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 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

May "Unbagging" 2016

It's that time of the month again, it's time for my Ipsy May "Unbagging". I'm so late to the party,  it's a hectic time at work for me right now. I need to make sure I do the job I get paid for, so this  has to take a backseat. I just wanted to make sure this is posted before June 1st, it's May 29th so I'm still good. I just got back from watching X-men Apocalypse and while yes, I'm tired, I sort of caught a second wind at 1:17 a.m..

First off, some of my friends/coworkers have given up their monthly subscription to Ipsy. They were tired of paying the $10 a month for things they weren't going to use or for things they didn't enjoy. So now they're using that $10 a month at Sephora to get things they actually want. I paid the year off so I'm stuck, but I'm not quite at the point where I'm annoyed at my bags just yet.

I kept my promise to myself and didn't peak at my bag beforehand, however this month's products were a disappointment. I though the best thing to come out of the bag was the lipstick, but in a few moments you'll find out why it isn't.

This month's theme was Destination Chic. The bag itself was adorable. It looks like an envelope with iconic world monuments all over the front and back. I hope that makes sense. It closes with a button front instead of a zipper. The bag came in a few colors. I think pink, but I know for sure blue and purple. I got blue. Now the contents.........

I received a full sized lipstick from Mellow Cosmetics. Somehow this name rings a bell. It was in the color Nude. The site says it's a long-wearing Creamy Matte Lipstick. I disagree. It is a matte for sure, however it is neither long-wearing nor creamy.  It goes on dry, tugs at my lips and the worst part is that it bunches into a ball in the corners of my mouth. I can not find, on the FAQs page, 

if these products are cruelty-free. I like the color and I believe it is similar to the color Anna, by Nars. I'm not saying that this is a dupe, because the textures are completely different. I would have continued to wear this lipstick, but I checked up on their ingredients. This lipstick has Aluminum Starch Octenylsuccinate, a an anti-caking agent. Obviously it doesn't work because it cakes up in my corners. This ingredient is on the list of toxic ingredients in make-up. It's a neurotoxin that can affect the nervous system. So in the trash she goes, If you're still interested in checking out this product, Mellow Creamy Matte Lipsticks are $13.  Mellow Cosmetics

I also got the Smashbox X-RATED mascara. This is a bitty sample size because a full size runs for $22. I wasn't impressed with this mascara. I like the Full Exposure mascara better than this one. I didn't feel like it plumped up my eyelashes. I don't know if Smashbox is cruelty-free or not. I went onto their website and it's a disorganized mess. There is just far too much going on. I'll probably never purchase one on my own. If your're still interested, here is the Smashbox site. Smashbox  Hell, even the URL is a mess. 

The one thing that I got and love is the Hanalei Lip Treatment from the Hanalei Beauty Company. Kauai has been my family's vacation spot for many years. A part of my heart is in Kauai. Hanalei Bay is right up the street from where we stay when we visit. The lip treatment tastes sweet on the lips. I used it after my sugar scrub treatment. A full sized lip treatment in $25. Needless to say I didn't get a full size. I got a tiny sample. The website claims that this is "Hawaii's best kept secret". Hanalei Company

In this never ending bag of duds I got the Hikari Cosmetics bronzer in Radiate. The bronzer is way to warm for me. It's in a quad and looks to be a full sized shimmer bronzer. The sections with the shimmer were a little rough when I swatched them. The non shimmer colors were more velvety. I guess you could try to use one color at a time, but each square is super tiny so good luck trying to get your brush to pick up only one color. According to the site, you are suppose to swirl your brush around the entire palette. I have to be honest and say that I haven't used this bronzer. While these products are apparently cruelty free, according to their site, they do use the toxin Aluminum Starch Octenylsuccinate. In the trash this product will go. Hikari Cosmetics

The last thing I got that I didn't care for either was the Hungary Hair Oil from Eva NYC. This product didn't come with instructions. I always look on the company websites for the products that I get in my bag, but it would be nice to get a little something with directions about each product. You can use this oil on wet or dry hair. You pour a little (and I mean tiny) amount on your hands, rub together and them rub on your hair. I tried this Saturday. I already washed my hair in the morning, so I used it on the ends of my already dried hair. I typically have oily roots and drier ends. I wasn't wowed by this product and it's something that I wouldn't buy on my own.  I have seen these products at Target and Walgreens. A 1 oz. treatment in $8 and a 3.38 oz. treatment is $20. I won't really use this product because I don't have the thickest hair either, I guess I'm just thin and greasy. Sometimes I use coconut oil infused with lavender on the ends of my hair and for me that works just fine. Eva NYC

Overall, this bag was a dud. I am keeping my promise to myself and I won't look at June's contents beforehand.

This blog is dedicated to my friend Julie who was laid to rest yesterday.

"Unbagging" April Dreams

I'm sitting here watching my new favorite show on Netflix, Arrow. I've been home from work for a week, very ill.  I wish this post would have gone up sooner. But, I was zapped. I had no energy, I slept all day and sweat all night. My tonsils were so swollen, I couldn't swallow, or let alone type. It's already May and this month's bag will be rolling out soon. I promised myself that this month I'm was not going to look at the contents beforehand.

This month my Ipsy bag was amazing! I didn't really care too much for the actual bag itself, but the contents this month have been my absolute favorite! I don't really care to the tie-dyed thing and the colors just weren't my thing, but in the end, does the bag really matter? No, it's whats "inside that counts". I love that this month's theme is "dreamers" I love to dream and sleep, especially when I'm sick.

The first product that I received in my goody bag is something that I will definitely use every day. It's a black eyeliner from a company called Starlooks. It's called the Luxe Longwear Eye Pencil, in Jet. It is most definitely jet black, which I love and I know I'll use. I love that this liner is so long wearing, I couldn't even wipe it off with coconut oil. This eyeliner glides on so smoothly. I wore it with my ColourPop eyeshadow in Sugar, an icy blue. It looked amazing and it didn't smear in my crease. Sometimes my eyeliners will crease in the far corners of my eyes. The black stayed vibrant. I really love the way this eyeliner went on and how long it stayed looking freshly applied. The eyeliner retails for $16. I couldn't find whether or not this particular brand is cruelty-free, so I will not purchase it on my own unless I can find out of it is CF. Gotta love those bunnies and puppies!

The next thing that I absolutely love is the Highlight Trio from City Color  Cosmetics. I have worn this quite a bit since receiving this in my bag. Oh how I love it! It glides on so smooth, like velvet. It actually feels like velvet to the touch. The three colors are gold, icy white and rose gold. So far I've used the white and rose gold. I haven't used the gold, I don't think it's going to look right with my skin tone. I prefer to use them with primer, foundation, and blush. I make sure to always use a setting spray. I like to use the Urban Decay setting spays to help me sent my makeup. I did use the trio without foundation and primer and it doesn't last as long. The retail price for the trio is $8.99. There are too collections, one for lighter skin tones like mine and one for darker skin tones. I read that these are cruelty-free! I'd buy this for $8.99!

Highlight Trio

I was also very excited to get the Tarte cosmetics LipSurgence Lip Cream in Wonder. This is the most amazing color for Spring! Apparently Tarte is a an approved cruelty-free line. I do question the validity of this because I have heard otherwise! Wonder retails for $24. Mine is obviously a sample, not a full size. It does glide on smoothly, but make sure your lips are smooth and moisturized because little lines will show up! The color is described as poppy (a warm pink tone) and is the darkest shade in the lip creams. Make sure to use a liner because the color will bleed. I wore this to work the other day and sure enough, the color feathered and got into the lines in my lips. I generally use the NYX clear color so that I don't have to by a liner for every lipstick. This is not a long lasting color, so be prepared to reapply. I wore it out to eat with my mom and the color most definitely came off.  I would
purchase this product and I'm happy to have the opportunity to test it out beforehand. It's a great everyday color for spring.

Oh this brush, how I love this brush! A crown fit for a queen! This is the C427 Duo Fiber Blush Brush from Crown Brushes and I have been using this nonstop with my blush. It does pick up quite a bit of product, so be light handed. It retails for $23.73 but on the Crown Brushes website you can pick it up for $9.49. This is another case of "I can't find if this is a cruelty-free product or not". I will not purchase from a company that is not cruelty-free. The bristles are so soft to the touch and feels amazing on the face!

The last thing that I got in my bag were two of the pur~lisse sheet masks. I see sheet masks at Sephora  near the register and this is something that I have been wanting to get my hands on for a while. I have heard about this brand, but I was never really interested in trying the line. But, I'm glad that I had the opportunity to give it a go. Obviously two masks were sent.  I already used the Blue Lotus + Seaweed mask. It was an interesting experience. First off I looked like Leatherface. OK, that's to be expected. It's what's underneath that counts. It was a little awkward adjusting the mask to my face. Not impossible, just annoying. I felt that the mask was going to fall off, it didn't though. It smelled pretty too. You start with a clean face, apply the mask, wait 15-20 minutes and then take it off. According to the site, you don't rinse, just massage into your skin to let it absorb the essence. One application doesn't equal results. After the hideous mask, my face did feel nice. You can put the mask in the freezer to calm puffy looking, tired skin or steep it in hot water to open your pores, this is all according to the site.  I have photos below of the actual mask on my face. I did neither of the options recommended on the website. The masks retail for $8 and the company claims to be cruelty-free.

This was by far my favorite Ipsy bag. Like I said above, I hope I said it above, I'm not sneaking a peak at May's bag. I'm going to try to hold off until the bag comes to me in the mail. Some of my friends have started subscriptions too. I have a coworker who is subscribed to three boxes/bags, Ipsy, Birchbox (my 2nd choice) and Glossybox. I think I'd be too overwhelmed! For now, I'm sticking to Ipsy, as long as they don't send me nail products! Anyway, I hope all of you are healthy,  because I wasn't, and wise! Thanks for listening to me rant! Until next time XOXOX

Trying on the mask. One day before getting sick!

Swatch of the Lip Cream from tarte

Swatch of the eyeliner

Swatch of the Highlighter colors

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!"