Explore Temptalia

We're here to help you make better beauty purchases that you'll enjoy and love! We recommend signing up to take advantage of personalized features like tracking products you own, viewing dupes that you already have, and more!

Here are some useful resources for you:

Foundation Matrix™

Find your next foundation or concealer match!

The Dupe List™

Find a product dupe or compare two palettes.

Swatch Gallery™

Find swatches by color, product, formula, etc.

Compare Any Two

Curious how two shades compare to each other? Type in the shades below to get instant side-by-side swatches!

80 Comments

Comments that do not adhere to our comment policy may be removed. Discussion and debate are highly encouraged but we expect community members to participate respectfully. Please keep discussion on-topic, and if you have general feedback, a product review request, an off-topic question, or need technical support, please contact us!

Please help us streamline the comments' section and be more efficient: double-check the post above for more basic information like pricing, availability, and so on to make sure your question wasn't answered already. Comments alerting us to typos or small errors in the post are appreciated (!) but will typically be removed after errors are fixed (unless a response is needed).

We appreciate enthusiasm for new releases but ask readers to please hold questions regarding if/when a review will be posted as we can't commit to or guarantee product reviews. We don't want to set expectations and then disappoint readers as even products that are swatched don't always end up being reviewed due to time constraints and changes in priorities! Thank you for understanding!

Comments on this post are closed.
Sharron Avatar
Sharron

Indie = Brands not found at mainstream retail outlets. Most of their sales are via the Internet, but a few brands are carried in specialty/boutique brick & mortar stores.

Margo Avatar
Margo

I love Shiro Cosmetics and Antoinette’s Revolution Cosmetics. I really want to try OCC but too expensive right now. I can’t wait to see what others like! I am pretty new to the indie scene.

Mai Avatar
Mai

Darling Girl Cosmetics, Fyrinnae, and Morgana Cryptoria are at the top of my list! Darling Girl and Fyrinnae make amazing eyeshadows and Morgana make great vegan lipsticks.

Paula Avatar
Paula

geek chic cosmetics, sugarpill, shiro cosmetics, fyrinnae(pixie epoxy!), black phoenix alchemy labs, conjure oils, meow cosmetics and inque nails!

Courtney Avatar
Courtney

I avoid indie brands because the shadows (from my research) tend to be loose, and I’m far too clumsy to work with loose shadows. I would consider myself a collector (on a small scale) and I have to say I don’t own one MAC pigment.

That being said, I never outrule any brand, for every one has its gems, so to anybody generous enough to suggest an independent brand with quality pressed powders, your help is very much appreciated.

Kerry B. Avatar
Kerry B.

Venomous Cosmetics is an indie brand who makes pressed. They have really pretty colors and always have really great reviews.

On a side note, you can always buy loose and make them pressed if that’s easier to work with. Or, another option, I tend to prefer my loose shadows with a sifter, I only punch out 1 hole in the seal, so a lot less mess. 🙂

I used to hate loose, but I’ve learned to embrace it… just took some time.

Dana Avatar
Dana

Agree with both Sugarpill and OCC, but I’d also add Medusa’s Makeup for cosmetics, and for bath/body stuff, I’d add Cocoa Pink, Moon’s Harvest, Skindecent, and Villainess! Also can’t go wrong with soaps from Naiad, Haunt, and Savor! 😀

Hannah Avatar
Hannah

Sugarpill and Shiro Cosmetics so far, but I’ve just placed an order with Venomous Cosmetics I finally want to try out Fyrinnae eyeshadows when their website is fully functioning again. Once I actually save up some money again I want to try out Detrivore because they do loads of matte colours which I LOVE!

Inky Avatar
Inky

Concrete Minerals for their generous size, great price, AMAZING customer service and gorgeous colors. Sugarpill for the out of this world colors, Goldilux ChromaLust that I cannot live without and also amazing customer service.

Kerry B. Avatar
Kerry B.

I love Meow, Fyrinnae (they are worth the wait!!), Darling Girl, and Lucy Minerals (foundation is amazing), Morgana Cryptoria (her lip balms & lipsticks are amazing).

Emily Avatar
Emily

I order from Beauty from the Earth (BFTE) several times a month, they have tons of eyeshadow colors! I’ve also tried Shiro and Darling Girl and liked both, and of course Sugarpill makes amazing products as well. 🙂

Nichole Avatar
Nichole

Fyrinnae all day, everyday. Yes they’ve closed a lot lately, but I love them too much to care.

Meow Cosmetics makes a great powder foundation for an incredible price/volume.

Jill Avatar
Jill

I don’t really use any indie brands as far as actual makeup goes, but I absolutely LOVE Out of Africa’s “African Black” soap. It’s fairly hard to come by, but it is so gentle on my skin and smells divine. It used to be sold at my Wegmans grocery store, but they don’t carry it anymore, so now I have to order it online. I also like Kiss My Face soap and Badger products, but they’re more mainstream brands. I once got a foot scrub from Pleasant Valley Soaps at a farmer’s market in Burlington, VT that is also wonderful, works beautifully, and smells amazing. I think I was able to find the woman’s website online.

Jenny Avatar
Jenny

I love Fyrinnae for the Pixie Epoxy. I also recently had a good friend introduce me to Shiro. The indie brands I really want to explore, I will have the luxury of checking out at IMATS in Toronto such as OCC. I’ve also started my own Vegan friendly all natural indie brand called Beauty Before Blues.

NeenaJ Avatar
NeenaJ

Shiro! Also, Aromaleigh was great while it lasted. Looking forward to some Sugarpill, but can’t justify the expense – I’ve been lemming Goldilux for a while.

lily Avatar
lily

Wow.. I had no idea OCC was indie since their stuff is so top notch. I don’t any have favs at the moment, but as soon as I can afford Sugarpill I’ll sure it’ll become a fav!

JULIE Avatar
JULIE

3CC. I like their sheer lipsticks and lip glosses. I didn’t like lip gloss until I tried 3CC – not tacky, just smooth and adds some shine, but not a “vinyl” shine.

Michelle Avatar
Michelle

I’ve purchased products from Yaby, Stars Make-up Haven, Glamour Doll Eyes, Beauty From The Earth and Medusa’s Make-up and been pleasantly surprised by the quality of eye shadows. Loose shadow (Glamour Doll Eyes and Beauty From the Earth) takes some getting used to but Yaby definitely compare to MAC / Urban Decay, Inglot

mumtaza Avatar
mumtaza

3 custom colors! Perfectly pink and century in red lip palettes are pure gold. And light brights sheer lipsticks. I want to try fyrinnae but there’s always a hang up.

Sharron Avatar
Sharron

Cosmetics: Sugarpill, OCC, Fyrinnae, Shiro Cosmetics, Morgana Cryptoria, Aromaleigh (hoarding what little I have left…), & Sobe Botanicals

Bath & Body: Haus of Gloi, One Hand Washes the Other & Villainess

Nail: ManGlaze & BB Couture

amanda Avatar
amanda

The only “indie” brand I have tried was Beauty From the Earth. Maybe my expectations were too high, but i found their shades a bit underwhelming-i thought they were going to be so different than other brands, but ive been able to find dupes. That being said, the pigmentation was great, so I will likely try again, and I like that you can get smaller jars to try a whole bunch of different shades before buying the full size!

There was also a booth at IMATS last year that i purchased a few jars of glitter from, because they had unique colours =] I can’t recall the name though.. i may edit later when i get home and check.

Sadly I skipped OCC, and kinda regret it actually! Partly because I have OCD though i skipped it lol. But their lip tars seem super neat.

Thats right, I said “neat”

AmyD Avatar
AmyD

seems as if i really need to check out fyrinnae and shiro cosmetics! 🙂 for my money, though, my fave indies are aubrey organics and 100% pure – every makeup item i’ve tried from them has worked perfectly on my skintone and i love that they’re all natural!

L.Brown Avatar
L.Brown

My favorite indie lipstick brand at the moment is Kaoir Cosmetics. It is a company started by actress/model Keyshia Dior, who is known for her funky hairstyles and outragious makeup. She speacializes in colors that are are odd and flasy; my favorite lip colors are “Jamaica (which is a bright green), “Dior Doll” (a bright, electric blue) and “Rude Girl” (a creamy lavendar). Unlike OCC’s lip tars, these lipsticks come in tube form so that you can carry them throughout the day. They are highy pigmented and last for about 4 to 5 hours. And although the colors are uncommon, they are extremely waerable. I have worn “Jamaica” out to run errands and recieved a ton of compliments. Keyshia’s line currently is focused on lipsticks and lipgloss, but I hope that she expands in the future because I really love the product.

The website is http://www.kaoir.com

ann Avatar
ann

i love kaoir cosmetics too. i agree with them being more pratical to carry around since in tube form instead of occ lip tars that can get really messy in my opinion. i like kaoir lipsticks better than lime crime too. lime crime’s lipsticks are too thick of a consistency but i still like their unusual colors.

Kristi Avatar
Kristi

Silk Naturals, Darling Girl Cosmetics, Lucy Minerals – for foundation & finishing powder.
Just starting to venture into perfume oils – Sweet Anthem, Solstice Scents, One Hand Washes the Other

We try to approve comments within 24 hours (and reply to them within 72 hours) but can sometimes get behind and appreciate your patience! 🙂 If you have general feedback, product review requests, off-topic questions, or need technical support, please contact us directly. Thank you for your patience!