5 Makeup Brands You Shouldn’t Be Buying From

When it comes to what we put on our skin, especially our face, we all need to be careful and avoid products that contain harmful toxins that could irritate our skin. Besides looking out for ourselves we also need to look out for animals and choose brands that don’t test on animals. We encourage everyone to purchase makeup from ethical, and non-toxic brands. While many have turned away from animal testing, and there are plenty of brands out there that are vegan and organic, there are still some extremely popular makeup brands that still test on animals and contain toxins that are harmful to your skin. We’re looking out for you and hope that our insider information will help sway your decision to not buy from these five makeup brands. At the end, you’ll find our recommendations for safer brands that can replace any products you own from these brands and you should find yourself loving these new brands you’re buying products from. Here are the five makeup brands that you shouldn’t be buying from: 

1. NARS

First you should know that any makeup brands that sell their products in China are not considered cruelty-free because the law in China requires animal testing in order to sell products. Many brands that were once considered cruelty-free, meaning they don’t test on animals, are no longer cruelty-free because they opened their market to sell products in China which requires animal testing by law. Before purchasing products from your favorite makeup brands, you should check their website to see if  they are sold in China to best determine if they are cruelty-free or not. NARS is one of those huge name brand companies that used to be considered cruelty-free and brought in a lot of customers for this very reason. Unbeknownst to many, NARS started selling their products in China, meaning they are no longer considered a cruelty-free company. Did you know about this switch behind the scenes? 

2. Maybelline

We’re sure that everyone who wears makeup has heard of Maybelline, that’s why we’re sharing with you just what’s wrong with this company. Maybelline is one of the companies who test their products  on animals when required, as mentioned plenty before when talking about makeup brands that sell their products in China. Maybelline was also a part of a study that was conducted to determine if makeup products contained toxic chemicals that can be damaging to your skin. Although it wasn’t revealed which makeup brands involved in the study did contain chemicals, it should be noted that their products could contain these chemicals. It’s safer for your skin to purchase products from makeup brands that pride themselves being cruelty-free and with clean, safe ingredients. 

3. Morphe

Morphe is a popular brand for its affordability and its popular collaborations with social media influencers. Many of Morphe’s customers complain that their products are of poor quality and seem to get their profit off of the buzz of the influencer’s collaboration with the company rather than the products itself. What do you think about Morphe, are their products of good value and quality to you?

4. Colourpop

Colourpop is a popular brand that is usually looked at with high regards for its more affordable prices and the many collaboration projects the brand does. The brand is cruelty-free and many of their products are vegan. So, just by this Colourpop is a good brand in this sense. However, there has been some criticism on the past for some shade names for darker tones that are offensive. Now, the brand is more conscious when it comes to choosing names for these shades. Also, there has been controversy that has been denied that Colourpop sells their products to Kylie Cosmetics, simply repackaged to the Kylie Cosmetics design. 

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5. Kylie Cosmetics

Kylie Cosmetics is a huge name brand for one of the biggest celebrities in the world. But it’s reviews are not too great and any people are upset over the poor quality, especially since it is quite a pricey purchase. Many beauty gurus on Youtube and now TikTok have reviewed Kylie Cosmetics, excited with the nice packaging design, but disappointed with many of the products for the cheap formula, and not really standing out in any way. There has also been some speculation as it seems Kylie Cosmetics has been using Colourpop’s products and simply repackaging them under the Kylie Cosmetics brand name. The brand is considered to be cruelty-free so that is one thing it has going for them. Yet, there has been some concern to the company’s employees only making minimum wage and not receiving any benefits. This has yet to be confirmed though. Overall, Kylie Cosmetics seems to be overrated, that all this money you are spending on this luxury makeup brand, is really only for the name on it. Save your money and spend it on brands that are actually of quality and promote ethical working conditions for their employees. 

Those are the five most definite makeup brands that you should probably not be buying from. Remember that any makeup brand that sells their product in China is not considered cruelty-free as Chinese law requires testing on animals in order to sell products in their country. Keeping this is mind, there are plenty more brands not mentioned that sell their products in China, large companies as a matter of fact. We’ll insert a link below that lays out many brands that test on animals. 

Since we recommended brands to avoid whether for their unethical working conditions, testing on animals, or just not high quality good products, you’re probably left wondering “What brands should I be buying from?” Now we’ll give you some recommendations for brands that we think are of good quality, are cruelty-free, and practice ethical working conditions. 

• Glossier
• Elate Beauty
• Milk Makeup
• Fenty Beauty
• e.l.f Cosmetics

Do you see any makeup brand on this list that you typically buy from? Perhaps switch over to one of our good recommendations to support a better makeup brand that is good all round.