz.  

Every time I see someone in a fur coat I fear that we‘re just not “getting it.” The human race is in trouble. We‘re in trouble because we don’t think things through - speaking globally, it’s just easier to do things the way we’ve always done them, rather than trying to progress spiritually the way we’ve progressed technologically.

I see us as a species that has developed the most amazing 21st century scientific devices and tools, traveled to the moon, and OMG the Internet - yet we‘re still killing sentient creatures so we can eat them, wear their fur, and try out our nasty chemicals on them.

In some ways the human race is awesome and brilliant. And in other ways, we‘re brutal, sadistic, and cruel.

It has occurred to me that there is something women can do to help the voiceless animals all over the world. And it fits in so perfectly with being beautiful, and being mature, and being loving, and being free to make our own choices - I wonder why we didn’t think of this eons ago.

Let me start by saying that I believe beauty is the direct result of a kind and compassionate heart. The makeup and clothes are fun, but they‘re “frosting.” Without the underlying compassion, nothing can make us beautiful.  

But there’s more to it than just having a kind heart. It’s acting, in the world, in accordance with our kind hearts. It’s having the courage to live in sync with our compassion and our beliefs.

We have the technology at this point - and I’ve researched it and seen it - to test our cosmetics and skin care products on simulated, imitation animal skin. It’s as reliable (possibly more so, according to some studies) than testing on real animals, and can be less costly. It’s certainly more compassionate.

Why buy any cosmetic, shampoo, hair color, or skin care products - whether you‘re a man or a woman - if it’s been tested at the expense of some poor rabbit’s fur, or some poor monkey’s eyes?

We have a tendency to not think about something we don’t have to see. And companies that test on animals are not visible. We just go to the department store or the drug store and see these pretty creams in the pretty packages.  

Why wear a fur coat or clothing with fur on it, when there are so many fashionable and more compassionate alternatives? They probably wore fur in cave man days, right? WHY would we still be wearing fur in the 21st century? (Talk about being out of style! :)

Okay, you say, I want to respect the animals of our planet rather than exploit them. Where do I begin?

It’s easy. Just start small, do the best you can, and keep going. Next time you buy cosmetics, make sure they‘re from a company that does not test on animals. Next time you buy shampoo, why not get it at the health food store, and make sure it has a cruelty-free logo on the bottle?

Eventually it becomes a habit. And then you‘re ready for the really radical things, like vegan shoes and handbags, lentil soup instead of chicken soup, and pharmaceuticals with vegan capsule coating instead of animal-based capsule coating.

Bringing the compassionate heart to the forefront of our day to day living style is a step by step process. But it’s one thing we can do - and an effective measure at that - to help bring humans into the same century as our technology; to help end the suffering of helpless creatures that have no voice; to be truly beautiful, starting from the inside.

My "labor of love" is a site I keep, called [Link Removed] which has a long (and growing longer every day) list of cosmetic companies that are either vegan or don't test on animals. I think you'll be surprised at the huge variety of choices we still have, even if we go vegan.

Let’s be beautiful. I mean - really, really beautiful!

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