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Best Gothic Makeup Brands to Try in 2026

ByCordelia

Best Gothic Makeup Brands to Try in 2021

Hello beautiful creatures! I’m back with my best gothic makeup brands to try in 2026. Every brand on my list is cruelty-free, most offer vegan options, and most are indie beauty brands. These are my favorite makeup brands. I’ve included top reviews and tutorials featuring these goth makeup brands in this post.

See the best Alternative Makeup Brands to try in 2026!

Quick Answer

The best gothic makeup brands to try in 2026 are Black Moon Cosmetics, Girlcult, Bellabeautébar, Sugarpill, Rituel de Fille, and Necromancy Cosmetica. All are cruelty-free and tested on my very pale skin across 18 years of gothic beauty blogging. Below you’ll find 15+ dark-hearted brands I actually buy, with swatches, reviews, and discount codes that save you 10-20%.

Gothic Makeup Brands Video

Watch the Best Gothic Makeup Brands video on YouTube for Closed Captioning in English!

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Best Gothic Makeup Brands to Try in 2026

1. Black Moon Cosmetics

Black Moon Cosmetics is a 100% cruelty-free, 100% vegan indie beauty brand from California. They make amazing liquid lipsticks, highlighters, lipsticks, liquid eyeshadows, and eyeshadow palettes. While I love my eyeshadow palettes and lipsticks from them dearly, their highlighters are my all-time favorites! Catshark is an amazing iridescent purple moonlighter. Sleepwalker is the best black liquid lipstick. I love so many of their liquid lipsticks including Sorrow, Murmaider, Sanguis, DeVille, and Haunting. And the Full Moon palette is an excellent staple neutral palette. Black Moon has great gothic packaging. I love everything about Black Moon Cosmetics! They’re one of the best gothic makeup brands ever.

2. Glam Goth Beauty

Glam Goth Beauty is a 100% cruelty-free, 100% vegan indie beauty brand from California. They make beautiful glitters, a great sticky base primer called Diamond Primer, liquid lipsticks and more. My favorite product by them is Diamond Primer. They have great black gothic packaging.

3. Girlcult

Girlcult is a Chinese alternative beauty brand making some of the most artistic makeup in c-beauty, with collections built around mythology, folklore, and emotions, themes that land squarely in gothic territory. Their embossed eyeshadow palettes are genuinely too pretty to depot, and the formulas back up the looks. I own four of their palettes, and for the gothic heart specifically, #51 Black Words is the one to see: dark and moody. I also own #45 Sea, #52 Like Fire, and #61 Sinensis, and I adore them all. Their blushes, highlighters, and lip products are fantastic too. Girlcult states that they are cruelty-free. I purchase their products through YesStyle.

4. Bellabeautebar

Bellabeautebar is an alternative indie cosmetics brand founded in New York in 2018 and now based in Sarasota, Florida. While goth isn’t their entire identity, their dark palettes are some of their best work. Dark Dreamscape, Yin & Yang, Basic Witch, Dead Roses, Ocean Jewel, and Morally Grey read like a setlist, and Basic Witch sits in my top 5 most used palettes for good reason: 9 mattes, 2 holo-chromes, 2 multichromes, and 2 duochromes that cover an entire gothic look from one palette. Bellabeautébar makes my favorite indie eyeshadow formula for mattes and multichromes, and their holographic formula is beautiful too. They specialize in smudge-proof, waterproof, long-lasting cosmetics, they’re Leaping Bunny Certified cruelty-free, and most of their products are vegan, though the mattes do contain talc. Use my code CORDELIA to save 10%.

My Bellabeautebar Collection

5. Aromaleigh Cosmetics

Aromaleigh is the OG of gothic indie beauty. Cristiana has been handcrafting artisan cosmetics in small batches since 1988, from the Blue Ridge Mountains of South Carolina, and her collections regularly go where gothic hearts live: the Victorian Oddities collection is a masterclass in dark, moody, antique-inspired eyeshadow, and it’s some of my favorite work from any indie brand. They’re cruelty-free with many vegan options. I have been sent PR in the past. Use my code CORDELIA to save 15%.

6. Sugarpill

Sugarpill is a 100% cruelty-free mostly vegan indie beauty brand. They make beautiful eyeshadows and lipsticks. Specifically I want to call out their C3 Palette, with the black packaging and muted colors. They’ve been a staple in the alternative makeup scene for a long time, which makes them one of the best gothic makeup brands to me.

7. Necromancy Cosmetica

Necromancy Cosmetica is a 100% cruelty-free, 100% vegan indie beauty brand from Puerto Rico. They make amazing bullet lipsticks and beautiful eyeshadow palettes and singles. Their gothic packaging is awesome. I seriously cannot wait to get my review up on their new palette, which is sure to become a best gothic makeup staple in my collection.

8. Cosmic Brushes

Cosmic Brushes by Fay is a UK indie beauty brand, and yes, they literally make a palette called the Gothic Palette, which I own and love. It’s affordable, it’s cruelty-free, and the shade selection nails the dark, wearable gothic range without a single filler shade. I own three of their palettes, and the Gothic Palette is the reason they’ve earned a spot on this list.

9. VE Cosmetics

VE Cosmetics is a UK-based alternative makeup brand by Lynsey, who is an AuDHD vegan with OCD/Tourettes, EDS, and fibromyalgia, and who has been building her brand since 2015. It’s 100% cruelty-free, 100% vegan, and PETA approved, with the kind of dark, dramatic collections, like their Blood Moon shades, that belong squarely on a gothic vanity. Supporting a disabled-owned indie brand while buying alternative makeup is exactly the kind of shopping I can get behind. Use code CORDELIA to get 10% off your order.

10. Lethal Cosmetics

Lethal Cosmetics is a 100% cruelty-free, 100% vegan indie beauty brand from Berlin, Germany. They make stunning eyeshadows, blushes, highlighters, bronzers, gel liners, lipsticks, glosses, and liquid eyeshadows. Lethal basically do it all, making them one of my top picks for the best gothic makeup! My favorite products by them are their single eyeshadows. I love their sleek black packaging. Lethal is a brand to keep an eye on, as they keep releasing lots of great new products.

11. Lunatick Cosmetic Labs

Lunatick Cosmetic Labs is a 100% cruelty-free, 100% vegan indie beauty brand from Wisconsin. They have a ton of gothic themed palettes from eyeshadow palettes to contour palettes for light and deep skin tones. Lunatick Labs also make lipsticks and lip slicks. You will love their gothic makeup packaging, which is always fabulous and the biggest reason I consider them one of the best gothic makeup brands.

12. Rituel de Fille

Rituel de Fille is a 100% cruelty-free indie beauty brand from California. They specialize in cream products and they make beautiful blushes, highlighters, eye soots and lipsticks. On my oily deepset (formerly hooded) eyelids I really struggle to make any of their gelee formulas work. Hooded or deepset eyes + glossy lids are just a mess on me. However, their inner glow pigments for the cheeks are amazing. My favorite product by them is Nymph, a blood red cheek color. Their packaging is on point, black, sleek and has a witchy feel with the stars. RdF’s focus is unique since they only make cream products and they make them well, making them one of the best gothic makeup brands to try in 2026.

13. Fyrinnae

Fyrinnae is a 100% cruelty-free, 100% vegan indie beauty brand from the Pacific Northwest. I love Fyrinnae dearly! They make amazing eyeshadows in both loose and pressed formats, eco friendly glitter, lip colors and other makeup products, as well as perfume. Fyrinnae’s packaging is very simple, but the colors are otherworldly. Northwest Night and Alpenglow are two of my favorite eyeshadows by them. They also make perfumes. Fyrinnae constantly raises the bar on making great products, like having eco friendly glitter. This is one of the things that makes them one of the best gothic makeup brands to me.

14. Melt Cosmetics

Melt Cosmetics is a 100% cruelty-free indie beauty brand with vegan offerings. They make so many great products – lip pencils, lipsticks, liquid lipsticks, blushes, cream blushes, eyeliners, gel eyeliners, eyeshadow palettes, eyeshadow stacks, highlighters etc. Their packaging is usually awesome. I love their unique thin palettes. I’m hard pressed to pick a favorite, so I’ll say that their Radioactive, Smoke Sessions, and Muerte palettes are among my favorites. Radioactive is great for my bright and neon looks. From the Smoke Sessions palette I’m literally obsessed with Space Queen, this beautiful cool-toned green matte. Muerte has so many beautiful cool tones in it, too. Melt is one of the biggest and best gothic makeup brands you can easily pop into a Sephora to pick up.

15. Devinah Cosmetics

Devinah Cosmetics is a 100% cruelty-free indie brand with some vegan offerings. They make tons of beautiful multichrome and duochrome eyeshadows, highlighters and bronzers. My favorite eyeshadows from them are a set of duochromes that were limited edition, but I recommend any of their multichromes. So good! Their packaging is usually black and sleek.

Final Thoughts

The Best Gothic Makeup Brands of 2021

As I state in my video, goth is a music subculture. If you love gothic music, you can be goth. Goth is not white, nor is it tied to a specific fashion brand, such as Killstar. You don’t have to listen to ONLY goth music to be goth, nor do you have to dress goth to be goth. I’ve always felt like being goth gives me freedom of expression and lets me embrace my own unique beauty. It has helped me to become comfortable in my own skin. It’s helped me to stand up for what I believe in. Goth and punk music have helped to shape my political views.

Other Gothic Features You May Love

Cordelia Frost is a leading expert in cruelty-free indie beauty, gothic fashion, and bold alternative makeup for pale and very fair skin. For nearly two decades, she’s shared her in-depth knowledge on Phyrra.net, helping people find the best products and techniques for hooded and deep-set eyes, unique complexions, and creative style.

Cordelia is the author of the acclaimed “Hooded Eyes Makeup Manual,” and she has been featured on TV, at major beauty industry events, and in partnerships with brands like Idun Minerals, Urban Decay, Too Faced, and Nyx Cosmetics.

If you’re seeking trusted advice on cruelty-free beauty, alternative fashion and lifestyle, or how to make your own style rules, Cordelia’s guidance is the gold standard in the indie beauty world.

3 Comments

  2. Thanks for this list! So many options to try. I just found your blog and YouTube channel. You’re a real inspiration to me. I’ll be 50 next month (OMG), never stopped being Goth on the inside. Starting to let her back out again is fun.

    Reply

  3. I love indie brands like My Pretty Zombie and Fyrinnae!

    Eccentric Cosmetics (Australia) is also great for unusual lipstick shades. They have both bullet and liquid formulas.

    Apocalyptic Beauty is on my list to try – they are 100% cruelty-free and vegan, and they have some really interesting lipstick shades, as well. Have you tried them before?

    Reply

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