The Body Shop has my love

Ok, even though the body shop is owned by the corporate dog Loreal, I still love them. I will continue to support the singular store and abandon everything else Loreal owns. In addition to that, I will stop buying anything that tests on animals. I will continue to look for alternatives, like Almay, Revlon, and Wet n Wild. I've never really paid attention to these brands because Maybelline and Loreal fill the makeup part of walgreens...nonetheless I will try them. 

On to other important Body Shop news. I bought a lot of their stuff, and got a couple free gifts :D ... so lets see the stuff that I bought~

Aloe Facial Cleanser -14$

To me, this cleanser is very close to being HG. It makes me sin feel very clean and does not irritate or dry out my skin. In fact, it helps me reduce my sensitivity, since I've used this product I've noticed a lot less sunburn and sensitivity towards other brands. I always wear spf of at least 30 every day, but my skin always feels sunburn if the sun is out. The main reason I started to get this is because of the aloe ingredient and the absence of fragrance.

 Aloe Toner - 12$ (free for me)

 Tea Tree Body Wash - 13$

gift for friend now clue, so far he says not working tho :/

Nutriganics Smoothing Mask - 22$
Had to choose between this and the aloe mask, this won because of its weight. Hey, heavier = more bang for you buck right? It's interesting because it comes on white but dries to a nearly invisible finish. When you wash it off it becomes white again, which is nice because I can see which spots I still need to wash off.

Bamboo Brush Roll - 20$

brushes are bout 4$ each
75$ value

around 15$ each at regular price

So, I saved about 11$ on each brush squee~

Aloe Soothing Night Cream - 20$

It's a nice night cream that leaves my skin fully moisturized before going to sleep. Looks a bit greasy at first, but let it settle in and work its magic through out the night. I never had dry skin in the morning with this.

Tea Tree Starter Kit - 12$ (usually 24$)

I used my fourth point (a free 15$ gift) to get this for a friend. She says the tea tree oil works wonders!

new blog

Hello and welcome. This blog is mostly going to be a journal of some sort so I can sort of release my stress about things going on. I'm really sort of confused right now. I don't know who I am anymore. I used to be a little tomboy who couldn't care less about how the world percieves me or how "pretty" I looked. I wanted to be a veterinarian when I was young because I loved animals. That dream dwindled as I got older, but like everyone else, I had a lot more changes.

 

 Little representation of me~ Nice to meet you :3

I don't know when I changed, but I have an idea of how it started. I always had sort of nice skin and I wanted to keep that. I stumbled across The Body Shop in downtown SF and I was amazed at their business. Charity, community trade, and anti animal cruelty? I'm in! I started with their lotions because I liked how it made my skin soft, so I decided to buy more. 

My skin did not break out often, but I always liked preventing instead of curing, so I bought cleansers to prevent future break outs. The cleansers from drugstores had a nasty tendency that made my skin flaky, itchy, or all red. Also, I'm not fond of floral, or actually any sweet scents in skin care products; they seem to scream irritation to my skin. 

 red and peeling skin...drugstores favorite gift to me~

It was hard finding my perfect cleanser, finally I found it. The Body Shop's Aloe Cleanser.It did not aggravate my skin like the drugstore brands, yet it cleansed my skin, making it feel soft and refreshed. To this day I still use it and I consider it to be one of my best skincare products, but this is where the problems arise. 

 

Superb feeling after Aloe cleansing *\(^0^)/*

A few years later, I start experimeting with make up. It was really odd for me, but I really got into it. I started this because I watched a lot of make gurus on youtube and thought; hey, why not? I started slow, but then my make up collection became pretty big, although I was careful and cheap, only buying during extreme sales. BUT MAN I DISCOVERED SOMETING BIG.

Half of my make up products are from Loreal and Maybelline, which I thought were pretty harmless. Then I discovered that Loreal owns Maybelline New York, but I didn't think anything of it since it's a dog eat dog world out there in business. I researched more and then to my shock, I discovered that Loreal owns The Body Shop. I was shocked; thinking that I was supporting a small business that genuinely cares throughout my high school life; how naive I was. 

Later...I found out that Loreal tests on animals.

The most confundling thing in my life. While I am not an extremist towards animals rights and I do eat meat, I do not think it is right to torture animals for the sake of beauty. That is why I am throwing away all my Loreal and Maybelline products (not without tears ;_; they worked so well), I cannot put on their make up while imagining animals getting tortured with injections of cosmetic ingredients. It's like hearing dying animals everytime you put it on.

 

THE GUILT!!!

So, I was at a lost for what to do with The Body Shop. When I first bought their products, they were still owned by Loreal, but their values were the same as it started; Community trade and causes I support such as the cause to stop child trafficking. It's just... I could not shake the fact that they were owned by a company that tested on animals, even though they, the individual company, are against animal testing themselves. It made me want to drop their whole line and throw away everything I had from them. Burn them for lying to me all these years and making me believe that I've been doing good in the name of beauty.

EVEN THEN....

... I am not sure about dropping them. Their semi-anual sale is over on March 2nd, and I still love their products. While they are owned under a company that tests on animals, they still do community trade and several charities and there is some proof that they, the individual company, does not test on animals. I don't want to support a company that tests on animals, yet I still love The Body Shop.

The final decision will come on March 2nd...I hope I will make the right decision by then.