Bad Beauty Journey leads to Better

Confession: I’ve never been one to wear makeup on the daily. Most days, I don’t wear makeup. I actually really loved it when I had eye lash extensions because it felt like I had makeup on without having to do a single thing. But…I’m starting to be more intentional now.

A few years ago, I started to up my makeup game. I hadn’t really been exposed to much makeup/cosmetics/beauty items most of my life. But I knew that I wanted to have decent makeup that wasn’t smelly, clumpy, or flaky. And I didn’t want makeup that smelled old. I had gone through my makeup and gotten rid of everything. It’s embarrassing but I had makeup that was over five years old! Yikes!! I also didn’t know that makeup went bad. (my bad).

After the clean out, I started buying intentionally and got just the items that truly worked for me and I make sure to not put a limit on my spending because I didn’t want to just put garbage on my face. Several hundreds later, I had a complete collection of favorites that I loved and my love for makeup grew from there. (when I say love for makeup – I just mean that I started wearing it and liking it more — probably close to the same level as the average teenager, lol) I am not a makeup guru by any means!

WHY THE MAKEUP CHANGE??

A few weeks ago, I had my first ever allergic reaction to makeup. I was in Sephora and had tried on a lip stain that I saw great reviews on. I wanted to test it out and see if I’d like it. It wore all day and was a stunning color. But I noticed my lips were very dry. Even though I was slapping on tons of lip balm, they seemed to continue to try out.

My lips started to burn.

Anything I put on burned my lips and I needed something because they were so dry and starting to peel. Plus my lips were inflamed and red. I was so so bummed. I really didn’t have a clue what to do. This had never happened before. I went to google and youtube for answers.

In my search, I was able to find a remedy. Layers of hydrocortisone cream topped with aquaphor for a few days set me back to normal. THANK GOODNESS!!

HERE’S THE THING

It took this allergic reaction for me to realize the seriousness of the beauty industry and how important it was to be cruelty-free. I think I was just like most people and just didn’t really pay attention to what I was using or how it comes to be or whatnot. I started to ask myself “don’t these companies test on animals??” And if I had such a terrible, painful, and painstaking reaction to a lip stain — what are these poor animals going through. It totally opened my eyes and I couldn’t handle it. I knew I had to take all my newly found makeup from the last few years I’d been using, and change out everything!!

Cruelty-Free Makeup

I was now on the hunt for as much cruelty-free makeup as I could replace with all my current items. Here’s what I found and what I have been loving. I’m so much happier and more fulfilled knowing that I’m no longer contributing to animal cruelty in the makeup industry. I hope you all are willing to try these brands and love them up as well.

I’m not quite finished with doing my research and looking for more amazing brands and trying new things. I’ll be sure to keep this posted here and there on my social media accounts and perhaps even another updated blog eventually. Thank you!