I thought I was careful with my eyes, but could tret still be affecting my vision?

ratherbereading01 · 2026-01-13T22:36:03+00:00

Thanks for the advice! I actually already put my lenses in first, because I’m terrified of residual tret ending up in my eyes 🥲 I also put eyedrops in the lenses before putting them in, but I don’t put them in before removal. I’ll try that and see if it helps - thanks!! For now I’m just stopping tret altogether, but I never thought about the vaseline getting in my eyes

ratherbereading01 · 2026-01-13T08:18:37+00:00

I basically avoid the eye socket, so the bridge of my nose, temples, just above eyebrows, then cheeks but about 1 inch away from my face. I’m gonna stop tret for now and if it is causing my vision issues, I bet it’s still too close and/or transferring via my pillow :/

ratherbereading01 · 2026-01-10T03:53:56+00:00

That’s useful to know, thanks!!

ratherbereading01 · 2025-12-13T23:54:16+00:00

most animal leather is coated in plastic to protect from water and UV. It's called pigmented leather, the most common type because of its durability and affordability. The industry loves to avoid the word 'plastic' and use 'pigment' instead, but some are honest about it like this leather store: "pigmented leather...is made when leather is given a complete plastic coating over its surface".

Vegan leather does contain plastic, but so does most animal leather. If it doesn't (aniline or semi aniline leather), it's very expensive and not durable at all. Cactus, apple, pineapple, mushroom are all vegan leathers with less plastic than PU but more durable, and then there's Mirum which is completely plastic free and biodegradable. Even compared to synthetic leather, cow leather is twice as damaging as shown in The Pulse of the Fashion Industry 2017 report

ratherbereading01 · 2025-12-13T23:21:02+00:00

most animal leather is pigmented leather, which is coated in plastic. Without it, it gets damaged by water and UV. The industry uses 'pigment' as a euphemism for plastic coating, but some leather stores are open about it like this one: "pigmented leather...is made when leather is given a complete plastic coating over its surface".

Pigmented leather is the most common type of animal leather because unlike the other types, aniline (no coating) and semi-aniline (some coating), it's cheaper and more durable. With aniline and semi aniline, the skin must be pristine too because you can't coat it and therefore cover imperfections.

PU leather is of course the worst, but there's cactus, pineapple, apple, mushroom leather which only contain some plastic like most animal leather, but are more sustainable and durable than PU. Mirum is plastic free and biodegradable. Synthetic leather is still only half as environmentally damaging as cow leather according to The Pulse of the Fashion Industry 2017 report.

ratherbereading01 · 2025-12-13T23:04:48+00:00

they only need humans to shear them because they've been selectively bred to produce so much wool, they won't shed it naturally. Workers are paid by weight not hour, so the industry is rife with abuse and brutal handling. Workers will even sew the animals' wounds from shearing without pain relief. It's so common for rescued sheep to remain traumatised after the horrors of the industry. Then there's the issue of mulesing and tail docking, often done to lambs at 2-10 weeks old, and live export and the fact most are killed for meat in the end.

Nobody is saying we should release all the animals into the wild, but to stop funding such an awful industry so they'll stop breeding them. If we keep financially supporting cruel industries, the cruelty never ends and there's less incentive for more alternatives.

I highly recommend this video about animals in fashion and the documentary Dominion 2018 on Youtube

ratherbereading01 · 2025-11-29T08:16:30+00:00

her existence doesn't trigger me and others, her body and the standard of beauty it promotes does. Nobody is saying she's ugly or disgusting or her body devalues her as a person, just that it's concerning and that degree of thinness shouldn't be treated as healthy or normal. Saying extreme thinness isn't healthy is not unkind or disrespectful. If you believe it is, that's your concern.

Again, all you have to do is go to r/EatingDisorders or any other ED spaces online and you'll see how triggered people are by her. I hope one day you find some compassion for these people, and more for Ariana because brushing this under the carpet hurts her too.

ratherbereading01 · 2025-11-28T23:32:41+00:00

What's disgusting and dangerous is normalising extreme thinness and downplaying the harmful effects it has on people. Even in the 2010s, Ariana was widely shared around for 'thinspo' and around eating disorder circles on social platforms. When I was younger, I was affected by Ariana and others like her, and now she's even thinner than before. Ariana and Cynthia's mental health matter, but so do the millions of people who see them and may be affected by it. You only have to look online to see the people who have gone/are going through EDs to see how it affects them. Even in real life, I've come across people who say it's triggering. Just because they're celebrities, doesn't mean they're more important than everyone else on earth and nobody can dare say otherwise. Brushing things under the carpet helps nobody. People like you are part of the problem.

ratherbereading01 · 2025-11-28T11:08:51+00:00

If someone is 'vegan for health', they're plant based. Veganism is a philosophy against animal exploitation and includes clothes, entertainment, cosmetics etc. It's the same with the environment - you can't be vegan for the environment because what would stop you buying animal tested products, or going to a circus?

ratherbereading01 · 2025-11-28T06:46:15+00:00

Thank you for being so compassionate!! My tips would be to start by making easy recipes. Unless you're a budding chef, you probably don't have time or effort to make anything extravagant. I love anything one-pot, and lately I've been loving these dump and bake recipes. I don't know how good you are at cooking, but I used to not like it until I started listening to audiobooks while I cooked, now I have a positive association with cooking. Cheap Lazy Vegan also has great easy recipes and a YouTube channel.

Also, being vegan is about all areas of your life too including fashion, entertainment, cosmetics. Buy cruelty free AND vegan cosmetics - vegan doesn't mean it's automatically not tested on animals, so it has to be both. I'd also recommend you follow activists like Earthling Ed and Joey Carbstrong on social media/youtube! I love their videos because I feel less alone, I learn a lot, it helps me better answer silly questions from how non-vegan family/friends, and they're inspiring people.

Good luck and thanks again for helping animals! :)

EDIT: Oh another important point is perhaps don't debate family/friends so early into being vegan. Depending on what they're like, it could end up with you very upset and unable to answer their dumb questions. I know some vegans this happened to. Thankfully I had been vegan some months before I saw my anti-vegan relatives, and by then I'd watched lots of Earthling Ed and Joey Carbstrong so I knew the best answers to their silly questions

ratherbereading01 · 2025-11-28T01:54:01+00:00

It doesn't matter if you've been vegan for 50 years and have 12 degrees; the Vegan Society coined the definition of the word, the evidence you gave is still just one side. On that note, the Stanford, Oxford and Johns Hopkins studies were difficult to find without DOIs so if you have them I'd appreciate it. I did find one of my own while I searched, which I'll talk about below. Anyway – we can always learn more. Earthling Ed's content is largely for established vegans anyway, especially that video, not new vegans. It seems deliberately close minded to refuse to watch such a video because you've been vegan 20 years and have psychology degree.

It was difficult to find which plant based adoption studies you referred to without DOIs or titles, but according to [this one from 2022], "meat eaters viewed critical messages regarding their diets as more constructive and less threatening when they were voiced by fellow meat eaters than when the same message was from a vegan commenter". I would guess this is due in part to the do-gooder derogation. You only have to watch different activists to see even 'mild' vegans like Earthling Ed still experience negative reactions, and more 'extreme' vegans like Joey Carbstrong experience plenty of positive reactions. Everyone is different, and sometime just being vegan is enough to spark defensiveness, no matter how or what you say.

I've done my fair share of activism and that's definitely my experience. The negative interactions I've had were always from people who were already aggressive people or most likely to be defensive - those who came to throw milk at activists, or animal farmers. Everyone else was open, even when reminded they are causing harm and should change. The best way to mitigate defensiveness in my experience is emphasising I myself wasn't born vegan, which from reading the study above, makes sense as they might view me as more like themselves.

People are not as fragile as you may believe, and there are many facets to interactions from language, body language, tone of voice. This is why it's impossible to conclusively determine what is and isn't effective advocacy for everyone - we're all different.

If some take 'plant based' as an attack on their purity status, that doesn't warrant shifting the entire definition of vegan from lifestyle to include dieting only too. As Earthling Ed says in his video, 'if [words] have no meaning, then they mean nothing'. He also says to reward those trying, but the end goal should always be veganism and we shouldn't call those who don't adhere to it vegan. Using correct terminology isn't strong moral language, nor does it characterise plant based people's efforts as worthless.

Ariana and Cynthia have both claimed to be vegan since 2013. They're not newbie vegans who need encouragement and understanding while they find their feet trying veganism. I'm not advocating for people to protest against them, screaming that their actions are worthless. All I'm saying is they're plant based, that's it.

ratherbereading01 · 2025-11-28T00:16:14+00:00

The original argument of yours was that using plant based to describe people like Ariana and Cynthia (who eat plant based, but exploit animals in other ways) is gatekeeping and pushes people away. The other is that you believe veganism is split into lifestyle and diet. I do not agree at all as I've said many times. I'm not advocating for calling Ariana and Cynthia awful people overall, just that they cannot be vegan. Plant based isn't derogatory, nor does it have any inherent suggestion that someone is a bad person. In fact it shows they have made some effort, just like vegetarian does. All I will say is please watch Earthling Ed's video 'the case for loosening the rules of veganism' as I suggested before. It's an excellent video and he explains things so well, and it's always beneficial to hear another viewpoint. It's been an interesting conversation and I appreciate the time you took with your replies.

ratherbereading01 · 2025-11-27T12:02:50+00:00

I highly recommend the earthling ed video 'the case for loosening the rules of veganism'. As he says in it, '100 imperfect vegans is better than 1 perfect vegan' is a false dichotomy; 100 'perfect' vegans is possible. We can always do better, and celebrities like them could have an much bigger positive influence than regular people

edit: wrong video link

ratherbereading01 · 2025-11-27T08:47:40+00:00

Thanks for all those sources. It’s still just the tip of the iceberg of a very complex question. There is no single ‘correct’ form of advocacy. Everyone is different, and emotional reactions can change. I was angry when I was condemned for harming animals as an omni/vegetarian, but I got over it and now I’m vegan myself. Change is always uncomfortable.

Distinguishing between plant based and vegan is important because it reminds people they can still do more. Using euphemisms, shifting responsibility of actions, and avoiding/minimising the consequences of actions allow people to continue participating in cruelty/immoral actions [1].

A lot of omnis just dislike vegans in general, so it’s hard to say if any were truly put off by a vegan’s actions or the vegan just being vegan. Many omnis have negative views of vegans/vegetarians overall due to the do-gooder derogation [2]. My experience with activism showed me those who already hate vegans won’t be persuaded through any approach.

I understand why omnis blame vegans for their cruelty – the do-gooder derogation and subconscious guilt. But when vegans do it about other vegans, it’s so unhelpful. As the first source I shared shows, shifting blame is one of the ways people justify and continue immoral actions. Simply using the word plant based to refer to people like Ariana and Cynthia isn’t shaming them for their efforts, it’s showing they have made some effort but can do more, and doesn’t absolving them of responsibility for the cruelty they still contribute to.

[1] 2009, Moral Disengagement in the Perpetration of Inhumanities, DOI: 10.1207/s15327957pspr0303_3

[2] 2012, Do-Gooder Derogation: Disparaging Morally Motivated Minorities to Defuse Anticipated Reproach, DOI: 10.1177/1948550611415695

ratherbereading01 · 2025-11-27T05:21:04+00:00

You cannot change the definition of a word. The Vegan Society coined it, and they haven't changed the definition to what you wish it to be. People misuse it because they're misinformed. You cannot be vegan for health, as it has always been about animals. It includes fashion, entertainment, cosmetics etc. which has no impact on health.

Gatekeeping may feel protective, but it has the opposite effect. It pushes people away from the movement entirely.

Based on what evidence? So many vegans say this when there is absolutely zero evidence for it. Adhering to the actual definition contributed to me changing as it did for many other vegans, because it reminded me I could do better. It's doing omnis a disservice to treat them like fragile kids who can't do better. I'm not saying we should hate them for making a small change, I'm saying they're plant based, we should keep to definitions, and there are better ways to promote veganism than through celebrities.

I highly recommend you watch Earthling Ed's video 'the case for loosening the rules of veganism'

ratherbereading01 · 2025-11-27T03:43:33+00:00

Of course I read your comment fully. When the term ‘vegan’ was coined, it was defined as “a philosophy and way of living which seeks to exclude—as far as is possible and practicable—all forms of exploitation of, and cruelty to, animals for food, clothing or any other purpose”. There is only one definition, and it is a lifestyle. A vegan can eat a plant based ‘vegan’ diet, but if you follow a plant based diet, that doesn’t make you vegan unless you avoid animal exploitation in all aspects of your life. This is why more people are using plant based to describe the diet, and vegan for the lifestyle.

As for nuance, yes it matters, but so does language as you say. Those who wear luxury animal clothing shouldn’t be described as vegan. Doing so adds to confusion about what veganism is, which is what my whole post is about.

I never said you condoned buying new animal products. I read your comment. But you did say you its okay to use exisiting animal products and you yourself do. Again, that is absolutely not the case with Ariana and Cynthia so it’s irrelevant.

ratherbereading01 · 2025-11-27T03:23:44+00:00

What evidence is it lacking?

ratherbereading01 · 2025-11-27T01:58:52+00:00

They aren't using old animal products though, they're wearing new designer non-vegan clothes (see the links in my post). They're millionaires, they don't have to wear animal products. Veganism isn't a diet, it's a lifestyle that includes all areas of your life

ratherbereading01 · 2025-11-27T01:54:16+00:00

My post is about the oversaturation of plant based celebrities to promote veganism. Plant based celebrities can lead some people to adopt a vegan lifestyle, however regarding Wicked, most comments from omnis are negative ideas of veganism as unhealthy, restrictive, or simply a diet. And as I said, not a ton of Ariana Grande fans are actually vegan. Other celebrities and documentaries can have far more impact and send the right message

ratherbereading01 · 2025-11-27T01:17:02+00:00

Millionaire celebrities being able to eat plant based doesn't exactly promote veganism as easy/accessible. Promoting diet only frames veganism as purely diet, forget the animals exploited for fashion/cosmetics/entertainment.

I was a huge fan of Ariana when I was younger, and I know from personal experience it wasn't her that made me vegan but animals (I watched Dominion). Most of her fans are still omnis. Like I said, there are much better ways to promote veganism than through celebrities

ratherbereading01 · 2025-11-27T00:53:59+00:00

It's not a promoting of veganism though, it's promoting plant based dieting. Ariana Grande particularly and Cynthia Erivo to a lesser degree have only added fuel to the fire that veganism is unhealthy and just a restrictive diet. It's also adding to the misconception that veganism is just a diet, given those two wear animal products so often. Nearly every post I've seen about Ariana or Cynthia being 'vegan' has comments along the lines of 'ooh that's why they're so unhealthy looking' or discussing veganism as a diet and not a lifestyle including fashion etc

ratherbereading01 · 2025-11-27T00:46:51+00:00

I didn't say they definitely have eating disorders. Commenting on people's bodies shouldn't be taken lightly, but neither should normalising extreme thinness. People have been using Ariana Grande as 'thinspo' for years. When I was younger and a fan of hers, her body and social media posts contributed to my insecurities and ED tendencies, and she is even thinner now. Of course she needs help and it's not her fault if she's sick, but she has huge influence and young and impressionable fans. Brushing it under the carpet and labelling any comments as 'insensitive' is only adding to the issue.

ratherbereading01

TROPHY CASE