I’ve never given much thought as to what my makeup was made of. My only concern was that it wasn’t tested on animals and it looked good on. Never did I think my beauty products would have harmful ingredients that could cause cancer, hormone or infertility issues! That’s reason enough for me to change my buying habits.

When it comes to ingredients, I was shocked to find out that the European Union has banned approx. 1,400 ingredients, Canada banned about 600 and the USA only banned 30! In fact, the USA hasn’t made any federal regulations for the cosmetic industry since 1938. That.is.insane.

Okay, so if our government isn’t going to regulate the beauty industry it’s up to the consumer to choose the best products. But, how on earth do we do so when brands aren’t forced to be transparent with ingredients?! Marketers have caught on to the Millennial & Gen Z demand for better products & have gotten creative with their labelling, making it more difficult to differentiate.

Here’s some important terms you should know

Natural Products– Products made via plant extractions, however still use minimal processes. When labelled as ‘derived from,’  this typically means it was an organic item that was then changed via a chemical process.

Organic Products- Organic products take ‘natural’ several steps further: they are made with non-GMO ingredients that have been grown, raised, harvested, manufactured and preserved without chemical herbicides, pesticides, fungicides or antibiotics – giving you products with fewer contaminants

Vegan Products– Products that do not use any ingredients derived from animals such as bee wax, honey, collagen, shellac, keratin etc. Instead, they substitute the animals for plant or fruit extract ingredients and are animal cruelty free!

Clean Cosmetic Packaging- Aside from the direct chemical effects on my skin, we also need to be aware of the effects our cosmetic packaging has. For example, the non recyclable packaging could be broken in to micro beads that are in our water supply. So clean packaging urges brands to use recycled packaging and stop the use of single-use plastic. After all, if a brand decides to be vegan I expect them to be using clean packaging.

* It’s typical to have a brand that fits within multiple categories

I’ve been on the hunt for vegan beauty brands and was shocked by how many new brands were emerging, yet disappointed at larger brands we already know and love, that have not yet converted.

I’ve recently posted a request for clean beauty brands to try out for this blog post and happily received many responses. In order to give fair  recommendations, I’ve been testing them over time. I still have more to test, so this certainly wont be my last blog on this topic. I’m actually reviewing more skincare & hair brands too (coming soon!)

Brands

Elf Cosmetics is a vegan beauty and skincare brand. You can find them in most drugstores and unlike other vegan brands they are sold at affordable prices! In general, I’m a fan of  e.l.f.’s green values as they also focus their efforts synthetic/vegan brushes and clean packaging.

Two Faced is a brand I’ve been fond of for years; before I even thought about what my makeup consisted of. Whilst not all of their makeup is Vegan friendly, they do have a large selection to choose from. Not to mention, they always come up with great product names.

Beauty Counter is an amazing brand whose mission is ‘to get safer products into the hands of everyone.’ They too have both beauty and skincare products in which they’ve banned over 1500 questionable ingredients. Many customers, such as my friend Beth, have actually turned in to sales reps to help promote their movement.

Clarins is a French brand that has many natural products but moving towards more vegan products with the ‘My Clarin‘ line. I really hope to try the My Clarin line soon and let you know my thoughts!

Lime Crime is a certified vegan and animal cruelty free makeup brand. Their makeup pops, and have fun hair sprays for the perfect festival look. Thus far I have only tried their eyeshadows but really liked the lip colors I saw online too.

Product Reviews

Eyeshadows:

• Elf Cosmetics pallets: nude rose gold & 18 hit wonders. They have a great selection of colors and are priced very well.
• Beauty Counter pallet:Velvet Eyeshadow Romantic. Before knowing the name of this eyeshadow, I legit said it felt like velvet. I was really impressed with the texture and the   colors were beautiful.
• Lime pallet: Venus Xl Pallet .This is a really fun pallet with a lot of color and shimmer. I was really happy to see the colors lasting through out the night.

Skin: Primers/Concealers/ Powder:

• A while ago a makeup artist, Raquel, recommended the Two Faced Chocolate Soleil bronzer. It’s been one of my go-to’s for years…which may or may not be because it smells like chocolate.
• Clarins I currently use their skin illusion foundation (with spf 15- color honey) which smells so good and instant concealer on a daily basis.   Whenever I have a blemish I will also use the instant smooth  under my foundation so it sits really smoothly on my skin. Lastly,  I’ve quickly ran out of their setting spray, Fix makeup. I liked it a lot but the bottle leaked often since it’s a bit expensive I didn’t run back to buy  more as I want to try a vegan setting spray.
• Offering the most variety of products is Elf Cosmetics. When it comes to my skin I can be picky as I don’t want to cause breakouts or look unnatural.  Although I don’t wear too much coverage I tried the poreless putty primer, jelly highlighter, warm bronzer and HD powder for nights out and felt comfortable. Next I’d like to try their mist & set spray along with more skincare products- I read it’s great.

Lipsticks

• Dr Lipp offers a multi purpose lip gloss for dry skin areas and even nipples. After all, it is the original nipple cream!
• Beauty Counter delivered again with their lip products. I used their color intense lipstick  and their lip gloss which both offer so many shades. Again I was happy with how they stayed on. In addition, they shape and size they were designed in fits easily in an evening clutch.
• The Elf Cosmetics gloss wasn’t my favorite color but I’m adding it because the gloss didn’t clump on my lips and I’m sure other shades would look better on my skin tone 🙂

I still have a lot of brands and products to try, so I’m sure there will be a sequel! If you know of any brands you’d like me to review, let me know!  I hope this was helpful in explaining why we should be aware of our makeup ingredients and what to look for!