[2] The initial fundamental purpose of the charitable trust was to demonstrate that alternatives to cruelly derived clothing and cosmetics were easily obtainable and, if they did not exist, to get them on the market.
[4] In 1963, Dowding set up Beauty Without Cruelty Limited (BWC Ltd), the trading branch of the charity, so their cruelty-free cosmetics and other products, including simulated furs could be sold.
[2] The charity, now known as the BWC Charitable Trust, established branches in Australia, New Zealand, India, South Africa, United States,[2] Canada,[3] Scotland, Wales, Ireland, the Netherlands, Kenya, Rhodesia, Japan,[5] Finland and Hong Kong.
They exposed the cruelty behind the barbaric fur trade in order to change public opinion, whilst also demonstrating the suffering inflicted on animals.
[2][4] People began writing to Dowding, and national papers, radio and television picked up on the story and the movement escalated, becoming clear that many were anxious to help.
[10] Alongside BWC’s exposure of the fur trade, Dowding brought the public’s attention to the use of animal ingredients in cosmetics, which were obtained in no less of a cruel and ruthless manner.
She learnt a closely guarded trade secret, that cosmetic companies also tested their products on animals, on a very large scale, often in horrific ways.
[9] This knowledge led to an important part of BWC’s early work, examining claims made by manufacturers that their products were free from cruelty.
Eventually through trial and error, Long, on behalf of BWC, developed the first full range of cruelty-free cosmetics, created from the finest oils and essences of plants, herbs and flowers.
As charities could not enter trade, he also created a limited company, Beauty Without Cruelty Ltd, under which the cruelty-free products they promoted and manufactured could be sold.
[16] Dowding searched unsuccessfully for a shop that would have a Beauty Without Cruelty counter, due to the conflict of interest with many of the established cosmetic firms.
[11] A quarterly journal, Compassion, covered BWC’s activities and published articles on kindred subjects in the wider humanitarian field.
[22][23] BWC was supported by its president Lord Dowding and vice presidents, who included Michaela Denis, Spike Milligan and his wife Patricia Ridgeway (Paddy), Brigid Brophy, Maureen Duffy, Tony Britton, Grace Cooke, Rupert Davies, Harry Edwards, Dr. Richard St. Barbe Baker, Eva Batt,[5] Rukmini Devi Arundale, Patrick Moore and others.
In 1970, Dowding asked former top fur model Celia Hammond to observe the seal cull off the Gulf of St Lawrence, Canada, to help raise awareness on behalf of BWC.
[citation needed] With his business expertise and dedication to animal rights, Piccioni helped lead BWC Ltd to launch its lines in the United States in 1989.
[31] In 1979, Dr Ethel Thurston, head of BWC (U.S.A.) coordinated a week of anti-fur protests in New York, with guests Lady Dowding and actress Gretchen Wyler, to coincide with the American International Fur Fair.
Their motto is: "Beauty Without Cruelty is a way of life which causes no creature of land, sea or air terror, torture or death".
Beauty Without Cruelty is also an independent company in the United States that continues to produce a full line of cruelty-free, vegan skin, body and haircare products.