Over the course of our lifetimes we ladies accrue more cosmetics than you can shake a cotton bud at, so here at S&S we’re always on the lookout for beauty brands that offer guilt-free options. Whether they’re sustainably sourced, cruelty-free, vegan or produced in association with a worthwhile charity, here’s our pick of the best companies and products.
Obsessive Compulsive Cosmetics
The brainchild of catwalk and celebrity makeup artist, David Klasfeld, OCC is known for its bright and edgy colour palettes as much as it is for its cruelty-free mantra. The NYC-founded brand is against animal testing and 100% vegan friendly, promising never to include animal-derived ingredients such as lanolin, beeswax and carmine.
S&S favourite: The brand began life in 2004 in the form of two lip balms, so we know they’re on the ball when it comes to the perfect pout. Lip Tar™ goes on with the smoothness of a gloss but wears like a comfortable satin finish lipstick. Its substantial botanical emollient content that includes a host of natural ingredients such as peppermint oil means your lipstick will never feel drying.
Zao
Zao’s founder was inspired to start the company after receiving an all-natural gift from a Taiwanese friend that was made entirely from bamboo material. The 100% organic beauty brand uses only super-cute and sustainable bamboo packaging for all its products, and it’s free from toxic preservatives such as parabens, instead using micronized silver.
S&S favourite: Zao’s organic silk foundation feels like… well, silk on the skin. Available in nine shades, it’s perfect for combination skin seeking heavy coverage that looks completely natural.
Kat Von D
Face-painting fanatics will already be familiar with the #veganalert and #veganasfuck hashtags Kat regularly uses across her 5 million strong social media platforms. The former tattoo artist, cosmetic connoisseur and vegan lifestyle enthusiast announced that her brand would soon be 100% vegan, telling Laika Magazine that “if we can’t reformulate, we’ll just throw the (product) out.”
S&S favourite: Kat’s Everlasting Lipliner comes in 30 bold shades that range from classic cerise to electric blue, and as the name suggests, it ain’t going anywhere soon.
Givescent
After two years of teaching in Italy, acclaimed yogi Elena Brower fell in love with the sights, sounds and most importantly the smells of the Mediterranean. One particular blend of Sicilian almond oil inspired her to create a scent of her own. The blend was then recreated in NYC and paired with summery citrus notes. A portion of every bottle sold is donated to Woman for Woman International, meaning you can smell beautiful as you help support women worldwide.
S&S favourite: Though they’ve now branched out to include three different scents, we consider the original signature scent to be a perfect amalgam of sun-drenched citrus and spicy vanilla.
Written by Thea Carley
