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My Cruelty-Free & Vegan Makeup Routine

Kaitlyn Dickie

An ethical, vegan, cruelty-free makeup routine for the non makeup artist. No, I will not show you how to #countour or do a smokey-eye but I will show you what I use to do my makeup on a daily basis. It's super natural and takes very little time.

Some trial and error, lots of research, a couple tubes of clumpy mascara, and a bunch of amateur eyeliner wings later, I've found the tribe of products that shall happily live in my makeup bag for the foreseeable future.

*None of these links are affiliate thinks and this post is in no way sponsored by any of the brands mentioned. These opinions are all my own and if you checked my makeup bag, this is exactly what you'd find.*

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Mascara

Everyone knows the struggle of finding the perfect mascara, let alone one that doesn't test on animals and doesn't contain animal by-products. I'll admit, everything else was so so easy but finding a mascara that was similar to the one I used before was quite hard. I'm happy to announce that I did it! This one is from Tarte Cosmetics. It's the tarteist Lash Paint Mascara. I bought two tubes on Boxing Day for 50% off, so if you're not out just yet, wait for a sale if you want to save some moula. Another more natural mascara that I really like is from Elate Cosmetics and it's also super eco-friendly. I ordered mine from Portia-Ella (if you haven't heard of Portia-Ella, go check it out!).

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Foundation

I don't wear much foundation but when I want a little extra coverage I go for one of these. I love the Elate Refresh Foundation because it's super moisturizing. It feels a little heavier but it doesn't stay heavy, does that make sense? I don't know, I'm not a makeup artist. I feel good putting the Elate foundation on my skin and that's all that matters. As for the NYX dropper foundation, It's so so light and I can use 3 drops for my whole face for a little touch up. I like them both but even as an amateur in the makeup department, they totally have different benefits. Of course, you can get the Elate Foundation from Portia-Ella (which is coming to Kelowna really really soon!!)

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Eyeliner

I'm a liquid eyeliner girl, I'm terrible with a pencil and I'm not good with the brushes. I did want to try the Elate eyeliner since I love so many of their other products so I gave it a shot, even though it has a brush tip. It goes on so so smooth and it stays in place which I like! I've linked it for those of you that are more skilled than I am or for those of you that don't do wings at the end of your eyeliner. For my easy, everyday look, I like the felt tip liners that are fail-safe for a makeup novice like myself. I just recently discovered this brand at Superstore in Canada but many stores in the U.S carry it. It's called Milani and it's super easy to apply, it's very easy to use and lasts all day. If you're willing to spend the money, then I would for sure recommend the Kat Von D Tattoo Ink Liner, it's much more smudge-proof and the felt tip is very precise. This is by far the best liquid eyeliner that I've ever tried (cruelty-free or not).

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Concealer

I'm going to be honest, I don't know the difference between under eye concealer and normal concealer but I do know that the one I use from Elate works great for brightening up my under eyes and covering blemishes whenever they pop-up, so here it is, Elate Cream Revealer Concealer! It's creamy, it doesn't crease throughout the day and Elate uses all clean ingredients. I pick the lighter colours like 'Fawn' or 'Porcelain' to give it that extra boost. I also love that it comes in a glass pot making it even more eco-friendly.

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Blush

I love blush. Even when I don't wear much makeup, putting on a tiny bit of blush really warms up my face. Call me crazy, I'd even pick blush over bronzer. I have two that I like and my reason for liking one more than the other is because it lasted too long and I like to switch things up and try new products sooner than every 3 years... It seriously lasts that long and I was using it every day. Actually, I still have it but I dropped it so it shattered. I haven't even finished it... talk about value? So, the forever lasting blush is from Tarte Cosmetics and it is the Amazonian Clay Blush. My current favourite is the baked blush from Milani. It's more powdery than the Tarte blush and I really like their summery colours, it also has a bit more shimmer than the Tarte one so that can definitely be a deciding factor if you're opposed to some shimmer.

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Contour

Like I said, I can't teach you how to contour because I hardly know how to myself. If you already contour, you probably aren't reading an amateurs blog post on cruelty-free & vegan makeup... for the rest of you. This is the stick of makeup stuff that I use to make my face look different than it did before I put the makeup stick stuff on my face. It's by Anastasia Beverly Hills and its their Stick Foundation. I use a slightly darker colour to mimic shadows and that's all I know. (This is me staying in my own lane).

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Bronzer

I'm going to post a couple different types here because I'm at the end of my current bronzer and looking to purchase a new one. I'm still working on finishing up my bronzer from my pre cruelty-free days, it just happens to be cruelty-free and vegan anyways. The one I'm using right now is from BareMinerals, I do really like it and I would buy it again but I like to try new things. I've got my eye on the baked bronzer from Milani, as my next purchase. In the summer I use the Honey Bronze Drops of Sun Gel from Body Shop and it gives me a natural glow all over my face. I love natural bronzer that isn't too shimmery.

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Highlighter

Last but not least... Highlighter! I wouldn't consider this an everyday essential but it really does brighten up your face. I have a couple different variations on the go right now, I have a more subtle cream from Graydon Skincare that I got from Portia-Ella, I use the Universal Cream from Elate, and I have a more shimmery one from NYX. They all vary in prices and obviously the Graydon and Elate are much more eco-friendly than NYX, but they are all still cruelty-free :). The Graydon's Face Glow is super nice. It's moisturizing and gives you such a natural dewy glow that you can put it on your whole face, or just on your cheek bones, etc. The universal cream from Elate is perfect for highlighting the bridge of your nose, under your eyebrows, and the inner corners of your eyes, and the NYX Born to Glow Liquid Illuminator is great for cheekbones.

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I hope this was helpful in some way. If you ever have any questions about Cruelty-free or vegan makeup, don't hesitate to reach out to me on Instagram or through the contact section on my website.

I know it can be overwhelming at first but you'll really start to get the hang of which brands are cruelty-free and how to find out. Two great resources are Cruelty Free Kitty, and Logical Harmony. I follow them both on Instagram but their blogs are super helpful and they have pretty much every brand I've looked up on there.

Do you have any favourite cruelty-free or vegan products? Let me know.

Kaits xox

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