You really want my updated list for 2016 – Best Indie Beauty Brands.
The following companies are some of my favorite indie companies. They are, for various reasons, companies I choose to shop at and support. You may find my Mineral Makeup: What to Look For When Buying.
More to Read
- My Favorite Places to Shop
- The Easy Way to go Cruelty Free
- The Pale Girl’s Guide to Highlighting
- Cruelty Free Brands at Sephora
- 10 Life Changing Beauty Hacks You Need to Know
Caveat Emptor
On the Nixed section of this page is a list of companies I personally avoid for various reasons, mostly bad customer service, questionable business practices or ethics, or products that don’t meet my standards. As with any company, if you have a problem or an issue, try emailing their customer service first to see what sort of response you get. A company can only fix a problem if they know about it.
Sugarpill
Sugarpill products are fantastic! They’re highly pigmented, bright and easy to work with. They come in loose shadow form and pressed shadow form. They actually rekindled my love of pressed shadows. You can read my Indie Spotlight here.
Darling Girl Cosmetics
DG has beautiful eyeshadows and excellent customer service. They’ve got a lot of gorgeous and complex colors. Check out their watercolor paint pots! I’m also in love with Glitter Glue, which is an easy way to make your eyeshadows pop.
Makeup Geek
Makeup Geek shadows were created by Marlena of Makeup Geek! I love her tutorials and her blog, as well as her site. The shadows she created are cruelty-free and really a fantastic value for the price. She has MAC clones and unique creations. Give her eyeshadows and pigments a chance, they’re beautiful. Also, the customer service is great.
Silk Naturals
If you’re looking for MAC clones, Silk Naturals has them. They also have great unique products and beautiful colors. The lipsticks are really nice, too. They ship lightning fast! Read my Indie Spotlight here.
Saucebox Cosmetics
They make great eyeshadows and their pans are interchangeable with Sugarpill pans.
Fyrinnae
They’re a vegan online makeup company. They’re drama free and make amazing products! Their shades are quite complex, just check out their Arcane Magic line, so some are best worn by patting on the color, or by using Pixie Epoxy. You can read my Indie Spotlight here.
Meow Cosmetics
Tammy from Meow has a ton of amazing blushes and foundation, too. I think there’s a shade of foundation for every skintone. She also does seasonal and holiday releases such as the Friday the 13th, Halloween & the Christmas Holidays. You can read my Indie Spotlight here.
Morgana Cryptoria
Melissa makes amazing vegan lipsticks and pretty eye shadows. They’re a holy grail product for me. My favorites are Troll Repellant, Saloon Spirits and Nutmeg. In the eye shadows Druscilla’s Sister, Transylvanian Twist, Broomstick, Coraline and Glitter Ghoul steal my heart. And you simply MUST try the semi-loose Don’t Blink or Witchy Winter Wonderland collections! They’re her best eyeshadows yet! You can read my Indie Spotlight here.
Glamour Doll Eyes
Vee does a great job at making beautiful colors. You can read my Indie Spotlight here.
Geek Chic Cosmetics
This is a great geek company with some beautiful color collections. Read my Indie Spotlight here.
KBShimmer
I love the glitters and duochromes that they create. They also make my favorite top coat, Clearly On Top. Plus, the cuticle oil and hand creams are great.
Literary Lacquers
I love the holographic polishes! Pan Galactic Gargle Blaster and Camille are my two favorites.
Femme Fatale Cosmetics
Femme Fatale Cosmetics is a company that is based in Australia. They’ve got some gorgeous duochrome shades and beautiful nail polish.
Pretty Serious Cosmetics
Pretty Serious Cosmetics is another Australian company by the awesome blogger Kaz. Her nail polishes are beautiful and I like her eyeshadows.
Dreamworld Minerals
Ellie from DreamWorld makes her own eye shadows. She’s got some really interesting collections, too. She likes vibrant color! She also will take customer requests, which is really nice.
BftE Cosmetics
BftE makes beautiful colors & has great customer service. Crystal is a very sweet woman who really does a lot not only with her company and family but gives back to the community as well. They’ve got some really fun duochrome colors and are constantly adding new colors. You can read my Indie Spotlight here. I also went to IMATS LA 2013 with BftE as a promotional model and makeup artist.
Nixed
The companies listed below are companies that I no longer support. I no longer support many of these because of bad customer service, questionable business practices or ethics, or products that don’t meet my standards. The vast majority of these are for bad customer service. If you sell a person a product, then don’t deliver the product, I consider it to be questionable business practices and bad customer service. Not every product or every company is right for every person. You may not be bothered by the same things that bother me, such as bullying or harassment. These are my opinions. Please draw your own conclusions.
Orglamix (I didn’t like the product. To me it didn’t appear to be unique and when compared to TKB micas they looked extremely similar in many cases. They didn’t seem to have a base or be a finished eye shadow product. They didn’t work for me, and I said so. I received a cease & desist from the company because they didn’t like me telling people that I didn’t like the product. They have since contacted me with a request to “kiss & make up” in Sept. 2010, and in Feb. 2011 contacted me wanting to do a giveaway or review.) Bullying, Harasssment, Questionable Business Practices
One Hand Washes the Other – Bullying, Harassment, Bad Customer Service
Shiro Cosmetics– Bullying, Harassment
LimeCrime – Bullying, Harassment, Bad Customer Service, Stealing Photos from Bloggers
FaceFront – Harassment, Bad Customer Service
GlitterSniffer Cosmetics – Unsafe Products, Bad Customer Service
Detrivore – Bullying, Harassment, Bad Customer Service
Black Rose Minerals– Bullying, Harassment
Sweet Libertine – Bad Products, Bad Customer Service.