Hello loves! Hope you’re all doing well! We came back from our vacations (you can see a few pics on my Instagram here) and it’s a bit of a shock coming home from hot, summer weather to this rain we have today. Nope, I don’t like it. I could say it was the rain that inspired today’s post, which isn’t the most positive but it was actually Danielle from the CrueltyFreeVeganBeauty. I watched her review of the July Beauty Discovery (see her video here) which I wasn’t planning on reviewing, but I actually do have some thoughts on it that I want to share.
The July Beauty Heroes Beauty Discovery features True Botanicals and three of their products: Nourishing Shampoo & Conditioner, and Nourishing Body Wash. See it here.
I had the pleasure of trying out two True Botanicals products two years ago, when I first started working with Jeannie and Beauty Heroes. I liked the products and I always saw very positive reviews of their products. They sound very effective and they also look beautiful. But if you don’t know, last year True Botanicals partnered with Unilever, meaning that Unilever Ventures has a minority investment in True Botanicals (see other brands here). Unilever Ventures invests in entrepreneurs who think big and build world-beaters in Consumer and Enterprise Technology and they are a part of Unilever, which produces and supplies fast moving consumer goods in food, and home and personal care product categories worldwide. Unilever owns over 400 brands, brands like Dove, Rexona, Ben&Jerry’s and many, many more. For example they also acquired Schmidts Naturals and Pukka Herbs, which I no longer buy or support. Why? Simply because their parent company, Unilever isn’t completely and 100% cruelty free. Some of the brands they own are sold in mainland China and in order to be sold there, the products need to be tested on animals. And even though a brand under Unilever or with a minority investment in a brand (like True Botanicals or Ren) doesn’t test on animals or even is even Leaping Bunny Certified or Peta Approved, personally I don’t support it and don’t want to buy from them. The way I see it is if I spend my money on such a brand I also end up giving a percentage of my money to Unilever. Before being a green, natural and organic beauty blogger I was first a cruelty free blogger, meaning I didn’t support brands that test their ingredients or products on animals, without any affiliation with brands that do test on animals. I still am a cruelty free blogger and to the best of my knowledge I only talk about brands that are cruelty free. It’s a personal choice and the word “cruelty-free” has a different meaning to different people but this is how I see it. So yeah that is the main reason I don’t use True Botanicals products.
I did talk to Jeannie about it and she reassured me that True Botanicals remains true to their values and that they don’t test on animals, not their products or ingredients. Plus that other brands also have minority investors, and we don’t know any of them. But the thing is that I know that TB partnered with Unilever Ventures and that put a massive damper on the brand for me. The thing is that there is soooo many amazing and wonderful brands out there that don’t have any affiliation with Unilever and if I banish a brand from my life that was acquired by Unilever (Schmidts Naturals) then I would feel like a hypocrite not to also banish a brand with “just” a minority investment from them. That is how I feel but I know that not everyone shares the same opinion. That is fine and I also have to say that I respect Jeannie for her decision and the way she responded to my message about it.
So yeah this is not a negative review of the products, because I haven’t tried them but then I do wish I would, because I hear they’re lovely. At the end of the day I really wish True Botanicals would choose a different investor, someone who isn’t linked to animal testing. If you didn’t know about this and if you now feel bad about using their products, I would still use them or gift them to a friend and then simply don’t repurchase. Stay true to yourself and do what makes you proud.
Since the two products in the July Beauty Discovery are shampoo and conditioner, let me share with you another Beauty Heroes box, the Organic Beauty Travel Collection featuring the beautiful Innersense Organic Beauty. You get a collection of 8 travel sized products, with an option of choosing between two different types of shampoo & conditioner. See here. I’ve tried a few products from them in their bigger sizes before and I really liked them. I opted to skip this LE box but it does look like a very lovely travel set and if you wanted to try Innersense Organic Beauty, then this is the box for you.
And since I got a lot of questions and comments on my recent Instagram story about my current shower shelfie (saved in highlights #uselessplastic, find it here) let me just quickly mention that I’ve been loving the combination of Funky Soap London Lavender & Rosemary shampoo bar and Natural Wisdom Spa Shampoo & Conditioner Bar. I love that there isn’t any plastic packaging and that they work so well! Will write a full review in a few weeks and tell you more about them.
Have any thoughts or questions you would like to share with me?
Have a great Wednesday!
With love,
Jana xx
Photos used in this post aren’t mine, I got them on the Beauty Hereos website.
**this post contains some affiliate links