How to Find Animal-friendly Fragrances

Have you found a perfume or men's cologne that you really want to purchase, but you're concerned about whether it's a cruelty-free fragrance? Are you uncomfortable with the idea of having animal-tested fragrances on your nightstand or bathroom shelf? Good news! Some popular brands are cruelty free, and CaringConsumer.com courtesy of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals keeps track of these fragrances.

Examples of cruelty-free perfumes include Bath & Body Works, Victoria's Secret fragrance line, Wet n' Wild, Revlon, Mary Kay, M.A.C., Liz Claiborne and Estee Lauder.

Examples of cruelty-free men's cologne include Abercrombie & Fitch, Tommy Hilfiger, Crown Royale, Donna Karan and Essential Oil Company.

More fragrances that do not test on animals include Clinique Laboratories and H2O Plus. CaringConsumer.com also gives details on vegan fragrance companies like A Perfume Organic, Crown Royale Ltd., Secret Gardens and Aromatherapy by Whole Spectrum.

Some colognes and perfumes will clearly state on the bottles whether the fragrances have been tested on animals while others are a little more inconspicuous. You can check CaringConsumer.com to find out what products do test on animals, and there are quite a few heavily advertised cosmetic items that do use animal testing.

To find out whether your favorite fragrance tests products on animals, check this site or write customer care or the owners. Simply writing a letter to the company lets them know that their consumers care about the fragrance condition. You can also ask fragrance sales representatives at your local department store. Some will lead you to cruelty-free fragrances, but be careful about asking. There are sales representatives who are paid commission and may not be honest with you or just may not know for sure.

Reading the fragrance labels can be a little tricky because sometimes it'll say "No Animal Ingredients," but honey and lanolin, two products common in some fragrances, are in fact animal products. There are currently no laws prohibiting companies from leaving information out about ingredients used in their fragrances. Your best bet would be to refer to companies CaringConsumer.com, which updates its cruelty-free fragrance list weekly or getting a written statement from the fragrance company stating that the products were not tested on animals.

Additional Notes: This entry was published by the Chicago Fragrance Examiner. To check out her fragrance reviews, visit the Examiner link.