What beauty brand do you wish more people would try?
For more “mainstream,” though still more niche, Surratt Beauty. For indie, Fyrinnae and Sydney Grace.
— Christine
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Yes, Surratt! I only have one product so far – their Japanese-style slurry blush in Cherubique – and I love it! I’m sad that I missed it about a year ago when Sephora was slimming down their Surratt inventory and had a bunch of products on sale for 50% off. I would have picked up at least a few more blushes and probably tried some eyeshadow, too.
I’m also a long-time customer of Fyrinnae’s. I don’t mind the loose eyeshadows at all and find the mini-size amount to be more than enough product. Buying the minis allows me to try a whole bunch of shades within a $40+ order (to hit the free shipping threshold). I also only use their Pixie Epoxy when wearing eyeshadow as eyeliner, and it works really well.
Kelley Quan makeup brushes. I think because they are not popular with the YouTube channels a lot of people are unfamiliar with the brand. I have multiples of all of the full size brushes as well as travel brushes and they have lasted me for years.
Excellent professional quality and favorites among my extensive collection.
Wow, never heard of Kelley Quan! And I love brushes!
In the past few years I’ve had the opportunity to try out some really interesting and fun products from Indie brands like Ace Beauté, CColorCosmetics and Sugarpill. I’d recommend all 3 of them! Not sure if Coloured Raine is considered an Indie brand or mainstream, but I would absolutely recommend them as well. Excellent quality, rich color payoff, interesting shades in all the above mentioned brands.
Lise Watier – a Canadian brand which I think was purchased by the Marcelle group in the past few years. Goodness, they have some wonderful products at great prices. Also, for skincare, Youth to the People – they don’t make a whole lot of products but I adore their facial oil, cleanser and sleeping mask.
Just got my first Youth to the People product!
Which one did you get, CatG? I’m probably on my 4th or 5th bottle of the Macqui facial oil and have given bottles away to my sis in law (who also loves it) and best friend. Both are now “converts”.
Coloured Raine, Jordana (drugstore) and JD Glow all make bomb products! I wish they were more popular.
Lethal Cosmetics. Outstanding products and CS, and they’re Cruelty Free and Vegan.
Any particular products you recommend from Lethal Cosmetics?
I have two highlighters from them and they are great, they melt right into the skin and have more of a lit from within effect rather than a shiny stripe. Their single eye shadows are pretty great also, they are highly pigmented mattes and the shimmers are metallic.
Thanks for the recs!
Their single eyeshadows and highlighters are fantastic. I have not tried their liners or anything else yet. They have some new eyeshadow shades, including duochromes.
Give Me Glow and Menagerie Cosmetics. Both of them have very pigmented shades and I feel a good variety of them as well. Give Me Glow’s metallic formula is very shiny and foiled, you don’t need glitter glue to get the full effect. Menagerie has the best little purple palette I’ve tried. I keep reading that purple mattes are hard to formulate, but I feel like they nailed it with Violet Ink. It blends beautifully.
Menagerie is INCREDIBLE and I am saddened more folks don’t know of this brand. Their eyeshadows are easily some of the best I’ve ever used in terms of pigmentation, blendability, and wear time.
Another one I forgot to mention is Propa Beauty. They currently only have lipsticks. The one that I do have is very creamy and feels hydrating on the lips, but manages not to slide around on me. This brand is geared toward dark skin tones, however I feel like they offer something for everybody.
I do not see Dose of Colors geting much love.. their Block Party eye shadows are AMAZING!!! I love them! the matte shadows are nice as well..
I totally agree with Surratt! I have four of their blushes and a whole bunch of their single eyeshadows. They all work really well for me! Where they really excel is in the quality of their brushes. I have brushes from a number of different companies, including koyudo, Sonia G, and Chikuhodo. The Surratt brushes are easily among my favorites!
Also, Coastal Scents is a great brand! I absolutely love their empty palettes (which I fill with Sydney Grace eyeshadows). I have quite a few of their brushes and they work wonders with cream shadows. They also run sales and I picked up the palettes and brushes for just a few dollars each. Highly recommend! They also have a number of color cosmetics that are on my ever growing list to try.
Alack and alas, we do not have anything like the indie and niche brands that you have access to in the States – but I think Coloured Raine, Dose of Colours and Sydney Grace would be my favourites.
We just need to set up Temptalia penpals to help those with limited access ?
Give Me Glow, Lethal Cosmetics and Kaleidos. I know a lot of people are wary of trying brands without being able to swatch and feel products in person but these are 3 brands whose quality and performance of their eyeshadows has not let me down yet.
Cle de Peau – the only luxury brand that is truly worth the luxury price, everything I have tried by CdP has been fabulous from their skin care to the makeup.
Missha- a very affordable & high-quality K-beauty brand., Love their skin care & BB creams!
I don’t get a chance to try many indie brands as I don’t live in the USA.
It’s hard for me to think of Sydney Grace or Fyrinnae as an indie brand because I feel they have so many fans now. But I love both. I first bought from Fyrinnae years and years ago and was not disappointed. I really haven’t tried many indie brands though, it’s something I want to do more from here on forward.