Everyone uses something in the "cosmetics and toiletries" group even if it is only a toilet soap. Theoretically, anything applied to the skin, eyes, mouth and hair for cleansing or to make us look or smell nicer counts as a cosmetic or toiletry product. This includes shampoos, lipsticks, eye-makeup, toilet soaps and many other items.Animals serve two main functions for the cosmetics industry-they provide raw ingredients for formulations and perfumes, and they are submitted to laboratory testing in the name of innovation and human safety.

Public opinion is turning against the use of animals to test cosmetics.People find it unacceptable that animals are suffering for their own vanity-hence the world-wide campaign against the use of fur.Basically, animals are subjected to three main types of tests.

1. For toxicity: substances are tested to see how potentially poisonous they might be. The most common toxicity test is the LD50-a test to find out the dosage required to kill. Hence a group of animals are force-fed large quantities of a substance such as lipstick until 50% die.rats and mice are usually used for this test.
2. For eye irritation: The Draize eye test is the most commonly used test for this purpose. Rabbits are used as the structure of their eyes mean that they cannot rid themselves of substances in the eye. Products like shampoos or hairsprays are tested by dripping them or spraying them into the eyes of conscious rabbits. This can continue for up to seven days to measure the amount of damage to the eyes.
3. For skin irritations: Substances are applied to the shaved skin of animals usually guinea pigs or rabbits. The deodorant, face cream or whatever is taped onto the shaved area and left for a period of time to see the reaction.

Cosmetic companies who test on animals defend their action by arguing that:

• They want to ensure customers can use their products without any harmful effects.
• They want to ensure that their workers in the factories are safe when they handle ingredients and products in large quantities.

However, animal rights organisations argue that:

• Testing of cosmetics on animals is wrong-why should innocent animals suffer for people's vanity.
• Animals do suffer in these tests and are eventually killed.
• In scientific terms, these tests are crude, badly designed and unreliable.
• Tests on animals are not representative of human reactions. Shouldn't it be preferable to test products for humans on humans?
• There are alternatives to animal testing such as:

1. Choosing ingredients which have a long history of safe human use
2. Cell culture tests or the testing of tissues that are grown and tested under highly controlled conditions
3. Computer simulations
4. Tests on human volunteers

Those of us who are unable to accept animal testing, can buy products that are labelled 'cruelty-free'. 'Cruelty-free' implies that the product contains no ingredients of animal origin and at the same time neither the product nor its ingredients have been tested on animals.

The production of 'cruelty-free' cosmetics and toiletries is not a simple matter and firms that avoid animal testing deserve our support. The choice however, is yours.