Indie (or independent) makeup brands provide a great alternative to overpriced high-end brands or drugstore brands of lower quality. Supporting indie brands also benefits small business owners. When you purchase from an indie brand you directly support an individual. To big makeup brands like MAC and Tarte you are just a number on the screen, money for them to make. While the Indie brand sees and appreciates every customer.
There are some downsides to shopping with indie brands. They typically are only known for one type of product like lipstick or eyeshadow so you can’t purchase an entire face of makeup from them. They also typically take longer to ship than big companies. However, these drawbacks are definitely made up for in the quality and innovation these brands bring. There are many great indie brands to shop from. Below is a small list of my personal favorites.
1. Colourpop
Colourpop has really made a name for themselves as an indie brand. They offer every kind of makeup product you can think of from eyeshadows, lipstick, concealer to brushes. Their products are extremely affordable and I have yet to try a product from them that disappoints me. Their eyeshadow palettes range from 12 to 16 dollars typically which is a good deal for the amount of product you get. My favorite product from them is there No Filter Matte Concealer. It not only performs well but they offer a good range of shades for women of color.
2. Glamour Edge Beauty
You can find a wide variety of single eyeshadows and glitters from this company. If you are someone who likes shimmer shades, this is definitely a brand to check out. All of their shadows are shimmers and metallics. My favorite shade from their collection is Femme. They also sell false eyelashes, which are 100 percent cruelty-free and vegan so you don’t have to worry about unethical production. You can read into the common animal brutality that can occur in the making of mink lashes here.
3. Strobe Cosmetics
They are completely cruelty-free and vegan. They have three different eyeshadow products released, two palettes and glitters. My favorite palette is the Creepy Cute palette, which has eight matte shadows. It’s all pastel colors with a gray and a black. What I love about this palette is that even though the eyeshadows are pastel they are still extremely pigmented. This is very hard to achieve with pastel shadows. Strobe Cosmetics has also just released their new palette called the Divinity palette. You can purchase the palettes together at a discounted price.
4. Menagerie Cosmetics
This brand has two eyeshadow palettes out, each offering 12 highly pigmented shadows. I love the color story of each but I prefer the Dragon Child palette because it has more cool tones. Because their eyeshadows are so pigmented, I find that the color can stain my eyelids. This may be a drawback for some consumers but if you are looking for very pigmented shadows than this brand is still worth trying. I’ve been able to get the eyeshadows off more easily with a little bit of coconut oil. Another plus from this brand is that 10 percent of every sale they make is donated to the Animal Welfare Institute.
5. Melt Cosmetics
Melt is most known for the unique construction of their eyeshadow palettes. Instead of a traditional palette, they have four to five shadows in what are known as “eyeshadow stacks.” You can also purchase single shadows as well as several lip and face products. The brand is also known for their highlighters. I haven’t tried any of them but they receive a lot of great reviews from beauty influencers online.
6. Give Me Glow Cosmetics
This brand has a wide selection of liquid lipsticks, many of which are varying nude shades. My favorite shade is Cinnamon bun. They also have a wide variety of single eyeshadows and eyeshadow palettes. Their palettes are fairly small compared to other brands, which is something I actually prefer. They have a nice variety of quad eyeshadow palettes that are great for one simple cohesive look.
7. Sugarpill Cosmetics
While on the pricey side, Sugarpill produces extremely high-quality eyeshadows and other products. They recently did a collaboration with drag queen, Trixie Mattel, which is limited edition. The collaboration was a lipstick and an eyeshadow palette named after her catchphrase: “Oh Honey!” Many people choose to create their own eyeshadow palette from the range of bright vibrant colors they offer. All of their products are cruelty-free and they even have a vegan section on their site to make it easier for shoppers.
If you are interested in more indie makeup brands, check out the Instagram account Indie Mood. They update followers on new indie makeup releases and mention many brands you probably haven’t heard of. Hopefully you feel inspired to give some of these indie brands the recognition they deserve!