Going on a vegan diet means not consuming animal products and by-products. It’s a practice that has been hailed for not only helping humans become healthier, but also it’s a diet that’s believed to be better for the environment. Contrary to popular belief, veganism has been around for centuries and today, the same concept is being applied to beauty products. But more than just doing away with animal products and by-products, vegan beauty products and brands are not only being more environmentally friendly they are also sending out a message that the beauty industry doesn’t need to use animal products to develop and produce effective beauty products.
The move towards the production of vegan beauty products and the development of such brands, according to Milk Makeup COO, Dianna Ruth, is a representation of conscientiousness. She told Martha Stewart, “It shows effort has been put into the formula because they’re invested in finding alternative ways to make a product. Some manufacturers will push to use animal ingredients because they’re cheaper and easier to source, so it speaks volumes about the ethos of a company that’s willing to put the time and money behind their product.”
If you are looking to ditch your regular makeup products for an alternative that’s better for you and for the environment, consider some of the best vegan beauty products, as recommended by users in the list below.
The Best Vegan Beauty Products for Your Face
1. BITE BEAUTY Changemaker Supercharged Micellar Foundation
Created with no animal products, by-products, and synthetic ingredients, this clean, long-wearing foundation from Bite Beauty uses the gentle micellar technology that mimics skin texture for a natural, flawless finish. The liquid foundation formula is developed for normal, dry, combination, and oily skin and is packed with Maqui Berry, an antioxidant-rich ingredient that helps nurture the skin and Micellar Technology that gently mimics skin texture to keep it smooth and not looking cakey. This product is vegan, cruelty-free, and gluten-free. Rated 4.4 out of 5 stars, with a 93% recommendation rating at Sephora.
What customers love: “When applied with a beauty blender, it’s seriously undetectable which is insane. I have combo skin with texture and it doesn’t settle into anything. I always hear products claim ‘your skin but better’ but THIS is the epitome of your skin but better. It is totally buildable to a solid medium coverage; which I love. It does what it claims. Oh and the fragrance? It’s less than 1% so I can live with it. Also, it lasts on me all day. I can’t live without it!” Kayperk
2. HOURGLASS Vanish™ Airbrush Concealer
Sometimes, you just need a concealer to help conceal minor imperfections such as acne and acne scars and the like. Good thing, there’s Hourglass Vanish Airbrush Concealer, which offers a full coverage yet weightless and waterproof concealer that is packed with microspherical powders that blur and brightens skin for up to 16 hours. This liquid concealer has a crease-resistant, light-reflecting formula that seamlessly blends into skin and diffuses the look of pores and fine lines, dark circles, and other imperfections. Created with no sulfates SLS and SLES, parabens, phthalates, and other synthetic materials. Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars, with a 93% recommendation rating at Sephora.
What customers love: “The color is a little lighter than I was expecting but this is a great concealer overall. It is very blendable, has great coverage and you don’t need to use as much as other brands to cover dark circles.. combined with the brush this is definitely a great combo!” Eweatherford
3. KVD VEGAN BEAUTY Shade + Light Eye Contour Palette
What was formerly known as Kat Von D Beauty is now KVD Vegan Beauty following the acquisition of the brand by Kendo Brands, the same house behind Bite Beauty, Fenty Beauty By Rihanna, Ole Henriksen, and Marc Jacobs Beauty. KVD Vegan Beauty highlights its vegan values, which are present in every product, including the Shade + Light Eye Contour Palette. This eye contouring palette features three color quads in neutral, cool, and warm shades. Define and enhance your eyes with a versatile collection of true contouring shades. It features three large base shadows paired with three coordinating powders for contouring, defining, and highlighting. Also includes a super easy to use contouring guide for creating different eye-opening techniques. Rated 4.7 out of 5 stars at Sephora.
What customers love: “Extremely versatile palette with every nude shade you’ll ever need. Blends seamlessly with any look – and it comes with a pamphlet of ideas if you don’t know where to start.” Milkmaya
4. CHARLOTTE TILBURY Filmstar Bronze & Glow Contour Duo
Glow up no matter what the season with this all-in-one pressed powder, bronzer, and highlighter from Charlotte Tilbury. Create cheekbones that turn heads and an overall look that makes the streets your runway with this iconic bronzer and highlighter duo that features a blend of pearl and golden pigments to sculpt and highlight your features. Created from a universal golden base that flatters all skin tones, the shades used in the sculpt bronzer provides buildable definition on the lower cheek and jawline, while the highlight illuminates the areas where light first touches your face: the cheekbones, nose bridge, and eye orbital area. Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars, with an 87% recommendation rating at Sephora.
What customers love: “Perfect colors for my skin tone. Not orangey or muddy. Even makes great natural color eyeshadow. Will be buying again!” Edge3
5. CHARLOTTE TILBURY Cheek To Chic Blush in Pillow Talk (Nude Pink)
Get rosy cheeks in an instant with Charlotte Tilbury’s Cheek to Chic Blush, which offers richly pigmented color for long-lasting wear. It features buildable shades so you can get creative and create endless looks. You can even use it to sculpt! This blush uses Light Flex Technology that captures light and re-emits it so you look luminous all day. Its color-rich pigments feature finely crushed pearls that also smooth and buff the skin for an even glow. This product does not contain parabens. Rated 4.2 out of 5 stars, with an 82% recommendation rating at Sephora.
What customers love: “Lovely blush. Fine texture and natural looking color. Can be subtle or vibrant. Packaging feels elegant.” Legaleagle9
The Best Vegan Beauty Products for Your Lips
1. PAT MCGRATH LABS Permagel Ultra Lip Pencil in Suburbia Midtone Rose
With 12 gorgeous colors to choose from, the Pat McGrath Labs Permagel Ultra Lip Pencil is a must-have in your beauty arsenal. These waterproof lip pencils are specifically designed to blend seamlessly to provide definition to lips. Perfectly made to compliment the MatteTrance™ and LuxeTrance™ Lipsticks with its opulent opacity. Also features PermaGel technology that is resistant to feathering, smudging, and transferring. Rated 4.6 out of 5 stars, with an 89% recommendation rating at Sephora.
What customers love: “Best lip pencil! Really creamy, pigmented, just very good quality. I feel ridiculous saying this but out of all the stuff from Pat McGrath that I’ve tried, I enjoy the lip pencils the best, and they are, for me, her stand out product. I would definitely recommend if you have the money to spend this much on a lip pencil.” Chellstar
2. WANDER BEAUTY Lip Retreat Oil
Don’t you just love a product that pulls double duty? Wander Beauty’s Lip Retreat Oil is a luxurious treatment for your lips that has a shiny, glossy finish. It’s packed with Rosa Canina fruit oil that delivers essential fatty acids, vitamin A, provitamin E, and antioxidants to your lips, apricot kernel oil that provides gamma linoleic acid to help firm and tone the skin on the lips, as well as vitamins A and E to soothe the skin, and avocado oil that’s also rich in fatty acids, vitamin E, and lecithin for supreme moisturization. Rated 4.6 out of 5 stars, with an 88% recommendation rating at Sephora.
What customers love: “A truly weightless gloss! If you want subtle color, with a high gloss finish, without the sticky/tacky feel, this a must have. Definitely worth adding to your collection, especially if you are gloss addict.” Laurindersn
3. CLINIQUE Almost Lipstick
Clinique is just one of those brands that we all grew up with. This fun lip balm features an iconic shade that’s universally flattering. A cross between lipstick and lip balm, this transparent lip balm fuses with the natural tone of your lips to create looks that are unique to you. Also features a sheer, emollient-rich formula that is free of parabens and phthalates. Rated 4.4 out of 5 stars at Sephora.
What customers love: “I love this color! I’ve worn it off and on for almost 20 years. It is totally buildable. Bold enough to add color, but natural enough to wear everyday!” Bridgett1014
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4. PATRICK TA Monochrome Moment Silky Lip Crème in She’s Confident (Rose Beige)
This satisfying lip cream from Patrick Ta provides true softness thanks to its advanced silicone elastomers packed with hyaluronic spheres and a soft powder blend that delivers hydration to result in a naturally looking full lip with a smooth, satin matte finish. It also contains softening esters and emollients to maintain long-lasting moisture and flexible cross-polymer blend for a soft finish that won’t bleed or smudge. Formulated without sulfates SLS and SLES, parabens, formaldehydes, formaldehyde-releasing agents, phthalates, and other synthetic ingredients. Rated 4.1 out of 5 stars at Sephora.
What customers love: “Love the feel and the wear! Didn’t dry my lips out and provided great coverage.” HGgreen
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5. URBAN DECAY Vice Lip Chemistry Lip Stain
Lightweight yet high-gloss, this lip tint from Urbay Decay ha s a unique, vegan and cruelty-free formula that reacts to your natural pH and creates a custom shade that’s truly yours. Designed to flatter all skin tones, this line of lip stains go on smoothly and is transfer-proof. Rated 4.0 out of 5 stars at Sephora.
What customers love: “Goes on a pale nude like it says but changes to a my lips but better colour! Doesn’t settle into fine lines and leaves a beautiful tint on the lips doesn’t wear off easily either.” Jenn98
Add Pops of Color to Your Eyes with These Vegan Beauty Products
1. ILIA The Necessary Eyeshadow Palette in Warm Nude
If you’re looking for a vegan alternative to everyday eye makeup shades, go for Ilia’s The Necessary Eyeshadow Palette, a cleanly-formulated must-have with a buildable and highly pigmented formula. It features an array of matte, satin, and metallic finishes in six pans that are all talc-free, sulfate-free, paraben-free, and phthalate-free. Rated 4.8 out of 5 stars, with a 95% recommendation rating at Sephora.
What customers love: “The colors and pigment of this eyeshadow palette are pretty amazing. It’s great for everyday, especially since it is clean! A little goes a long way!” Lafrosty
2. WANDER BEAUTY Wanderess™ Rush Eyeshadow Palette
Whether for work or play, this Wanderess™ Rush Eyeshadow Palette from Wander Beauty offers six highly-pigmented, crease-proof, and fade-proof eyeshadows that are formulated to be vegan and free of synthetic ingredients. Create looks that will take you from day to night with this formula that is enriched with cranberry seed oil to help nurture skin and reduce age spots and rosehip oil to help in skin moisturization and reduce enlarged pores. Rated 4.6 out of 5 stars, with a 94% recommendation rating at Sephora.
What customers love: “Gorgeous color that lasts all day! I love each of the six colors, and it goes on so smooth and creamy. There was no creasing, even at the end of the day. I highly recommend this Palette.” Cacraftymom
3. MELT COSMETICS Smoke Sessions Eyeshadow Palette
Create stunning looks inspired by the goddess of the forest or the queen of the sea with this palette of eight individually-cultivated shades in matte and metallic textures with both warm and cool-toned greens. Melt Cosmetics offers a vegan, paraben-free formula in a palette that is inspired by the anatomy of the cannabis plant. Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars, with an 89% recommendation rating at Sephora.
What customers love: “Smooth, creamy, pigmented and barely any fall out! Since I have bought this palette I have used it every day and have created multiple different looks. Its also the one I get the most compliments about at work. 10/10 Palette in my mind.” NPelcher
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4. NARS Ignited Eyeshadow Palette
This limited edition palette from NARS offers 12 shades in shimmering nudes, shade-shifting rose glitter, and brushed mattes that all come in a versatile, pigment rich vegan formula. It From nudes to pinks and purples, this palette is all you need to create endless day to night looks you’ll love to wear over and over again. Rated 3.6 stars at Sephora.
What customers love: “Super pigmented and gorgeous colors! It’s a great addition to my makeup collection. I enjoy pulling it out every time I decided to use it it’s great.” RMF03
5. CHARLOTTE TILBURY Luxury Eyeshadow Palette in Bella Sofia
Create stunning looks with this four-step eyeshadow quad from Charlotte Tilbury. This palette, which features four harmonious eye colors to effectively ” Prime, Enhance, Smoke, and Pop” the eyes, features a non-creasing formula and pigmented shades for luxurious looks like no other. Rated 3.8 out of 5 stars at Sephora.
What customers love: “This is so pretty! The bronzy pop color in it is amazing with the big flecks of “fools gold” as I like to call it. And, the define color has an undertone that really makes blue eyes pretty. I am so glad the Sephora consultant talked me into this quad! I hope it never goes away!” Bintibeauty
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