Cruelty-Free Beauty, Makeup and Skincare

Are you interested in cruelty-free beauty, makeup and skincare products, but don’t know where to get started? Let this be your guide! I’m going to share my real-life recommendations for every single category from skincare, to hair products, to makeup, to perfume.

Why Shop Cruelty-Free

First off, if you’re not already convinced, let’s talk about what cruelty-free means why should you prioritize buying cruelty-free beauty products. In 2017, it is still very common for beauty products to be tested on animals. You probably know that animal testing being disgusting and cruel (I would prefer not to go into details here), the part that makes it worse is it is completely unnecessary. 

In this modern day, there are plenty of safe ways to test ingredients and products using cell cultures and computers. Additionally, there are already 7,000 ingredients out there that have been proven safe to use. What more do we really need?

It’s important to cast your vote for cruelty-free beauty products with your wallet. This is one of the best ways we can influence the beauty industry to change as average consumers.

And there are really good products and brands out there who are already cruelty-free — it just takes a little double-checking to make sure! I use the website Cruelty-Free Kitty to verify the status of all my beauty products. So let’s get started with my recommendations!

Cruelty-Free Beauty: Skincare

I love Glossier. They offer a “uncomplicated makeup staples,” maybe about 30 products in total at this point. The products are light and natural looking — perfect for the person who wants to look a little put together without looking like you’re wearing a full face of makeup.

It should be no surprise, thus, that my first skincare favorite is the Glossier Milky Jelly Cleanser. It’s a creamy face-wash that leaves your skin feeling soft. It’s perfect for sensitive skin because it’s soap free, paraben free, sulfate free, and gentle.

Next up, an all around skin miracle, coconut oil. I discovered coconut oil in an effort to get rid of makeup remover and/or makeup removing wipes, which are just not eco-friendly. Rumor had it online that coconut oil could completely remove makeup, including waterproof mascara, so I started using it for that purpose and have never turned back. I use it as a facewash and makeup remover in the evenings, cake it on as moisturizer when I sleep, and melt it in my bath for smooth, soft skin.

If you’re new to using coconut oil as a beauty product, or you recently committed to using more natural or ethical beauty products, this comprehensive guide lays out everything you need to know about high-quality, ethically-produced, socially-responsible coconut oil.

Cruelty-Free Makeup: Foundation

It Cosmetics Your Skin But Better CC Cream is a product I was already using before I decided to go cruelty-free with my makeup products, and was really relieved to hear it fit the bill.

This is a really natural-looking foundation. It comes in a tube with a pump, so it’s very easy to apply with your fingers. It’s medium coverage but doesn’t feel heavy on the skin at all, and it wears all day. I have dry skin and it makes my skin nice and glow-y. And miraculously, this product is SPF 50 and cruelty-free — never change!

** In March 2017, It Cosmetics was purchased by L’Oreal, which does test on animals. As far as I’m aware, the It Cosmetics brand remains cruelty-free, but I feel it’s important to know and disclose that the parent company L’Oreal does test on animals.

Eyes

For eye products, I feel you can’t go wrong with Tarte Cosmetics. I own three Tarte eyeshadow palettes (completely excessive, I know! One was a gift!) and find the quality to be incomparable. The shadows go on smoothly and the colors are vibrant — exactly as they look in the pan. The pallettes I own are: Tartelette in Bloom (9 matte and 3 shimmer shadows, warm tones); Swamp Queen (a limited-edition shimmer and luster palette; it also contains a bronzer, blusher and highlighter); and Tartelette Tease (a “pocket-size” pallette– which is what I took with me when backpacking Europe last summer– in matte and luster tones from champagne to neutral brown to plum).

I also recently discovered Tarte Lights, Camera, Lashes Four-in-One Mascara, which is by no means a new product on the market (it’s been a popular product for about a decade) but up until I embarked on my cruelty-free makeup journey I had always purchased drugstore mascaras in the past. This is called a four-in-one mascara because it “lengthens, curls, volumizes, and conditions” your lashes. I notice most how much it lengthens mine. I’ve also been very impressed by how the mascara lasts all day, never smudging or flaking. And yet it washes right off with my coconut oil at night.

Brows

I have really prominent, thick, long brows and I’ve struggled for years figuring out how to groom them. Here’s the routine I’ve landed on:

First I use the Anastasia Beverly Hills Perfect Brow Pencil, which has a little spool to comb out my brows. I didn’t start combing brow hairs until recently and it makes such a difference. Then I use the brow pencil part (I’m in the shade taupe, even though I have really dark brown eyebrows. I had a makeup artist at Sephora match me the first time around) to fill in my brows. This pencil is creamy enough that it’s easy to draw with, but it drys completely so it’s not going anywhere throughout the day.

You’ve heard me rave about Glossier Boy Brow in favorites before, but I absolutely love this product. After I’ve drawn in my brows with the brow pencil, I set them in place with this “pomade” product in the shade brown. The product is applied with what is basically the world’s tiniest mascara wand, and it lets you comb through your eyebrows again and set them into place.

Cheeks

I have two favorite highlighter products, which are both very different. First is the Pixi Beauty Blush Dou in rose gold. This is a powder blush and highlighter combo. It gives your skin a ‘lit from within look’ and I find it to be a pretty prominent highlight. I’ve swirled my brush through the whole compact, and also put part of my brush just in the highlight section and part in the blush section for a more defined look. I love this product and have repurchased it several times (it’s sold at Target), I even wore it on my wedding day, but the packaging bugs me so I don’t have one currently.

The thing that bugs me about the packaging is each little packaged compact comes padded with so much plastic and includes its own mini kabuki brush, which is nice to receive the first time around but then feels wasteful time and time again. I’ve looked online and can’t buy just the compact. *sigh.*

The other highlight product I love is Glossier Haloscope in quartz. Bonus, Haloscope and Boy Brow can be bought on Glossier’s website as “duo” for a little cost savings. This highlighter comes in a stick, and you turn the product up like a sunscreen. You can apply it straight to the skin or apply it to your fingers and then “melt” it into your skin. I typically apply it straight to my cheekbones under my foundation. This is a dewy highlighter and I find it to be more subtle than a powder.

For blush, I like to use Pixi, Tarte, or Glossier blushes. Currently, since it’s winter, I’m loving the Glossier cream blushes, called Cloud Paints. You only need a tiny amount and you can dab them on your cheeks with your fingers. Since my skin is dry in the winter, I like the way these gel/cream products give me some more dewiness. I have the shades haze and dusk.

Swatches of Glossier Cloud Paint in Haze, Glossier Cloud Paint in Dusk, and Glossier Haloscope in Quartz. Haze is a little dark and bold for my skin tone so I only use the tiniest bit and I really sheer it out with my fingers. I also really like haze mixed with dusk. I wear Haloscope under my foundation, paired with either blush product.

Lips

I have had a difficult time finding cruelty-free lipsticks that I like! Please send me your recommendations! Right now it’s winter and I’m living in my Burt’s Bees Beeswax Lip Balm.

Hair

I am a very low-maintenance hair person. I have never colored my hair and I very rarely use heat on it. It pretty much air drys stick straight a-top my head every day. But here are a few hair products I’m using right now that I’m really pleased are cruelty-free!

Drybar Triple Sec 3-in-1 dry shampoo for freshening-up oily hair, or boosting flat hair. I carry a travel size of this with me every time I travel. It works great and it doesn’t have a powerful smell or leave a white-cast in my very dark hair. It’s the best dry shampoo I’ve ever used.

My mother-in-law owns a salon and recently has started carrying the delicious smelling and highly-effective Hempz hair care products. I specifically love the sweet pineapple and honey melon shampoo and conditioner for volume.

And I have to mention coconut oil again! I use this as a hair mask by applying it on my hair (wet or dry) when I’m in the bath. I let it set for 20-30 minutes to deep condition my hair.

Perfume

Perfume can be another tricky one to find cruelty-free beauty products. I recommend the Elizabeth and James line, which is cruelty-free. There are six perfumes to choose from and they are all really unique. My signature scent is Nirvana Bourbon, which is warm and woody smelling. I wear it year-round but it is perfect for the winter season because it smells like fire, bourbon, vanilla, and coziness.

Cruelty-Free Beauty Quick Tips

Hopefully this guide will give you a place to start if you’re interested in discovering cruelty-free beauty brands! I know it can be a little overwhelming at first when you decide to make the switch, so here are three simple things to keep in mind.

1. Know your resources. I love Cruelty-Free Kitty because it has up-to-date information on which brands are cruelty free, as well as pages and pages of good recommendations.

2. Find some brands you know you love, and stick to them! You may have noticed that half of this guide is Tarte and Glossier, for example. I know these brands are 100% cruelty-free and they make good quality products that suite my style. Rather than overthink it, I prefer to just shop these brands I know.

3. Don’t get perfectionist syndrome. I would not recommend digging through your makeup bag and dumping every product you have that isn’t cruelty-free. That’s wasteful, and misses the point — the reason you’re buying cruelty-free is so you can vote with your dollar. If you’ve already purchased the product, there’s not much else to do, so don’t stress it! Just make a slow transition as you replace and repurchase products with cruelty-free beauty products like these.

Enjoy! Peace & love, Emily