The Good and the Bad of ColourPop's Super Shock Eye Shadow

All summer long I've been playing around with ColourPop's Super Shock Eye Shadow. Some I love and some I will absolutely hate (hate is a harsh word, dislike is better). Some, as a matter of fact, I will probably get rid of before finishing the pot. At only $5 a piece I don't feel too bad about getting rid of the shades I don't like.

I know that I am probably the wrong demographic for this brand. The employees are well versed in Social Media, as am I, but that's neither here nor there. Their announcements are all made on Instagram and Snap Chat. Everything is abundantly colorful, hence the name ColourPop. I have never felt my age until I watched a ColourPop Snap Chat. This is the future for business.... ugh Millennials.

Back to the actual product. The eye shadow comes in a little plastic white pot. The product itself is squishy, velvety and feels both wet and powderey all at the same time. It's hard to use a brush with these eye shadows. Brushes don't pick up the product. I have seen bloggers say to use a synthetic brush to apply the color, but please. Brushes DO NOT work, I've tried and I only use synthetic brushes. You really have to apply the color using your fingers, which sucks and is quite gross. I have an elf brush that blends the crease out nicely, but I have to first put the shadow on my lid with my finger then blend.

I've only used a few of the finishes; Matte, Metallic (there is a lot of fall out), Ultra-Metallic (again they have a lot of fall out), pearlized and pressed pigment. I can deal with the fall out of the metallics, my least favorites have to be the Matte finish shadows, especially the light colors. Most of the light colors, I'll never repurchase again anyway, it's doesn't matter the finish. I'm on the fence with a few. Some colors are very similar, for example Midnight and Hammered, LA LA and Weenie. You don't need both. 

I find that using the pink, purple and blue colors are harder for me to create a look for than the neutrals. It may just be because I'm gravitating more to neutral palette than the bright colors.  I have so many beautiful BareMineral pigments in pink, purple and blue that I like so much better than these.

I want to make it very clear that these were purchased with my own money. I've heard that YouTubers and Bloggers praise these products just to help the company build its reputation and get free stuff. I'm definitely not one of those people. If I don't like it, I will tell you. 

For this list, I'll categorize them by by finish and I'll start with the colors I really like.

The Good (Colors I will repurchase): 

Ultra Metallic/Metallic 

Lovely: Soft Gold, metallic. This is really pretty over a powder shadow to add some sparkle. 

Liberty: Silver, ultra metallic. OMG this is an amazing color all on it. It's like liquid metal. I used it on the 4th of July as an all over the lid color.

Sugar: Silver Blue, metallic. This is a pretty color that I use alone all over the lid. Sugar was one of the first colors I bought. It has a lot of fallout. 

I Heart This: Cool Toned Taupe, metallic.This also looks great over a powdered shadow to add a little something special. This is one of my favorite colors. It has a ton of fallout though.

Eye Candy: Lavender, metallic. I really like this color a lot, but as I said earlier purple shades are harder to use, so I'm on the fence with this color. 

La La: True Rose Gold, ultra metallic. It's a very pretty color, but similar to Weenie. I like to use LA LA all over the lid. 

Krinkle: Smokey Blue, metallic. It's a really pretty color all over the eye.

Bae: Eggplant Purple, metallic. This is a pretty color in the crease.

Hammered: Olive, metallic. This is a pretty color to use on it's own all over the lid.

Bubbly: True pink, metallic. I like to use this color over my BareMineral eye shadow. I am on the fence with this one.

Cricket: Warm plum with cool highlights, metallic.  I love this color in the crease. I used it with the e.l.f. baked shadow in Pixie and I Heart This.

So Quiche: Soft olive with gold and pink violet glitter, metallic. I use this on the crease or the outer corner.

3: Cool toned bronze, metallic. This is really pretty as a crease color. 

Get Lucky: Rich gold, ultra metallic. This is pretty as an all over color. 

Fringe: Champagne with gold and silver, metallic. This is pretty over a powder eye shadow.

Stereo: Black Burgundy, metallic. This is a really pretty crease color. 

Nillionaire: Warm bronze, metallic. This is pretty in the crease, but similar to so many other colors I own. 

Midnight: Black undertone with gold, metallic. This is a pretty crease color but too similar to Hammered.



Matte

Tink: Charcoal grey. This works good in the crease bit a bit hard to use.

Effect: Teal. Nice in the outer corner

Bill: Plum Beige. This is nice in the crease.

Fairfax: Blackened Brown. Nice crease color. 

Hanky Panky: Cool toned taupe. I'm on the fence about this one. The color does not look anything like what's described on the website. This is a problem with some of the colors, buyer beware. 

Party Time: Dusty Mauve

Pearlized 

Weenie: Rose gold pink: This is so much like La La, but I think I like this one better. 

Partridge: Saddle brown: This isn't like what is described on the website. I'm on the fence with this color too.

Mixed Tape: Cool Gray

Coconut: Peacock teal: I'm up in the air with this one. It's a bit hard to use.

Flower Shop: Blue green. This is pretty all over the lid.  


The Bad (Colors I'll never repurchase):

Glow:  Creamy Vanilla, matte. This has no pigment and is pointless. 

Slave 2 Pink: Neon pink. This is a pressed pigment. From what I hear the pressed pigment have chemicals that haven't been approved by the FDA for eye shadow. I didn't know beforehand. I'm throwing it out. 

Acorn: Cool toned beige, pearlized. Not enough pigment. I don't like it. I'll never get it again. 

Vanity Fair: Brown. Only because I can't find it on the ColourPop website, it may have been discontinued. I liked this in my crease. 

Girly: Creamy Vanilla, pearlized. This again is too light and has no pigment. 

Colors I'd still like to try:

Matte: Girl Crush, Cop a Feel, Central Perk (Friends is my favorite TV show), Hustle, Pearlized: Luckfully, Lace, Supermodel, Metallic: Envy, Dare, Porter, Sequin, Satin:  Cheeky, Truth, Wattles Tie-Dye: Pop Rocks, Meow and Summer Lovin

I'll share my favorite lip products next. I'll separate that into two posts, the lippies and the liquids. 

ColourPop Super Shock Eyeshadow June Purchase

I'm obsessed with these eye shadows! I love the way they feel. Don't get me wrong some colors suck. I've had massive issues with Girly and Glow. I've already hit pan with both colors. I bought a bunch of colors when ColourPop was having their 20% off sale back in April. Because their prices are so affordable, ColourPop rarely goes on sale.

One of my favorite colors is called I Heart This. What I do is cover my lid with Stark from the Urban Decay Gwen Stefani Palette and then go over it with I Heart This and the effect is amazing. It's very shimmery and beautiful. 

Be careful, because sometimes I feel that ColourPop's descriptions are off. I found that these shadows do crease with the NYX primer. They don't crease and they last all day with the Urban Decay primer. Does ColourPop sell a shadow primer? I know they sell a lip primer. 

In early June, I decided to purchase some more shades, even though I was on the fence about buying anymore. I had a bad experience with one of their Ultra Satin Lipsticks and, like I said before, I hit pan after only using Girly and Glow a few times. At $5 a piece I thought I'd give the products another try. So, I bought these. Again, some of the colors are STUNNING and others are great to use on top of other shadows.

All of the new colors minus Fringe

One color that I absolutely adore is Weenie. It is so beautiful swatched. It's a pink rose gold pearlized finish according to ColourPop. It glides on like butter. I can't even describe how beautiful this color is. I've used it quite a few times now and this is one color I will repurchase. I used to not like these types of colors, but as I've gotten older and my dark brown eyes have gotten lighter, I really gravitate towards the golds.  Swatched, this color looks like liquid gold, it's beautiful!!

Weenie The next color is very similar to Weenie and is also rose gold, but in an Ultra-metallic finish called La La. I've also used this color a few times. Once as an all over the lid color. To me the swatch wasn't as opaque as Weenie. I still think it's beautiful and I will repurchase this color again. This is the color I was wearing when I noticed creasing with the NYX primer.

La La

Below is a side by side of La La and Weenie. They're obviously similar and you don't need both. I love them equally, but if I had to choose, I would probably just buy Weenie. It seems to be more pigmented than La La, however La La is an Ultra Metallic.  

Weenie and La La

Another color that I bought and have used a few times is the color Fringe. It's a metallic champagne color with gold and silver sparkles. I've only used this on top of other colors because I know it's not very opaque. I'm curious to see how it would work with Bare Minerals Queen Anne. Something to try.

Fringe

A color that is similar to Fringe is called Lovely. Again, this is a color to put over another color, because it's very light. It's a metallic, soft light gold.

Lovely

These colors are very light and are best suited to layer on top of another color. Here they are side by side with I Heart This. You don't need all three. If I had it all to do over again, I would only get I Heart This.

I Heart This, Lovely and Fringe

I also bought Liberty. According to ColourPop, it's an Ultra-metallic true silver. Like Weenie above, it swatches like liquid silver. It's stunning. I used it on the 4th of July all over the lid. It's a little difficult to use this with another color, except for maybe creating a smokey eye look. This swatch, however is just heavenly.  The heavens have opened and the angels are singing. That's how I feel about this color.

Liberty

The next color I bought was Eye Candy, a cool toned Lavender. This is one that I haven't used yet. It seems to be a little light, but this may look good layered over another shade. It seems a little light on it's own.

Eye Candy

Keeping with the purple theme, I purchased Stereo. The swatch does not do this color justice. As a matter of fact, when I first swatched this color I thought it was ugly and regretted buying it. Stereo is a blackened burgundy, with copper and pink violet glitter in metallic. It looks great on the outer corner of the lid. After wearing it out, this color quickly became my favorite of the bunch. In the swatch it looks more bronze/brown, but is more of a purple tone on the lid. 

Stereo

Wearing Stereo on a night out

The last color I got was in Bubbly. I love the color pink. I have so many pink shadows with Bare Minerals. Again this is a good color to layer on top of another shadow. I find that ColourPop doesn't have a wide selection of pink shadows. According to the ColourPop site, this is a true pink with silver and bubble gum pink glitter. 

Bubbly

Many in the ColourPop shadow line are neutral in tone. I'm not a huge fan of the matte's and I didn't get any matte colors when I made this latest purchase. The lighter colors do not build up. I've mentioned this issue before in another post. The lighter shades layered on a powder shadow, like those from the Urban Decay Gwen Stefani Palette, work beautifully, but on their own, there is no pigment, just shimmer. Blending the darker colors in the crease can be a bit tricky. Because you can only purchase ColourPop online and their descriptions don't really match their products, each purchase is really either a hit or miss. At $5 a shadow, it's worth it to play. Maybe in another post, I'll list my faves and hates. Actually "hates" is such a harsh word and I really don't hate any. I know there are some I won't repurchase.  

I am well passed the age that ColourPop is targeting. It's a young, fun company, that really got notoriety through YouTube. I'm not old by any means, but really I'm passed the target demographic. I wouldn't have known about this company if it wasn't for the fact that I use social media. Don't get me wrong, anyone can use these products and age really is just a number. As long as you are happy with who you are, nothing else matters. Do what you like and enjoy!

ColourPop Ultra Satin Lips in Spritz

I have a love/dislike realtionship with ColourPop Cosmetics. A lot of their products are hit or miss, hot or not. I LOVED the Ultra Satin Liquid Lipstick in The Rabbit and Lyin King. Those colors are richly pigmented and for the most part don't move much. I do recommend using a lip liner just to be safe. 

When ColourPop had their 20% off sale, I purchased Littlestitious and London Fog. London Fog I liked, it was similar to the formula in The Rabbit and Lyin King.  Littlestitious I hated. The smell was off, the texture was runny and the application was patchy. The formula was so much different from the other three. I decided that it was probably just a bad batch and thought that I would give it another go, with another color. 

A few weeks ago, I purchased some shadows, a highlighter and the Ultra Satin Lip Color in Spritz.

Spritz

Littlestitious, just a reminder.

I really like this product. It was far better than Littlestitious. The formula was similar to the other three colors that I like. It doesn't smell like Littlestitious either.  Don't get me wrong, the smell isn't the greatest anyway. They all have a "chemically" smell. Like I said before, I really think that Littlestitious I got was a bad batch.

The ColourPop site says that Spritz is a mid tone, true bubble gum pink. When I think of bubble gum pink, I think of Kat Von D's Backstage Bambi. I always feel that ColourPop's color descriptions are always way off. I feel that this color is more of a warm toned pink, than bubble gum pink.

I love Spritz as an everyday color, especially in the summertime. I usually wear a bright bold lip, but I know I'll get a lot of use out of this because it looks cute. This is as "nude" as I'll go, because for me a nude lip... is lip balm.  

One thing I will say, you have to use a lip liner with these products. I see a little bit of a slip in the fine lines around my mouth. You do have reapply if you eat. But, the color doesn't go on patchy, or flake off.

Spritz and LA LA on my eyes

I'm curious to try the Ultra Matte Lip, but I'm worried that they will be too drying on the lips. At $6.00 a piece, it might be worth it to pick up a few. I told myself, no new makeup until the fall. I ordered some shadows from Colourpop today, June 30th. Starting in July, no new makeup until September or October. Excuse the brows, I'm growing them out. 

Overall, the prices are right and the colors are fun! ColourPop

ColourPop Your Eyes

Oh ColourPop, our relationship almost ended, but I decided to give you a second chance. I've already written two blog posts about their Ultra Satin Lip Color. Of the four colors I purchased, I love two, like one and hate the last. I have quite a few of the Super Shock Shadows. At the end of this post, I'll have pictures with color names and swatches. For descriptions of each color, I'll add the link to the ColourPop website. I may list the color description under each photo, but I won't spend a lot of time in this post discussing the colors.

First Purchase

I initially bought three shadow colors at $5 a piece. A bright hot pink because it looked fun, a metallic blue frosty color and a brown. A few weeks back, ColourPop had a 20% off everything sale, so I picked up quite a few more colors.

Second Purchase

One thing I hate about this, is that you can only purchase online. I like to swatch colors before purchasing them because I don't want to get stuck with something I won't use. You can't obviously do that if you're shopping online. I held off from purchasing ColourPop for that exact reason. Sure they give you a color description, and I purchase colors that I think will go good with my skin tone, but that doesn't always work out. During the sell, I bought about nine more colors, a highlighter in Spoon and two Ultra Satin Lip Colors.

The first time I purchased from ColourPop, I didn't buy that much, so my products came in a envelope, with a personalized note. One of the eyeshadows came in shattered. I heard that they are easy to repair because of their texture. I'm not a huge fan of their packaging. There isn't much protecting the eyeshadows from the hazards of the mail. 

It's very hard to describe the texture of these eyeshadows. They seem to be a bit squishy. They're creamy, not quite wet. It's all so confusing.

Some of the colors are hard to use. For example, I don't really know what to do with Slave to Pink. I can't use it as a transition color, because what is it transitioning to? I decided to try to use it as an all over my lid color, with eyeliner and mascara and it just looked like I had an eye infection, pink eye.... There is a ton of glitter/shimmer fall out from this color, Sugar and I Heart This (my favorites). The fallout isn't as bad if you pat your lids rather than drag across. But I still get shimmer/glitter specks in the outside corners of my eyes. 

Some of the colors are highly pigmented and that's great. Some of the colors are not pigmented at all and that's bad. I had to build up a color called Girly and after about two uses, I've hit pan. Even at $4 this shouldn't happen. Make sure that you keep the lid on tightly because the colors will dry out.

There are seven different pigments; Satin, Pearlized, Matte, Glitter Sheer, Metallic, Ultra Metallic, and Pressed Pigment. I'm not sure what the difference is between the pressed pigments and the other colors. They all seem to be pressed pigments.  The metallic/ultra metallic shades seem to be more pigmented than the pearlized and satin shades.

Applying the color is a bit awkward. I found that tapping it on with my finger works best. I don't use brushes with these eyeshadows when I'm covering my lids. I just dab my finger in the pot and apply. The cool thing about ColourPop is that they send you directions with tips on how to apply the eyeshadow and lipstick. They have recommendations on how to use the shadows with brushes. I do use a fluffy brush from Makeup Academy to pick up crease colors. Again, I tap on the color, I don't rub. I don't really care for using a brush with these shadows though.

I found that using the Painterly primer pot from MAC, doesn't work with these eyeshadows. at all and this is usually my go-to primer. I have one last MAC primer that I bought a while ago, but once it's gone, I'm done buying/using products from MAC. The best primer I've used with these colors has to be the Original Urban Decay Eyeshadow Primer.

I'll use what I have, but I'm unsure if I'll buy anymore from ColourPop. I am curious about a few more colors and at their price point, I may give them a try. I wasn't impressed with one lip color and my Lyin' King Ultra Satin Lip color is changing in consistency. I'm a bit worried about the types of chemicals they use in their products. The idea of these shadows is very cool, but they're so awkward to apply and not much comes in each pot. They're pigmentation is not consistent and I don't believe the colors are described correctly on the site, as in the case of Hanky Panky.  

I would give ColourPop 3 out of five Pink Gerber Daisies. There were some hits, but there were also quite a few misses. Here's the link to the ColourPop website for color descriptions and products.  Below are pictures of the shadows and swatches of each color. ColourPop

Pearlized Finish

Partridge Saddle Brown

Tink Charcoal Grey and Glow Vanilla

Matte

Acron Cool Beige and Mixed Tape Cool Grey

Pearlized Finish

Vanity Fair Silvery Taupe and Girly Creamy Vanilla

Pearlized

Hanky Panky Soft Cool Taupe

Matte

I Heart This Cool Silvery Taupe (A favorite)

Slave to Pink (Broken)

Sugar (a favorite and Metallic) 

Fairfax

ColourPop: Ultra Satin Lips Part Deux

A few months ago ColourPop released their new Ultra Satin liquid lipstick. I heard this launch was in response to how drying their Ultra Matte formula can be on the lips. The original 16 colors were launched back in February. I purchased two colors: Rabbit and Lyin King. These two colors were amazing. I wrote a blog about them back in April. I took both colors to Florida and I really liked them. I know they aren't lost lasting, they do transfer, and I'm OK with that. It's not a big deal to reapply.

A few weeks ago they added seven more colors to the line.

Flash forward to today. About 2 weeks ago, I opened my email and was gifted with a 20% off ColourPop night. Their prices are already really reasonable, nothing is over $10. But to get a 20% off night, I couldn't pass up the chance to purchase some more items. They were also offering free shipping with a $30 purchase. Spending $30 is a very easy thing to do. Usually shipping is a flat rate of $4.99. Because of the discounts and free shipping, it took me two and a half hours to even get on to the site. It was jam packed with people waiting to shop. Oh what an ordeal, the wait time was excruciating. 

Anyway, I purchased two more colors for $4 a piece. I bought one from the original launch called London Fog, a cool-toned blue red and Littlestitious, a pastel dusty pink. London Fog is a beautiful color. I wanted to purchase it  when I purchased Lyin King and Rabbit, but I think that this one was sold out at the time. Littlestitious was one of the seven new additions from a few weeks ago. 

First off, I can definitely tell the difference between the formulas. Lyin' King, Rabbit and London Fog have a thicker consistency than Littlestitious. Lyin King, Rabbit and London Fog all felt creamier than Littlestitious.    

Littlestitious is very tacky on the lips and bunched up in the corners of my mouth. I don't jnow if it was a bad batch, but the smell was just awful. I sometimes lick my lips snd this is a lipstick I don't want anywhere near my mouth. This new shade, reminded me of the Kat Von D Liquid lipstick. The color is similar to Lovesick, but a tab bit lighter. You can actually even tell in the swatch that the texture and consistency is different. The product doesn't really pick up on the doe foot applicator very well either. Because it's a lighter shade,  a second coat is highly recommended.

I have to say that I am not a huge fan of Littlestitious. I'm not a fan of the smell or consistency or how it feels on my lips.  Could this have been a bad batch? Did they give the 20% discount to get rid of old inventory? Who knows. I'm very happy with the other three lipsticks, this one flop isn't going to deter me from repurchasing in the future.

There are still a few colors that I'm interested in trying out. Unfortunately the only downside is that I can't look at/test the color beforehand and can only go off the description on the site. 

For more information about ColourPop check out the link. ColourPop

ColourPop Your Lips

I'm sitting here in my PJ's, it's a lazy, cloudy Saturday, the time jumped ahead a few weeks ago. It's 5 p.m. and the sun is still shinning brightly through my window. Even with grading and accounting to do, I decided to start my reviews of ColourPop Cosmetics.

I'm splitting up my ColourPop reviews in to two posts, because I have a lot to say and this could get long. I've been hearing about ColourPop on YouTube for quite a while, and in my search of cruelty free cosmetics, this brand keeps "ColourPoping" up. I was hesitant to purchase anything because you can only buy online, but a few weeks ago I built up my courage, pulled out my credit card and went to town, so to speak. I bought five items and got one for free. Shipping is s flat rate of $4.99. With all of that my total came out to be a little more than $30.

The company is located in Oxnard, California. I love being able to support local companies, please don't sell out!

I know they are a cruelty-free brand, my only concern is that I haven't found information to say that these cosmetics are paraben-free or if they use more natural ingredients.

Things I love:

The price!!!!!!  OMG! prices range from $5-10 an item.
The colors and pigments. Vibrant, bold and beautiful.
The ease of shopping from my home.  Sometimes I don't want to go to the mall.
It's a local company. Support local companies!!!!!
They're cruelty-free.
I love the detail they put into the shipping. They sent a personalized note with my order. Thanks for making me a part of the family.
A free Lippie Stick sample. 

Things I don't like:
The packaging. The writing in the outside of the liquid lipstick rubs off. 
How they are mailed. One of my eyeshadows came to me broken. Apparently it's an easy fix.
I don't know natural these products are. 
I wasn't able to access the $5 off coupon.
I can't try the product before I purchase it. I just have to guess if it suits my skin tone or not.

Lyin' King

The Rabbit   

I purchased two Ultra Satin Liquid lipsticks in The Rabbit (a bright fuchsia with blue sheen) and Lyin King (a saturated raspberry). These are priced at $6 a piece. Not bad. I definitely like them better than the NYX Soft Matte Liquid Cream lipstick.  They are not long lasting, but the description states that.   Expect to reapply. That wasn't a problem for me. They do stain your lips a bit. There is one more color I'd like to get in Spritz. Spritz came out after the initial release of the Ultra Satin Lipsticks.

I took both colors on my trip to Florida, and really, these were the only two lipsticks I used the entire week. I didn't notice bleeding or feathering if left alone (if I wasn't eating or drinking), but these lipstcks transferred all over the place!! Somehow I got the lipstick all over my thumb and hand. Don't ask how. Another thing I had an issue with was that the color bunched up in the corners of my mouth. I just cleaned it up with some tissue and we were good to go.  

I've never tried their Ultra Matte Lipstick, so I can't judge, but I hear that these are creamier. From my research the Ultra Matte do not transfer, but are very very drying on the lips. I felt that these were a bit drying, but they didn't flake off my lips like most matte liquid lipsticks (Kat Von D's matte lipsticks). The sample I got of the Lippie Stick in Poppin' is a completely different story. Poppin' bunches up in the corners and flakes off in the middle. It's too drying, I felt like I needed ChapStick at the end of the day.

ColourPop

Overall, I liked this product better than some other liquid lipsticks. I loved the two colors I purchased and I would buy them again at $6 a piece. I would rate these 3 1/2 Pink Gerber Daisies out of 5.

Cruelty Free Makeup and More

This post is dedicated to my daddy, who we lost on 2/7/2014.  He loved all creatures (even bugs!) and was the best man who ever walked the earth!  

I love animals. I love makeup. I don't like, when animals are being tested on, and I don't like companies that test on animals. This year I am making the goal of going cruelty free. I've already been looking into products and brands that do not test on animals, household and beauty. My research has led me to quite a few revelations, some good, some bad.

First off, the bad........ I've already nixed M.A.C.. I hate their customer service and guess what?  They test on animals! They used to be cruelty free and their slogan used to be "tested on models, not on animals". They no longer are cruelty free.  M.A.C. sells their products in China, and in China, the government makes it mandatory to test all products on the poor helpless bunnies in their testing facilities. These poor babies are waiting in cages, in fear, and what happens you ask?.  Makeup companies spray/put horrible things in their eyes and God only knows what else is being done.  I can not stand behind brands that torment defenseless little animals.

My love, Mia

I still have a few M.A.C. products that I have to finish this year, some lipsticks and other things. I spent money on these products and am not going to let them go to waste.  I'm disappointed because I do like their eyeshadow primer in Painterly (and I'm almost out) and I like their M.A.C. Fix Plus. But, until they stop selling in China, I will not contribute $$$$ to their animal testing.

Another bad... drugstore bad. Maybelline and Revlon. I have some products that I bought and I still need to finish, but once I'm done, that's it. My money will not go to these companies anymore. It's a shame because I love the Maybelline Color Sensation lipstick, mascara and eyeliner.  Time to use new lines of products. NYX matte lipstick is an amazing alternative to the Maybelline Color Sensation lipstick.

My love, Samwise Gamgee

Ok, now sorta bad/sorta good?.... Urban Decay, NYX, BareMinerals and NARS. Four brands that I love a lot! While these four lines don't test on animals and from my understanding, are not sold in China, their parent companies L'Oreal and Shiseido do. Again I have a couple of L'Oreal products that I have to finish this year. One beauty blogger says to buy from the lines that do not test on animals, that way the parent companies can see that they do not have to sell their products in China and can still make money.  I will continue to buy, Urban Decay, BareMinerals and NARS, but I'm a bit conflicted with this decision.  Am I being a hypocrite? I want to show my support for the lines which are cruelty free and that our voices are heard.

As I was in Ulta today, the sales lady, Erin, and I were talking about this very subject.  She said that L'Oreal is moving in the direction of being completely, 100% cruelty free.  I'm sending out positive thoughts that they do travel down this route.

Who would test on this sweet face?

The good.....There are some amazing, reasonably priced, drugstore brands that are cruelty free. For example E.L.F., Makeup Academy, Wet n' Wild and Physicians Formula are all cruelty free. Wet n' Wild is made in China, but not sold there. All I see are red flags with this one! Physicians Formula is organic too.

The good....High end.  My favorite high end brand that does not test on animals AT ALL is Too Faced. I think their products are made with cocoa powder and they smell delicious.  I don't own any of their eyeshadow palettes because I'm working on my Gwen Stefani, Urban Decay Eyeshadow Palette.  Their melted lipsticks are PHENOMENAL!!

There is a brand of make up that is a local company, right here is Los Angeles, actually I think they are headquartered in Oxnard, California. It's called ColourPop.  Not only is the brand reasonably priced and is local, they are also cruelty free! The lipsticks and eyeshadows are, I think like, $5 a piece.  As far as I know this brand can only be bought online, which is not my favorite way of purchasing makeup. I am definitely going to check this company out! I love supporting local businesses. Please don't ever sell out.

Speaking of selling out..... The Body Shop. What a disappointment you are. You too were bought out by L'Oreal.  I worked for The Body Shop when Anita was still alive.  She must be turning over in her grave right now, thinking only bad thoughts. I have no words.  To even be associated with a company that tests on animals...L'Oreal (they seem to own a lot!).

This isn't just about makeup.  I am now ONLY going to buy cruelty free household cleaning products and body/hair products as well. You can find a bunch at Target. I heard their own brand (is it Up-Up?) is also cruelty free.

Did you say 'Cookie?"

I will not check on the PETA website.  If you don't know already, I am NOT a fan of PETA.  They kill "euthanize" many of their shelter animals. My dog Mia wrote a disapproving  letter to PETA a few years ago, explaining that she loves her life as a domesticated doggy.  If you'd like to read her letter, here's the link to that post:
http://jonellemariefariaedrosolano.blogspot.com/2010/08/applying-for-job-at-peta.html

No one can tell me that rubbing a lipstick on a rats face can determine if a lipstick is safe for human use.  We're not rats. What works for one person may not work for another.  I'm severely allergic to Penicillin. They tested that on animals for years.  It makes me sick to my stomach thinking about the agony that these poor animals must go through, and it's NOT for our benefit......

For a complete list of cruelty brands, beauty and household, check out these links below. There are SO many brands to choose from, so make good choices!!

Sources and links:

Cruelty-Free Kitty
http://www.crueltyfreekitty.com/start-here/

Logical Harmony---but they list Lime Crime as being cruelty free and I've heard it isn't. So be careful and research
http://www.logicalharmony.net/#axzz3zPB8I1bF

BlogHer
http://www.blogher.com/how-shop-cruelty-free-target

Leaping Bunny
https://www.crueltyfreeinternational.org/LeapingBunny

I have a great quote, but I can't read who said it, and I want to clarify, it wasn't me, "Compassion for animals is intimately connected with the goodness of character; and it may be confidently asserted that he who is cruel to animals cannot be a good man" 

Sam and Mia say, "Don't test on animals!

Shop cruelty free!"