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Introducing: MakeUp Brands You May Not Know

OK, so there are A LOT of different make-up brands out there. Found at Sephora, Ulta, department stores, Target, drug stores, and so on. And many of those brands are actually owned by one of a few large cosmetics companies (such as Estee Lauder). Now, there is nothing wrong with that, I love many of those brands, but today I want to talk about some great indie brands the everyday non-make-up enthusiast may not have heard of before. All of the brands I am going to discuss are great quality for a reasonable price (why would I tell you about them if they weren’t), and two of them have prices that are super affordable for the quality.

The first online purchase I ever made from a brand not found on Sephora or Ulta was Makeup Geek. I was very glad I did, and I now own a lot of Makeup Geek products. They were mainly known for their eyeshadow (super pigmented, blendable, a ton of color and only $6 a pan), but they have since branched out with a bunch of face (bronzer/contour, etc) and lip products. I am still mainly a fan of the eyeshadows, but I do love one of their highlighters. Their website also has a lot of inspiration, with pictures posted by their users. If you're only going to try one product, I’d go with one of their foiled shadows. They are a little more expensive than the normal shadows (at $10/pan), but they are special. The texture is a little different than a normal shadow, so they give a high shine color that goes on without a bunch of fallout…so good. Also,  like the rest of the brands discussed here, they are cruelty-free. Some, but not all, of Makeup Geek’s products are also vegan (it will say which ones on the website).

Next, I gave Ofra Cosmetics a try. They carry all kinds of products, but it’s their liquid lipstick that puts them on this list for me. I don’t know if you (our one reader) have tried many kinds of liquid lips but if you haven’t, let me tell you there are a myriad of formulas, most of them super drying. Since the liquid lip trend started there have been a lot of improvements so the drying, crumbling, or cracking issues that used to plague these products are not as prevalent. However, Ofra still has the most comfortable long-wear liquid lip I have ever tried. It goes on evenly, dries matte, and stays all day. It doesn’t dry down completely, so there is a minimal amount of transfer, but not much, and it is very long wearing and comfortable. And like Makeup Geek eyeshadows, they have a super wide range of colors. I would like to try their highlighters, so that may be my next purchase. If I do, I will let you know how they are. Bonus: you can now order Ofra through the Ulta website. So if you have some other makeup to pick up you can do it all in one stop and get free shipping on purchases over $50.

Dose of Colors is another indie brand that is also now available on Ulta.com. They have a popular liquid lip, but I have not tried them so I can’t say what they are like. The product I am loving is their EyeDeal Duos. The duos have a cream shadow primer in the lid and a sparkly loose pigment in the jar. I have the shade Shell and it is a quick and sparkly winner. You can just throw some bronzer in your crease for definition and then spread the primer across your lid, tap on the pigment, and you have an instantly cool eye look with very little effort. Dose of Colors has a lot of limited edition releases. This means if you think you want something, you better get it while you can. 

Finally, the most affordable brand of the bunch is Colourpop. Colourpop has expanded like crazy this year. They originally had lippies and supershock shadows (a very original texture cream/powder hybrid). Now they have a full range of pressed powder shadows and what feels like a new palette every few months. Still, they are good quality and for the pressed shadows you can get them for $4/pan, $5 if you want it to come in a compact. They generally have some sort of free shipping offer, currently free for orders over $30. In November Colourpop will be available at Sephora online and in select stores.

I think it’s always fun to try new products and support individual entrepreneurs in their efforts when they have a great product. Hopefully, you will feel confident trying one of these brands in the future either directly or if you come across them one day at Ulta or Sephora.   

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