A cruelty-free makeup enthusiast, Sana Suhail
has conducted workshops on how to do your makeup using beauty products that
aren't tested on animals. A volunteer at Cupa LARRC. Certified Pranic Healer,
currently healing animals at Cupa. In love with Mother Earth, She spends time
gardening and learning about eco-conscious ways to survive.
How did you become vegan?
I remember watching videos and pictures posted
by PETA on Instagram; they were an eye-opener. If I was aware of the dairy
industry's ugly truth, I wouldn't have even tasted milk to go vegan in the
first place.
I have always loved animals. But being born in
a non-vegetarian family, we're conditioned to eat non-vegetarian food and it's
a core part of our diet. I think many other non-vegetarians also love animals
but we're conditioned in a way that it becomes a part of life. Being an animal
lover, I started following PETA and CUPA on Instagram and each of their posts
made an impact on me. Once, PETA posted about how animals are used and how they
are treated during product testing. All those things made me think and I
started using cruelty-free cosmetic products. However, that was just the
beginning. Each time they posted about other ugly facts about the meat and
dairy industry, it raised my awareness. I realised that we don't need this. By
drinking milk and consuming dairy products, we are contributing to that
cruelty. So, if I could eliminate dairy products from my life, I could save a
lot of cows and calves that are affected in this industry. A lot of calves are
killed because of this. Once I got to know of all this cruelty, I didn't want
to be a part of it and turning vegan was the right thing to do.
Being born in a non-vegetarian family, how
were your initial days after becoming vegan? Were they supportive enough?
It was a mixed response. In the beginning, it
was a little difficult for them to accept it. However, they were supportive
enough. They started preparing food for me separately. It started with me being
vegetarian. When I turned vegan, they were a little sceptical because they were
concerned regarding my nutrition. I made them understand and my immediate
family was quite supportive after that. But we have a big family and a lot of
gatherings keep happening. It's a little complicated when I get out there and sometimes
I get mocked. In those situations, we have to be mentally very strong and be
okay with it as long as you believe in yourself and your choices.
How easy was the transition from non-veg to
veg?
In my case, the transition from non-veg to
vegetarian happened quite easily. It didn't take much time. I did it in a very
systematic way so that my body gets used to change. First I eliminated eating
non-veg at home and then outside. After that, I totally cut it off. The reason
behind going vegetarian was very strong, so it helped me switch very easily and
quickly.
The faster I eliminated meat from my
lifestyle, the faster I found happiness. It's been more than 8 years now being
vegetarian and a year being vegan, and I'm really happy about it.
Non-vegetarian people say “It tastes so good,
I can't quit". What’s your take on that?
It depends on what is more important and your
priorities: the ethics or the taste buds. In a day, we prioritise what tasks to
do. Likewise, we need to prioritise whether we want to satisfy our taste buds
and ignore the fact that we are contributing to such cruelty or we want to make
the change. At the same time, vegetarian food is also tasty and there is a lot
to explore in that. Also, we are helping ourselves too by consuming healthier
food.
How is your volunteer experience at CUPA (Compassion
Unlimited Plus Action)?
When I started volunteering at CUPA Large
Animal Shelter (LAARC), I loved it. My heart just wanted to stay there. The
people at CUPA genuinely love animals. It's very healing and therapeutic
because the love that animals give you is just amazing and can't be described
in words. Every Sunday I spend my time over there and I look forward to it.
As volunteers, we can help in various ways. It
can be in the form of giving them baths, cleaning them up, giving them some
dressing or helping other staff or the doctors. There is no hard and fast rule.
We can ourselves come up with ideas and also passively adopt the animals over
there. I was interested in healing animals. Most of the time people can be
sceptical about the energy healing process but CUPA really supported me with
this. All of us at CUPA do twin hearts meditation on Sundays and bless the
animals all around the world.
Every time I go there it has been a different
experience. I've spent days with various animals, be it a donkey, horse or a
dog.
You conduct workshops on cruelty-free makeup.
Can you tell more about how cruelty happens in the cosmetics industry?
Not just makeup, but a lot of beauty products
and day-to-day products like detergents, shampoos, soaps etc are tested on
animals. The animals that are tested upon in the labs are usually rabbits and
sometimes cats and dogs too. The chemicals that are used in these products are
tested on the animals if they are safe to be used on humans. In this process,
their eyes and ears are burnt. The animal is kept caged and the chemicals are
put on the sensitive part of their body. These chemicals can cause adverse
effects and make them blind or deaf. Some companies don't encourage these tests
and are known as cruelty-free companies. So, I decided to spread awareness on
how to identify these companies to not be a part of this cruelty.
How do you promote such products?
I conduct workshops on and off, where I teach
makeup and also give a list of cruelty-free brands and instructions on how to
identify them. Besides, I call out companies that are cruel to animals. Also,
usually, women are loyal to particular brands and prefer using only them. If
they are using a brand that tests on animals, I request them to leave a message
to the company to stop animal testing because it is not necessary.
Although I don't know the specifics, there are
various other ways to test cosmetic products. Animal testing is a very old
method of doing it. It's not even needed and there are a lot of scientific
tests that can be done that don't involve humans or animals.
The main problem is that people are unaware of
such things. Unless people are interested in these topics, it's very hard to
find information about such topics. There's a lot of secrecy kept by such
companies. That's why I believe in raising awareness among people. The same
applies to other industries as well, be it the dairy or the meat industry. As
long as people don't see themselves, they are okay consuming such products. I
think living in denial is also not good and awareness is very important.
How can people identify if a cosmetic product
is cruelty-free? Can you list some brands?
You can identify if a brand is cruelty-free by
looking for a bunny logo on it that states Not tested on animals or says
cruelty-free. However, some of them might not
be vegan if they use any animal-derived products.
Some of the brands that do not test on
animals (NOTE: They might contain animal-derived ingredients, so all of them aren't vegan. Please check while purchasing) easily available in India are :
Himalaya, Colorbar, Iba Halal Care, Nyx
Professional Makeup, Nykaa Cosmetics, Miniso, Wet N Wild, Lotus Herbals, The
Body Shop, Huda Beauty and Too Faced.
How is it in your family now after 8 years of
being vegetarian and more than a year being vegan? How did your social life
change?
My brother became a vegetarian after I did. I
haven't propagated being vegetarian because I believe the best way is when
people believe in their choice and let others get inspired by actions rather
than force. I have seen that a lot of my cousins and relatives have cut down
meat in their lifestyle. Just today, a cousin of mine messaged me telling me
that she wants to go vegan. Also, I don’t think we need to choose our company
based on whether they are non-vegetarian or vegan. You can be around any kind
of person. Also, I think the energy is contagious and it inspires others also
to become more compassionate.
How is it during festivals? In your family,
there must be a lot of non-veg dishes on such occasions?
It becomes a little tricky. There might be
instances when you feel a little displaced because you also want to be a part
of the festival. In my case, I eat my vegan Biryani and they eat their
non-vegetarian Biryani. We still sit together and enjoy the festival. I think
they should respect your decision and you should respect theirs.
I don't support the notion of hating
non-vegetarians just because you are a vegetarian or vegan and labelling them
as cruel. I would like people to stop doing that because they are also humans
and humans make mistakes. Such people should know that they were also a non-vegan
at one point and everyone has a different time of realisation. We should just
accept everyone, be it non-vegetarian or vegetarian and love will heal the
situation. Love will transform everybody. I'm sure many of us turn vegan
because of love: the love for animals. So I think it's very important to keep
that love for our fellow beings too. It's very important to accept each other
and not brutally force your beliefs, such as non-vegetarians forcing
vegetarians to taste meat, or vegetarians forcing their beliefs onto
non-vegetarians.
Would you like to mention anything else?
I believe what helped me in this journey is
understanding myself better, my morals. I'm sure a lot of people have the love
for animals in their heart but don't dare to make the switch. So I say, they
should believe in themselves and just go for it. Whatever comes in their way,
they will be able to face it.
Message for a non-vegetarian trying to go
vegan…
If you're going vegan from non-veg, make a
gradual shift, but not too slow. Research what veganism is and then make the
switch. I got to know a lot about it when I did. And trust me, there are so
many amazing things which we can eat apart from non-vegetarian food, a lot of
which are healthy. You'll also get to know a lot of myths about vegan food
which are not true. Listen to your heart and believe things based on your
experience and not on what others say.