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This past weekend, I was doing a bit of holiday shopping, and to my surprise I stumbled upon some amazing cruelty-free body care product deals in the most unlikely of places.

Maybe everyone else has known this for eons, but while shopping at TJ Maxx and Marshalls, I saw some fantastic bargains on products from companies like Nature’s Gate, Jason Natural, EO Products, Mrs. Meyers, and more. You just have to look in their special health and beauty care sections.

Furthermore, both stores had a lot of great nonwool sweaters and scarves and even a few synthetic-down jackets. There were also lots of nonleather shoes at a fraction of the price that they would cost in most department stores.

Another store where I have recently spotted some over-the-top deals on cruelty-free products is Big Lots. Big and bright orange on the outside—a virtual treasure chest of cruelty-free finds on the inside. On recent trips, I have seen everything from cheap tubes of Tom’s of Maine toothpaste to highly discounted bottles of Method laundry detergent. Last time, I even scored some Freeman face wash for $1.50.

So, if you’re looking to stretch your holiday budget by buying cheaper personal-care products for yourself so that you can spend more on gifts for others, you might want to give TJ Maxx, Marshalls, and Big Lots a try. Who knows? Maybe you’ll find the perfect gift for that hard-to-shop-for person on your list in the process.

The holidays are upon us, and to many of us, that means not just piling the Tofurky and vegan pumpkin pie on our plates, but also piling an extra couple of pounds on the bathroom scale.

Fortunately, there is a new program that can help you and animals this holiday season: The PETA Pack.

By participating in the PETA Pack, you can raise money to help animals and keep your weight in check so that the holidays don’t leave you with something like the “Freshman 15″ around your waist.

By joining the PETA Pack, you will gain access to 13 fun weeks of professional coaching from Coach Darren, the “pack leader.” He will help you learn how to run if you’re just starting or help you achieve new goals if you’re already a runner. You’ll also get great vegan diet tips and helpful exercise training information.

At the conclusion of the 13 weeks, on February 1, 2009, a race will be held in San Francisco. If you can’t make it to the race, you can still join in spirit and run a race in your own hometown.

So, what are you waiting for—join the PETA Pack today!

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Does shopping for cruelty-free deodorant have you up in arms? When looking for a deodorant product, everyone has different needs. Whether you are shopping at your local health food store, drugstore, mega-mart or online, the world of cruelty-free deodorants has something for everyone.

Fortunately, cruelty-free deodorants are popping up all over the place. The following cruelty-free products are all fairly easy to find and one of them is sure to meet your needs, whether you need a strong antiperspirant, deodorant, a natural deodorant stone, or even if you would like to make your own product:

Antiperspirants
Antiperspirants are chemical agents that reduce perspiration or sweating.

Almay
Avon
Certain Dri
Estée Lauder
Mitchum

Deodorants
Deodorants are not antiperspirants—they do not prevent sweating. They work by masking the smell produced by sweat-eating bacteria.

Burt’s Bees Herbal Deodorant
Jason
Nature’s Gate
Tom’s of Maine

Deodorant Stones
This is nature’s deodorant: A combination of mineral salts that control odor-causing bacteria.

Body Crystal
Crystal Body Deodorant
Deodorant Stones of America
L’OCCITANE

Homemade Deodorant
If you are feeling ambitious, you can even make your own deodorant. I like the essential oils from Aura Cacia. Some people are sensitive to essential oils, so always do a small test on your skin and wait 24 hours to see if you have an adverse reaction before applying liberally.

On a small saucer, mix the following oils with your finger. Once combined, massage a thin layer of the oil under your arms until completely rubbed in:

1 drop essential rose oil
6 drops jojoba oil
2 drops essential lavender oil
1 drop essential vanilla oil

Click here to search for more cruelty-free brands and please post about your favorite cruelty-free deodorant too!

Fantasy Makers’ Red Devil Kit

At my local megamart, somewhere in between the end-of-season patio-furniture blowout aisle and the ridiculously early Christmas display is an aisle brimming with ghoulish delights, marking the arrival of Halloween season.

This year, in addition to stocking up on all your favorite fall makeup colors that will have your eyes and lips complementing the seasonal changes of leaves’ colors, be sure to check out the unnatural shades of captivating Fantasy Makers Halloween makeup from Markwins—the makers of the fabulous Wet n Wild, Black Radiance and Tropez cosmetics lines. The Fantasy Makers line has everything you need to top off your Halloween costume and get your look party-ready—no matter whether you are going as a zombie diva, a liberated lobster, or a prom queen.

To help you get ready to have the best costume ever, the compassionate folks at Markwins are giving you the chance to win a prize pack of some of their most hauntingly beautiful products. Three lucky winners will get a prize pack containing Deadly Rose nail color, R.I.P. glowing nail color, Silver Pixie loose confetti, Witches Charm lashes, a Red Devil Kit, Wicked Talons, and Wild & Wicked Tattoos!

This contest is now closed. Check out our searchable database of cruelty-free companies for more cruelty-free shopping ideas. Thanks to all who entered!

P.S. What do vegetarian zombies eat? GRAAAAAINS!

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This weekend, while shopping and catching up on errands, I kept seeing this fantastic set of cruelty-free and environmentally friendly makeup brushes pop up in every store I went to. They are called EcoTools, and from what I noticed this weekend, they seem to be available everywhere.

Instead of being made of animal hair, these brushes have animal-free taklon bristles made from soft and pliable synthetic hair. The handles are made from bamboo, and the metal coverings are fashioned from recycled aluminum cans! The pack I got even came with a hemp carrying case. Of course, I tried them as soon as I got home, and they are fabulous! Their eyeshadow brush gives you great control for creating dramatic color layers.

These brushes are too good to be true. As if being environmentally friendly, available everywhere, and cruelty-free weren’t enough, they are also extremely affordable. A set of five will only set you back about $10. Now, what are you waiting for? Go get your eco-chic on!

Tonight, the Regeneration Tour—featuring the bands A Flock of Seagulls, The Human League, Naked Eyes, and Belinda Carlisle—is in my town. It’s a new-wave dream come true—much like Medusa’s Make-Up.

With eye-popping jewel colors like “Rapture” purple and “Radioactive” turquoise, this striking line of cosmetics brings out the ’80s in all of us. Boldly going where no makeup has gone in at least 20 years, there is more to Medusa’s Make-Up than its vibrant pallet of 60 pigments and 45 glitter hues—Medusa’s Make-Up is also all-natural, affordably priced, and not tested on animals!

Time is almost up for you to enter to win an awesome pack of makeup and brushes that will get you from zero to glamtabulous in no time. There are only three days left to enter, so turn on your favorite ’80s new wave and enter the contest now!

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Back-to-school styles have to include the latest, trendiest shoes for fall. This year, MooShoes.com is teaming up with PETA to offer 10 percent off your entire online purchase. With such a huge selection of beautiful all-vegan styles—from dress boots to sneakers to strappy sandals—to choose from, you’ll be able to show your friends that compassion is the only fashion!

Visit MooShoes.com now and start shopping. Enter the code “veganstyle” at checkout. Hurry, because this coupon expires September 30!

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There’s a reason why I don’t move very often, and that reason is … moving stinks! And I’m not talking in some metaphorical way, like I’ve been cranky and tired and sore for the last two weeks and thinking “this stinks!” No, I mean quite literally that moving stinks. People use bleach, window cleaners that are full of chemicals, “all-purpose” cleaners, and wood cleaners that smell like fake pine trees … blech! Usually when someone moves out of my apartment building, the whole place stinks like a chemical waste site for days.

This can’t be good for our health, the environment, and animals. Lots of household products use outdated, cruel, unnecessary, and inaccurate tests to determine the safety of their products. Sorry, but smearing chemicals into Peter Cottontail’s eyes during a Draize test to see what will happen is just plain wrong. Rabbits may endure blindness, bleeding scabs, and ulcers.

But fear not! There are plenty of household cleaning products that are not tested on animals! You can check out a full list here.

I just used method products to clean my apartment. They have wood cleaners, glass cleaners, all-purpose cleaners, toilet bowl cleaners, and the “omop,” which Method brands as “nontoxic microfiber floor love for wood floors.” I mean, these people have everything you could ever want. And with scents like lemon ginger, cucumber melon, sweet water, almond, and ylang-ylang, your house will smell like a farmers’ market instead of a toxic dump. They are available at a fair price and are easy to find (lots of grocery stores carry them, as do most Target stores), and they destroy dirt like no other. And by not buying products that were tested on animals, you can sleep better at night knowing that rabbits’ eyes are safe and you and your neighbors aren’t choking on icky fumes and chemicals.

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My boyfriend’s nonvegan brother and sister-in-law came over for his birthday last week, although Jay (the bf) wouldn’t let me acknowledge that it was for his birthday. “They’re just coming over for lunch, and we happen to be having cake for dessert,” he said. OK, whatever. I cried a little inside about not having birthday candles and moved on.

We both revel in treating nonvegans to delicious vegan food. So when Jay’s normally laid-back brother started looking a little breathless and said, “So, there really aren’t any eggs in this cake? It’s so moist,” we both smiled. I said, “No, of course not. You don’t need eggs to make a good cake,” and I grabbed my copy of The Joy of Vegan Baking to show them some recipes (everything in that cookbook is absolutely amazing).

Whenever Jay and I serve vegan food to nonvegans, he always repeats the same line like a mantra: “Nothing you’ve eaten today had any cholesterol!” It’s like we’re on an infomercial, and I try to stifle my laughter. The thing is that for Jay, it’s not really a laughing matter. His father passed away suddenly from a heart attack in his 50s, and Jay’s brother’s cholesterol and triglycerides are dangerously high. He’s not even 40 yet, and he’s on cholesterol-lowering drugs. Jay’s cholesterol, on the other hand, is 123. To put that in perspective, the average meat-eating American’s cholesterol is 210, while the average vegan’s cholesterol is 133.

When my stepfather had a serious heart attack last December, his doctor told him two things: 1) You’re very lucky to be alive (the type of heart attack he had is referred to as a “widow maker”), and 2) A vegan diet is the healthiest. While he hasn’t gone fully vegan, he’s significantly reduced his consumption of animal products and increased the amount of vegetarian foods he eats. When you consider that vegetarians live longer, have a significantly reduced risk of many chronic diseases (including heart disease), and don’t smell when they’re old, going vegan seems like a no-brainer to me—especially if you can still eat delicious cake.

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While I certainly enjoy the full spectrum of cruelty-free products, I appreciate the convenience and value that come from popping into my local 24-hour drugstore at 10 p.m. when I have run out of health and beauty items. Cruelty-free products are now easier to find than ever, and you don’t need to spend a fortune—after all, maybe you are saving up a bit to splurge on some Stella McCartney boots for the fall! These days, you can easily fill up your cart with shampoo, conditioner, body wash, bubble bath, laundry detergent, and lip gloss and still pay less than $10. The following are some of my favorite cruelty-free thrifty finds:

White Rain: Fabulous shampoos, conditioners, body washes, hair sprays, gels, and mousses—all for only $1 each.

Sun Laundry Care: Has a full line of detergents and softeners that typically cost anywhere from $1 to $3.

Mr. Bubble Bubble Bath: After all these years, they still makes the best bubbles no matter what your age is—and it’s very gentle on your skin. Regular-size bottles usually run about $2, and just like when many of us were kids, you can still save up proofs-of-purchase and send away for the cool T-shirt!

Wet n Wild Cosmetics: Luscious lip glosses, eye shadows, liners, and more. Generally priced in the $1 to $3 range. Markwins, the company that owns Wet n Wild, also owns the Black Radiance and Tropez cosmetic lines.

Jane Cosmetics: Lots of deep pigment eye shadows, lip colors, mascaras, and super conveniently designed packages of mineral make-up. Jane products start at around $3.

Palmer’s Skin Care: Rich cocoa butter and olive oil facial moisturizers, soaps, body lotions, and hair products—all affordably priced and starting around $2.

Search for more cruelty-free products here.

Happy budgeting!