Best Alternative Makeup Brands to try in 2026

Hello, Hex Squad! Today I’m sharing some of my favorite alternative makeup brands to try in 2026. This is not an exhaustive list of every single alternative beauty brand in existence, only the ones that I’ve personally shopped at and purchased from. All opinions, as always, are my own. I do also mention if any brands have sent me PR.

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The Quick Answer

The best alternative makeup brands to try in 2026 are Lisa Eldridge, Black Moon Cosmetics, Bellabeautébar, Devinah, Lethal Cosmetics, Unleashia, and Girlcult, based on my 18 years of testing cruelty-free indie and gothic makeup on very fair skin. Below, I cover 25+ brands I’ve personally purchased from, with swatch photos on pale skin, my exact shade picks, discount codes that save you 10-15%, and the brands I’ve stopped buying from and why.

Alternative Makeup Brands to try in 2026

About Face Beauty

About Face Beauty is a cruelty-free and vegan beauty brand created by Ashley Frangipane a.k.a. Halsey. They’re formulated without phthalates, PFAs, parabens, BHA, BPA, retinyl palmitate, mercury or mercury-containing ingredients, resorcinol, urea, and formaldehyde. Find them at their website and Ulta. I recently featured About Face The Performer Foundation F2 Olive and The Illusionist Concealer F2 Olive.

Adept Cosmetics

Adept Cosmetics is an Asian-owned alternative indie brand founded in 2017 by wife and husband Sandra and Tom. They don’t test on animals and use upcycled packaging combined with second hand mirrors whenever possible on over 40% of their palettes. All products are vegan except for Amunet Light and Amunet Dark. I’ve purchased the Cyborg Choir palette, which I adore. I was also sent the Element 115 in PR.

I’m in love with Cyborg Choir! It’s a multi textured palette full of multichromes, holochromes, shimmers and blendable mattes. It’s vegan and does not contain talc, glitter, mica, oil or BHT.

Aromaleigh Cosmetics

Aromaleigh is an alternative OG makeup brand of artisan-crafted cosmetics and natural care products. Everything is handcrafted in small batches in the Blue Ridge Mountains of South Carolina. Cristiana opened in 1988 and they’re cruelty-free with many vegan options. I have been sent PR in the past. Use my code CORDELIA to save 15%.

Bellabeautébar

Bellabeautébar, an alternative indie cosmetics brand, was founded in New York in 2018 but now operates out of Sarasota, Florida, about 90 minutes south of where I used to live in Tampa. They claim to specialize in smudge-proof, water-proof, and long lasting cosmetics with a mixture of handmade and manufactured items to have broad customer appeal. They’re Leaping Bunny Certified cruelty-free. Most of their products are vegan.

I’ve purchased the Basic Witch Palette and absolutely adore it! It’s in my top 3 most used palettes of 2024. Basic Witch has 9 mattes, 2 holo-chromes, 2 multichromes, and 2 duochromes. It’s vegan, paraben free, and cruelty free, though the mattes do contain talc.

Bellabeautébar makes my favorite indie eyeshadow formula for mattes and multichromes. Their holographic formula is beautiful too. Use my code CORDELIA to save 10%.

Black Moon Cosmetics

Cordelia is wearing Black Moon Armageddon a sexy blackened red lipstick — Wearing Black Moon Armageddon, a sexy blackened red lipstick

Black Moon Cosmetics is an awesome alternative makeup brand that makes beautiful highlighters and liquid lipsticks! Sleepwalker is my favorite black lipstick, and I wore it to my gothic wedding. Armageddon is my favorite blackened burgundy metallic lipstick. Black Moon is cruelty-free and vegan. They’re certified by PETA and Leaping Bunny. I have been sent PR in the past.

Blend Bunny Cosmetics

Blend Bunny Cosmetics was created by a makeup artist for people who love makeup that actually blends, is pigmented, and high quality. They are cruelty-free, vegan, and Leaping Bunny certified.

I fell in love with Blend Bunny’s now discontinued Surge palette, but I’ve stayed with the brand for their cool-toned Lure Palette. The Lure palette is so perfect for neutral cool skin like mine! I love all the colors in it!

Cosmic Brushes

Cosmic Brushes by Fay is a UK beauty brand. I love the three palettes I’ve purchased from them. I have the Gothic Palette, the Cooltrals Palette, and the Angelic Palette. They’re affordable and cruelty free.

Devinah Cosmetics

Wearing Fairy Fire and Rain Tarts

Devinah, founded by Deandra, is a west coast indie beauty brand located in Albany, Oregon. The beautiful name means beloved, divine, heavenly. Deandra creates handcrafted, affordable, high-quality hand pressed eyeshadows. They are cruelty-free and PETA certified. Most of their products are vegan. Additionally, their mica is ethically sourced and certified child labor free.

I own so many eyeshadows from Devinah! Fairy Fire, Rain Tarts, Mystic Moonpie, Frozen Waves, Starfire, Fae, Salvatore, Esmaray, Centaurus, Scylla, Skyla, Luna Storm, Moonlit, and Thetis are my shimmers. My mattes include Ravens Frost, Tessa, Elysium, Gloom, Midnight, Zane, Virago, Patrina, Aria, Esme, Ethereal, Jox, Pandora, Suki, Darena, Crixus, Jaded, Elphaba, Patina and Karma.

I also own and love the Phantasia Palette, as well as Prelusion eye primer, and Specular glitter glue.

My most used colors are Fairy Fire, Rain Tarts, Mystic Moonpie, Salvatore, and Starfire.

Use the discount code CORDELIA to save you money at Devinah.

Fyrinnae

Fyrinnae is one of the OG alternative makeup brands! They make beautiful pressed and loose eyeshadows, lip lustres, perfumes, and more!

Girlcult

Girlcult is a Chinese alternative beauty brand known for some of the most artistic makeup packaging in c-beauty, with collections themed around mythology, emotions, and folklore. Their embossed eyeshadow palettes are genuinely too pretty to depot, and their formulas back up the looks. I own four of their palettes, including #45 Sea, #52 Like Fire, #61 Sinensis, and #51 Black Words, and I adore them. Their gradient blushes and lip products are also fantastic. Girlcult states that they are cruelty-free. I purchase their products through YesStyle.

Glam Goth Beauty

Glam Goth Beauty is a black-owned gothic indie makeup brand from Los Angeles, California, founded by Marley Bloodrose. They sell glitter, glitter eye primer, eyeshadow palettes, clothing, jewelry, and more! I love that Marley says “We represent and support EVERYONE and celebrate the alternative and LBGTQ+ community because let’s face it, we are the future!” They are cruelty free with many vegan options.

All Glam Goth Beauty features

Glisten Cosmetics

Glisten Cosmetics is a new to me indie brand from the UK. They’re cruelty-free and vegan, certified by PETA. I love their liquid eyeliners and stamps. I’ve purchased a few of them. I’ve done some whimsical makeup looks with them using the stars along my lashline.

See all Glisten Cosmetics features

Half-Magic Beauty

Half Magic Beauty was founded by Donni Davy, an Emmy Award-winning makeup artist and designer known for her work on HBO’s Euphoria. They’re cruelty-free and vegan. I love their lip pencils, glosses, and liquid eyeshadows. I wish they would release a cool-toned red iridescent gloss! Find them at their website and Ulta.

See all Half-Magic Beauty features

Kaleidos

Kaleidos is a cruelty-free brand founded by beauty blogger Zoey Pu, her boyfriend Tony Chen, and his friend Mark Henry. They are based in China and are committed to cruelty-free beauty. I love their eyeshadow palettes, lip glosses and lip clays, highlighters, and eyeliners. I purchase their products through Kaleidos and YesStyle.

Lethal Cosmetics

Lethal Cosmetics is an awesome alternative makeup brand based in Berlin, Germany. You can also find Lethal at Camera Ready Cosmetics. I have several magnetic stackable makeup palettes filled with my Lethal Cosmetics eyeshadows and blushes. I have been sent PR in the past. My favorite palette that Lethal ever created was the 1UP palette.

Lisa Eldridge Beauty

Lisa Eldridge Beauty is the beauty brand by the talented professional makeup artist Lisa Eldridge. I am in love with her Seamless Skin Foundation, Seamless Glide Eye Pencils, Liquid Silk Liquid Eyeshadows, Liquid Lurex Eyeshadows, True Velvet Lip Colors, and Velveteen Liquid Lip Colors. I’ve also recently ordered her Seamless Skin Enhancing Tint in shade T1.5 to review. You can find Lisa Eldridge products at her website LisaEldridge.com.

Lunatick Cosmetic Labs

Lunatick Cosmetic Labs, founded in 2012, make excellent alternative spooky themed products for spooky people. They’re 100% cruelty free, talc free, paraben free, and vegan. They’re PETA approved. I have been sent PR in the past.

All Lunatick Cosmetic Labs features

Malagna Cosmetics

Malagna Cosmetics is a Mexican alternative makeup brand that loves dark art beauty. Their products are cruelty-free and vegan. They foster a community of gothic and alternative makeup lovers, where mutual support, acceptance and respect are promoted among the entire legion.

I was sent the Ocaso Palette in PR and I adore it, especially the purple glitter shade!

Melt Cosmetics

Melt Cosmetics is an alternative beauty brand based in LA. They started with eyeshadow stacks at events like The Makeup Show, and now you can find them in Sephora. Melt is cruelty free and most products are vegan. They are also Leaping Bunny certified.

Necromancy Cosmetica

Necromancy Cosmetica is a terrific dark and avant-garde alt makeup brand located in Puerto Rico. They started out focusing on high-quality lipsticks and have expanded to eyeshadows. They have 32 lipsticks and 16 eyeshadows and pigments available. And they’re now selling singles! Necromancy Cosmetica is cruelty-free and vegan. I have been sent PR in the past.

All Necromancy Cosmetica features

Rituel de Fille

Rituel de Fille is a luxury alternative witchy makeup brand. They specialize in beautiful cream products. My favorite product from them is their inner cream glows for the cheeks. I have been sent PR in the past. You can find Rituel de Fille on their website, Ulta, and Amazon.

Silk Naturals

Silk Naturals is an alternative indie skin care and natural makeup company in Trumansburg NY. They started making affordable cruelty free clean beauty products in 2006. I especially love their cream blushes, duochrome and multichrome loose eyeshadows, Slick Sticks, and Velvet Matte lipsticks. I have been sent PR in the past. Use the code CORDELIA for 10% off.

Sugarpill

Sugarpill is an excellent alternative gothic indie makeup brand that started around 2010, and I was one of the first bloggers to review them. I adore their loose eyeshadows, liquid lipsticks, blushes, and capsule palettes, which is why they’re one of the best gothic makeup brands. They also make great loose eyeshadows and single eyeshadows. I have been sent PR in the past. You can find Sugarpill at Beautylish too!

Sydney Grace Co

Sydney Grace is an alternative small family-owned cosmetics brand. They’re cruelty-free and all ingredients are ethically sourced. I have been sent PR in the past.

See all Sydney Grace features

Thrive Causemetics

Thrive Causemetics is an alternative makeup brand that believes in the transformative power of beauty. They make my all time favorite mascara, the Liquid Lash Extensions tubing mascara. Their goal is to elevate your daily routine with science-backed solutions that go beyond beauty. Each product is meticulously crafted with proven technologies to address your daily makeup needs, and every purchase you make contributes to one of their 550+ non-profit partners across the U.S.

Makeup for a Cause

Thrive Causemetics purchases help the following causes: cancer, domestic abuse, homelessness and poverty, Veterans, education, racial and social justice, under-resourced youth, and LGBTQ+

Thrive Causemetics products are 100% cruelty-free and 100% vegan. They use the most effective natural ingredients and safest synthetics to create the most beneficial products, and they leave out parabens, sulfates, phthalates, latex, and synthetic fragrance.

If you only ever try one product from Thrive Causemetics, I recommend that it be their Liquid Lash Extensions tubing mascara. I’ve tried the black, blue, purple, green, and pink. They’re all gorgeous! I wish they would make a deep burgundy wine red version.

Get $15 off your first order of $50 at Thrive.

All Thrive Causemetics features

Unleashia

Unleashia is a cruelty-free and vegan Korean beauty brand founded in Seoul in 2018, and they’re PETA certified. The brand encourages you to celebrate creativity without chasing perfection, which is a mission I can get behind. What sold me on them, though, is the packaging: their cushion foundations use an airless squeeze cartridge with no exposed sponge reservoir, and when you hit pan, you buy a refill cartridge instead of a whole new compact. Not enough brands do refillable, and I want to reward the ones that do.

I own the Satin Wear Healthy-Green Cushion in 16N Peach Fuzz and 11N Floral White, plus the Hey Dew Blue Cushion mini in 11N Morning. The Green Cushion’s fair range includes a genuinely neutral yellow shade, which is nearly impossible to find for very fair skin. I purchase Unleashia through YesStyle.

See all Unleashia features

VE Cosmetics

VE Cosmetics is a UK-based alternative makeup brand by Lynsey, who is an AuDHD Vegan with OCD/Tourettes, EDS & Fibromyalgia. She launched her beauty brand in 2015 and it is 100% cruelty-free and vegan. They are also PETA approved. Use code CORDELIA to get 10% off your order.

Wicked Widow Beauty

Wicked Widow Beauty is a cruelty free and vegan alternative makeup brand. They recently released an officially licensed The Crow palette. I have been sent PR in the past.

Notable Brands Not Featured

Everyone has brands that they avoid for different reasons. I’ve removed Terra Moons, Vampyre Cosmetics, and Shroud Cosmetics from my list and no longer buy from them or feature them. Other brands I no longer shop from are Baby Bat Beauty, Portland Black Lipstick Company, Notoriously Morbid, Chaos Cosmetics, or Menagerie Cosmetics. I’ve never shopped at Ensley Reign, Glamlite, or Unearthly Cosmetics and will not buy from them. Honestly, there are more brands I avoid, but they don’t belong in this article. I’ve also retired Lime Crime from this list since they stopped making makeup in 2024, and KVD Vegan Beauty because the quality no longer earns a spot.

For Terra Moons, here’s why. For Vampyre Cosmetics, here’s why. And for Shroud Cosmetics, here’s why. I’ve received PR from all three of them in the past. You can go to Reddit’s BeautyGuruChatter or IndieMakeupAndMore to look up controversy on any brand.

What to do if You Have Problems with a Brand

If you have any issues with a brand you purchase from, I recommend you contact that brand directly. If you cannot get satisfaction from the brand directly, contact the Better Business Bureau and your credit card company or PayPal. You can also comment directly on the brand’s Facebook page, Instagram account, or other social platforms to get assistance.

Don’t leave comments on someone’s review of a brand, because that won’t get you the help you require. You need to contact someone who works directly for the company, or a credit card company or payment processor, to get assistance. In many cases, PayPal has arbitrated cases in my favor when I’ve had to deal with shady companies who were scamming customers.

Final Thoughts

If you love what I create and want to see my blog stay alive, please share my work on Reddit, Facebook, and other places you love to talk about makeup. Google has killed traffic to little blogs like mine. I still get over a million impressions a month, but their AI overview means that people don’t click through to read my blog or see my photos.

I’m always interested in learning about new alternative and gothic makeup brands. If there are any I need to know about, please let me know!

More to See

4 Comments

nat says:

May 22, 2025 at 11:25 pm

Thank you for sharing! Two Gothic indie brands that I CANNOT recommend enough are Shellwe Makeup and Girlcult! Both are cbeauty brands, and they genuinely have the most amazing eyeshadow formulas I have ever used (the Wulfa palette from Shellwe and the blue palette from Girlcult’s Miao Witch collection are insanely beautiful, as is the glitter palette from Girlcults recent herb collection) They both also have some amazing goth lip shades. Girlcult’s pigmented gloss range is INSANELY good, shades J809 (beautiful deep brown shade) and J813 (cool green with subtle red sparkles) are my most worn glosses of all time, and Shellwe’s lip mud in somber garden (mossy green and taro purple duo) is amazingly blurring. Girlcult can be purchased from ChicDecent, Cbeauty mall, and look healthy store (all are legit but I recommend chicdecent, they have better prices), and Shellwe can be purchased from their website and all listed above (with the exception of chic decent). Highly, HIGHLY recommend!

1. Cordelia says:
  
  May 23, 2025 at 9:32 am
  
  Thank you so much for sharing these two brands! I need to add Girlcult to this list! I’ve purchased 4 of their palettes, along with other items and adore them. I’ve got a few YouTube shorts up featuring them as well as this: https://phyrra.net/fast-five-minute-face.html
  
  I purchased Girlcult from YesStyle and ChicDecent. Shellwe is on my list to try in the future.
  
Alex says:

March 19, 2025 at 7:53 am

Hey, just letting you know that Devinah is no longer a good brand to support. They use AI for their palettes now. AI not only steals art from artists who’ve put time and effort into their art, but it also has a huge negative environmental impact.

1. Cordelia says:
  
  March 24, 2025 at 12:25 pm
  
  Hi! I reached out directly to Devinah, because I remember people telling Devinah that they did not like AI art and that Devinah stopped using AI art. Devinah has confirmed that they are not using AI art. To quote Devinah, “Bottom line, we are no longer using AI art.” I have no issue supporting Devinah because they are not currently using AI art.