Are there any brands you refuse to buy from? Why?
I'm just going to discuss beauty brands in this post, though there are certainly clothing brands I stay away from (Abercrombie & Fitch for being racist and horrible, Victoria's Secret for using child slave labor cotton, Forever 21 for wildly underpaying their employees [not to mention blatantly ripping off designers] all come to mind––and whoops, guess I am going to mention non-beauty brands!). After reading about how racist and awful the owner of Bond No. 9 is, I can safely say I will never be buying any of their perfumes, whether full bottle or samples. After reading about the theft of Christine's photographs by e.l.f., I shan't be buying from them again, as much as I like their $3 face brushes. I don't own any Lynnderella polishes, and after reading about that whole drama I can be sure that won't change. I know lots of people don't buy from brands that aren't "cruelty-free" (=no animal testing), which I don't pay much attention to in my own purchasing decisions, but the reveal that some brands were testing in China and didn't publicize that information (spearheaded by PETA, which is a company I loathe, but this article on the topic doesn't seem to be affiliated with them) definitely left a bad taste in my mouth. And Urban Decay's recent flip-flopping on selling in China annoyed me––they'd always been so loud and proud about no animal testing, then they decide they want to expand to China and argue that they can help change the system from within, then when the public response is overwhelmingly negative in the US they decide not to sell in China. *Sigh.*
There are some brands that actually do some good, though. The whole "pink for breast cancer" thing is mostly ineffective, not least because of how far the Susan G. Komen foundation has fallen (somewhat related, every month Planned Parenthood sends the nicest thank you email for my donation. Makes me feel warm and fuzzy), but MAC's Viva Glam line is wonderful, with 100% of the selling price of Viva Glam lipsticks and lipglasses going to the MAC AIDS Fund ($15 apiece, at this point in time), and Avon has the Empowerment Collection, where the net profits (generally around 60% of purchase price) of certain products are donated to the Avon Foundation and used to fund programs that help women who suffer from domestic violence (they also have a similar program for breast cancer). So it's good to support those companies!
What about you? Are there any companies you steer clear of? Any programs you try to support?
I'm just going to discuss beauty brands in this post, though there are certainly clothing brands I stay away from (Abercrombie & Fitch for being racist and horrible, Victoria's Secret for using child slave labor cotton, Forever 21 for wildly underpaying their employees [not to mention blatantly ripping off designers] all come to mind––and whoops, guess I am going to mention non-beauty brands!). After reading about how racist and awful the owner of Bond No. 9 is, I can safely say I will never be buying any of their perfumes, whether full bottle or samples. After reading about the theft of Christine's photographs by e.l.f., I shan't be buying from them again, as much as I like their $3 face brushes. I don't own any Lynnderella polishes, and after reading about that whole drama I can be sure that won't change. I know lots of people don't buy from brands that aren't "cruelty-free" (=no animal testing), which I don't pay much attention to in my own purchasing decisions, but the reveal that some brands were testing in China and didn't publicize that information (spearheaded by PETA, which is a company I loathe, but this article on the topic doesn't seem to be affiliated with them) definitely left a bad taste in my mouth. And Urban Decay's recent flip-flopping on selling in China annoyed me––they'd always been so loud and proud about no animal testing, then they decide they want to expand to China and argue that they can help change the system from within, then when the public response is overwhelmingly negative in the US they decide not to sell in China. *Sigh.*
There are some brands that actually do some good, though. The whole "pink for breast cancer" thing is mostly ineffective, not least because of how far the Susan G. Komen foundation has fallen (somewhat related, every month Planned Parenthood sends the nicest thank you email for my donation. Makes me feel warm and fuzzy), but MAC's Viva Glam line is wonderful, with 100% of the selling price of Viva Glam lipsticks and lipglasses going to the MAC AIDS Fund ($15 apiece, at this point in time), and Avon has the Empowerment Collection, where the net profits (generally around 60% of purchase price) of certain products are donated to the Avon Foundation and used to fund programs that help women who suffer from domestic violence (they also have a similar program for breast cancer). So it's good to support those companies!
What about you? Are there any companies you steer clear of? Any programs you try to support?
