By Terry

About a year ago I fell in love with the brand “By Terry.” Everything smells like roses (always a bonus in my eyes… or nose…), everything is beautiful. By Terry brought out a perfume line last year, and it only recently became available in Australia. I discovered one which I just adore, it’s called “Reve Opulent.”

It’s your typical sweet, floral perfume in a way (“hyacinth, rose, floral notes”), but with a softness and fresh youthfulness to it that makes me think of smiles and faded pink and summer day picnics (I’m not romantic at all…). But that’s just me! I definitely want to buy it.

However, of course, my main concern is whether or not it is tested on animals. So I sent an email directly to By Terry to find out what their stance was. This was the email I sent:

“Hi there,

I really love By Terry products, especially your perfumes and eye shadows. However I want to be fully informed about the products I am buying so would really appreciate it if you could answer some of my questions about animal testing:

1) Do you test ingredients or finished products on animals?
2) Do you use third parties to test ingredients or finished products on animals?
3) Do you sell your products in countries such as China (or others) where animal testing is required by law?

Thank you so much for your help! 🙂
Liane”

And their reply was:

“Dear Madam,

We thank you for your interest in the brand BY TERRY.
Following your email, we are pleased to inform you that the brand BY TERRY does not test its products on animals both in design and in the finished product.
Moreover, our products are distributed only in Hong Kong which is not subject to Chinese regulations on cosmetics.

Do not hesitate to contact us for any further information.

sincerely,

Sophie Martin
Customer Service”

So it looks like good news (apart from the fact that it took them a month to reply)! What do you guys think? Is it safe? Should I buy the perfume?

Liane

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Illamasqua

Hi again!

Sorry I’ve been kind of missing for a while. University has been a bit hectic so I’ve been avoiding the internet for a bit, and also avoiding shopping (as far as I can…)!

I LOVE Illamasqua, the make up brand. They make the only foundation that is the right shade for my skin (pretty much one shade off white! Damn my pastey-ness) and make really great eye shadows. So of course one of my concerns was that they do animal testing, as I really don’t want to give up this brand!

Luckily!!! it looks like they are fine! I sent them an email a while ago, asking some specific questions about animal testing, and they answered all my questions.

I said:

Hi there, I love Illamasqua products, especially your foundations and eye shadows. However I want to be fully informed about products that I buy, and would really appreciate it if you could answer my questions about animal testing. I have read your FAQ but wanted to double check everything. 1. Do you test your ingredients or final products on animals? 2. Do you buy ingredients from third parties who conduct animal testing? 3. Do you use third parties to conduct animal testing on your ingredients or final products? 4. Do you sell your products in countries such as China, who require animal testing by law? Thank you so much for your help! 🙂 Liane

And they replied with:

Hi there,

Thanks for your email. We can confirm that Illamasqua does NOT test on animals, we do not have any parent or subsidiary companies and we do not contract any third parties to test our products or ingredients on animals. 

Our brushes are all cruelty free, synthetic fibres.

We ship to China but do not have any stores or concessions there.

I hope this helps.

Kind regards and thank you for your support of our brand,

Customer Services

Illamasqua Ltd 6-8 Amwell Street, London, EC1R 1UQ

So it looks like it’s alright! Another blog, veggie beauty, confirmed this a while ago, but I wanted to double check myself. I do not know whether Illamasqua is vegan-friendly though. I will look into this.

So yay!! Illamasqua eyeshadow review coming up soon!!!

Until then, all the best!

Liane

The Aesop Journey Continues…

So… I went back to Aesop!

Satisfied with the hand cream samples I was given last time I went there, I decided to go and purchase it!

The hand cream I chose was the “Resurrection Aromatique Hand Balm.” There are two available; this one, and the “Reverence Aromatique Hand Balm.”

The Resurrection smells citrus-y and lavender-y, to me smelling fresh and fruity/floral. It comes in three different sizes, 75mL for $29 AUD (in an aluminium tube), 125mL for $37 AUD (in a small glass jar), and 500mL for $103 AUD (in a large plastic pump bottle). I bought the 125mL jar because I can carry it around with me, it’s a nice size and the jar protects the product very well. I’ve always had an issue with aluminium tubes because as soon as they get pressed by something, the product unstoppably shoots out when you take the lid off. The big bottle is not practical for me as I need a hand cream on me all the time.

120mL glass jar

The product itself feels very light and creamy, it spreads easily, and leaves my hands feeling soft and… well… kind of normal! In the winter my hands get so dehydrated (despite drinking enough water), and I long for the summer months when my palms sweat and my hands feel normal again. This hand cream leaves a very close effect – closer than I have experienced with other hand creams! It lasts a fair while as well, I found myself using it less than other hand creams I have used in the past. My hands also feel softer and smoother – and after only a few days of use.

The cream on my hand

The cream inside the jar – it moved around from being in my bag, it’s not a weird mixture or anything!

The Reverence hand balm comes in only two sizes – the 75mL aluminium tube at $29 AUD, and the 500mL pump bottle at $103 AUD. I’m not sure why this is, perhaps the Resurrection cream is slightly more popular? I don’t know! But this doesn’t matter for me since I do not like the scent of this one. It is supposed to smell woody and earthy with citrus, but to me it just smells… gross (sorry!). Definitely go and smell it yourself, but it’s not a scent I like. I think this balm is also supposed to be for extremely dry hands (with cracking), as the cream is much thicker.

My hand balm with the samples I was given

The sales assistant (a different one this time) was more helpful and also gave me heaps of samples, which is great! These are:

– B & Tea Balancing Toner
– Chamomile Concentrate Anti-Blemish Masque
– Fabulous Face Cleanser
– Primrose Facial Hydrating Cream

I’m looking forward to trying all of these out and seeing what happens!

So my final verdict on the hand cream:

I really like it. It makes my hands smooth and soft and lasts quite a while. My hands feel hydrated when I use it. I love the brand Aesop for its ethical stance. The product smells lovely!

Any questions or suggestions? Please leave a comment!!

Until next time,

Liane 🙂

Discovering Aesop

Shelves at Aesop! (forgive the bad photography!)

Aesop is on PETA’s list of companies that do not test on animals, so I decided to check them out!

I’ve always liked the look of the Aesop stores… clean cut lines, a very decided colour scheme. It looks almost cold and uninviting (why this attracts me, I don’t know! Perhaps the illusion of exclusivity. Don’t lie, you love it too!).

In the FAQ section of their website, they say that they do not test on animals, and that they do not contain colourants, artificial fragrances, mineral oils, silicones, parabens or pearlising agents. Also, Juicy Satsuma, a favourite blog of mine, made a blog post in January this year about Aesop, and showed an email she had received from them confirming that they do not test either the final products or ingredients on animals. Yay! (Also I highly recommend checking out her blog, as it is my biggest inspiration!)

So today I excitedly entered the Aesop store in Sydney Westfield and felt like a child in a sweet shop! Everything looked pretty and smelt nice! I tried a few things and was impressed. I ended up deciding to purchase the mouth wash – because it seemed interesting and exciting, and lip balm – because sometimes I feel like my life is about searching for the perfect lip balm!

Mouthwash by Aesop – $25 AUD

Lip Balm by Aesop – $15 AUD

Pros:

– Do not test on animals
– Use a mixture of natural ingredients along with lab ingredients
– Australian brand (so I can support my own economy)
– Products are free of colourants, artificial fragrances, mineral oils, silicones, parabens & pearlising agents
– everything smells really nice!
– lip balm does hydrate lips and leave them smooth
– mouth wash tastes nice and leaves breath fresh
– mouth wash does not leave my mouth feeling like it’s on fire (like Listerine does)

Cons:
– Aesop does use some Sodium Laureth Sulfate
– lip balm doesn’t feel like it lasts on me and doesn’t have quite the texture I am looking for
– lip balm is a bit expensive (although I don’t really have a problem with buying expensive lip balms)
– mouth wash is very expensive and will be used regularly, i’ll have to let this one sit to see if I’m willing to spend this much regularly on a mouth wash
– mouth wash has a liquorice-esque after taste due to aniseed, again, time will tell if I am willing to stick with this one as I don’t like liquorice!

The sales assistant was nice enough and helpful, she also gave me some hand cream samples and anti-oxidant eye cream samples. I’m excited to try these samples as I tried the eye cream in-store and liked the feel of it (but $87 seemed a lot of money to spend without having samples the product), and I also tried the hand creams and was very impressed. Again, I want to keep sampling the hand creams as I’m quite fussy with hand creams (I feel like my life is also about finding the perfect hand cream!).

The samples I was given

On my list of things to buy from Aesop next are:

– anti-oxidant eye cream
– shampoos, conditioners, cleansers, etc! I want to try ALL the products!
– hand cream

All in all, it was a fun experience and left me intrigued! I will post full reviews of the products in a few weeks to let you know how I go with them.

Let me know your thoughts!! 🙂 Until next time,

Liane

Cruelty-Free Products Pledge

So I have made a pledge to myself:

I will never again buy cosmetics, beauty products, hygiene products, etc that have been tested on animals or harmed animals in anyway*.

This blog will be a record of my search for great beauty products that are cruelty-free… possibly with a little bit of fashion along the way! (Who can resist a beautiful bag?)

* I do not consider the use of animal by-products to be harmful or cruel to animals, eg lanolin, beeswax. While I do try to buy vegan products, it’s not always possible. And while I do support vegans and vegan ideas, I am not a vegan myself.