Indie Beauty Brands That Should Be On Your Radar
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Looking to up your makeup game but are tired of the same big name brands? Trying indie beauty and makeup brands is a great way to experiment with products that work for your routine, try new colors and formulas, and support independent brands who may not have been in the beauty space for very long.
These smaller, more niche beauty brands are becoming more and more popular as the global beauty industry grows. According to Forbes, the global cosmetics-products market is expected to reach $805.61 billion by 2023. This industry continues to grow and thrive due to Gen Z's influence. TikTok and other social media platforms have caused some of these smaller indie beauty brands to go viral, which is a great way for products to gain traction in such a huge industry.
Mac, NYX, L'Oreal, Estee Lauder, Maybelline and CoverGirl are probably some of the popular beauty brands you've heard of and used before. These lines have great products that are tried and true, but if you're looking to branch out and try some lesser known brands and products, now is the perfect time to start experimenting. Keep reading to discover some indie beauty brands that have been gaining popularity in the industry recently.
Klur
Described on their website as "botanical care for optimal skin health," Klur wants to cultivate a brand that reflects the values of not only being a clean beauty brand, but also being an inclusive one. Popular products include skin serums and correctors that act as a perfect base for makeup. The brand was founded by Lesley Thornton, who for almost a decade was an esthetician and formulator who helped her clients create personalized routines and treatments. Thornton was also a makeup artist for eight years who was very focused on the way her clients' skin health interacted with their makeup.
The goal for Thornton's brand was to celebrate and promote inclusivity. "For the most part, the mainstream beauty industry hasn't offered quality products to Black consumers," Thornton told Vogue. "My goal with Klur has always been to build something better. I see Klur as my own table in the industry, and everyone is invited to take a seat."
The brand's suppliers are mainly based out of California, which is another way Klur is so unique within the beauty industry. One of the brand's newer products is the Supreme Seed Delicate Purification Mask. It is a face mask that should be used weekly to decongest your pores, remove dirt and debris, soothe redness and irritation and give your face a much needed weekly rejuvenation. Another one of their most popular products is the Immersion Serum Concentrate. This hydrating fluid works to plump and hydrate your skin, leaving a healthy glow.
Patrick Ta
Patrick Ta is a makeup artist who has over half a million followers on Instagram. The talented makeup artist has done every celebrity's makeup — from Shay Mitchell to Gigi Hadid to Adriana Lima to the Kardashian and Jenner sisters. Ta has truly made an impact on the world of celebrity makeup, working on supermodels to reality TV stars and everyone in between — but his career wasn't always like this.
According to Forbes, Ta launched a career in the culinary industry before he started working at a salon. After his time at the salon, he started working for MAC Cosmetics, which is where he fell in love with makeup as an art form. Once he reached a celebrity clientele, starting off with Shay Mitchell who saw his work on social media, his career as a makeup artist took off. In 2019, Ta launched his own makeup line as homage to the women in his life.
"I have always gravitated towards women. Growing up, I knew I was gay but wasn't out to the world. Women like my mom, my sister and my best friends were the ones who allowed me to be myself. I wanted to create makeup that made women feel confident and beautiful in their own skin, just as women have made me feel," Ta wrote on his website.
Patrick Ta's products range from brushes to glosses to bronzers and blushes. Some of his most popular products include the Major Brow Shaping Wax, which gives customers a feathery, laminated brow look. Another cult favorite Patrick Ta product is his Major Sculpt Creme Contour and Bronzer Duo, which helps sculpt and contour the skin while giving it a bronzy glow.
Saie
Saie is an indie beauty brand that was founded on the idea of making beauty better by being clean and simple. They keep it "C.L.E.A.N.," inspired by five pillars: Conscious, Luxurious, Earth-minded, Award-winning and New.
They have also partnered with Pact Collective to create a Saie Recycling Program. The program has three steps, and it is relatively easy to recycle your empty Saie product containers. First, clean out the product container and make sure there is no makeup residue. Once you have 5 empty containers, you can fill out a form on Saie's website and receive a prepaid shipping label. Once you receive your shipping label, you can send back your empty Saie containers, and they will make sure your empty items get recycled.
Their products are popular and award-winning, ranging from face and lip products to tools and eye products. Some of their best sellers include the Slip Tint Moisturizer. This dewy tinted moisturizer with SPF 35 is available in 14 shades. According to the Saie website, it has been voted Best Clean Tinted Moisturizer as part of Allure's Best of Beauty, Cosmopolitan's Holy Grail Awards 2021, Women's Health's Beauty Awards, the New Beauty Awards, and SELF's Healthy Beauty Awards.
HIGHR Collective
HIGHR Collective was created to make luxury but sustainable lip products. The brand is female-founded and California-made and takes a different approach to making lip products: Buying a HIGHR Collective lip product instead of a standard lipstick saves 5.8 pounds of carbon dioxide. The company is dedicated to being clean and luxurious, as well as reducing its impact on the environment and its carbon footprint.
According to the brand's website, it is "the world's first CO2 neutral lipstick and first certified B Corp luxury lip company, and a Best For The World 2022 award winner ... HIGHR offers a new view of luxury, meeting the highest verified standards of social and environmental impact, accountability and transparency." One of the brand's missions is to create safe lip products from bioavailable plant butters and oils, so that you know you're using the safest formulas and products.
Their product line includes a range of different lipstick shades from nude to pink to red. Their products also include a "lip milk." This unique formula is a lip treatment gloss that adds sparkle and shine. It's perfect on its own or over one of their lipstick shades, like "Blue Jeans," "Lips on Acid," and "It Was All A Dream."
Westman Atelier
Westman Atelier is another indie beauty brand who prides themselves on their ingredients and clean beauty. The company was founded by Gucci Westman, an editorial makeup artist for more than 20 years who has worked with celebrity clients like Jennifer Aniston, Anne Hathaway, Reese Witherspoon and Gwyneth Paltrow.
According to the Westman Atelier website, "A lifelong vegetarian with a commitment to holistic living, Gucci feels strongly that 'luxury,' 'efficacy,' and 'clean' don't have to be a contradiction when it comes to exceptional makeup. For her first beauty line, she designed a creamy range of seamless foundations, blushes, bronzers and highlighters that take a 'plants-first' approach to crafting the perfect canvas."
The company's website includes a "Clean Beauty Promise," where the brand lists out ingredients that are used in the products, as well as ingredients that are intentionally left out. Some of these include parabens, sulfates, silicones and phthalates. Westman Atelier also doesn't test on animals.
Their product line ranges from brushes to face products to brow products, Westman Atelier even has a line of makeup bags and boxed sets. One of their most popular products is their Vital Skin Stick. It comes in light, tan, medium and deep undertones, and is a foundation/concealer stick that provides buildable coverage.
Kosas
Kosas is an indie brand that you've probably heard of scrolling through your For You Page on TikTok. Kosas' concealers are cult favorites that have blown up on social media, and have really resonated with a lot of people, not just beauty gurus. Beauty influencers went crazy over the concealer which is marketed as "clean concealer for skincare freaks." The concealer has become a staple in many beauty influencers' routines and "get ready with me" videos.
Kosas was founded by Sheena Zadeh-Daly, who "launched Kosas in 2015 with 4 lipsticks inspired by the earthy blends of neutrals and pinks she made in a portrait painting class," according to the Kosas website.
Kosas prioritizes skincare within their products, and also offers a wide variety of shades and undertones. They're a "no-makeup makeup" brand that emphasizes the importance of healthy beautiful skin. Kosas has banned over 2,700 ingredients from its product line, which is also formulated with sensitive skin in mind.
Besides the concealer, another popular Kosas product is the Cloud Set Setting Powder. This product has clean ingredients to minimize the look of pores, reduce shine and give your face an overall smooth, airbrushed look.
Kulfi Beauty
This brand started off with eyeliners that celebrate South Asian beauty. Kulfi is a colorful South Asian ice cream, and served as the inspiration for the brand, which was created to celebrate an underrepresented group in beauty. The brand's mission is to encourage self expression, which closely ties into mental health, something that is not spoken enough about in South Asian communities. According to Kulfi Beauty's website, the company has partnered with organizations and mental health advocacy groups to better promote these conversations and speak up about mental health.
Kulfi's products take the company's mission into consideration and are curated with self expression in mind. The Kajal Eyeliner comes in not only the traditional black, but also Brown, Berry, Blue, Terracotta, Green and Sky Blue. These varied and somewhat unconventional eyeliner colors are a makeup lover's dream; what's better than experimenting with fun colors? The formula is waterproof and smudge-proof, ensuring that no matter where you're going or what you're doing, your colorful eyeliner will stay in place all day long.
Kulfi also released a Main Match Concealer that is available in 12 different shades on their website. According to its site, the concealer was "co-created with 300 members of the Kulfi community to address their top concerns: high coverage while being lightweight, shades that matched their skin tones and undertones perfectly, and color correction and concealing in a single product."
Danessa Myricks Beauty
Self-taught makeup artist Danessa Myricks, the woman behind the name Danessa Myricks Beauty, started her brand after working for major beauty industry leaders like KISS and Benefit Cosmetics. Myricks even still teaches beauty classes to young people in the industry who want to learn from such a dynamic artist and businesswoman.
When creating her brand, she wanted to create a more inclusive beauty space for people who feel underrepresented in the traditional beauty spaces we so often see. "The most rewarding part of her work is hearing from people who felt underrepresented, unseen or ignored by beauty brands who finally land at a brand made for all, Danessa Myricks Beauty," according to the brand's website.
The product line is extensive, and there is something for everyone within Danessa Myricks Beauty. Some of her best sellers, and maybe the most interesting product included within these ten indie brands, is the Infinite Chrome Flakes. They come in 15 different shades, and were an Elle Future of Beauty Winner in 2021. These flakes can act as a stand alone pop of color on your eyelid, or can be places over another shadow for extra glimmer and shine. They're buildable, cruelty-free, and have a 4.9 star average out of 277 customer reviews.
BOOM! By Cindy Joseph
Indie beauty brand BOOM! By Cindy Joseph is targeted towards women in their 50's and older. It was founded by Cindy Joseph, a supermodel turned makeup artist. Joseph spent over 27 years as a makeup artist and believes there is a lack of space for older women within the beauty industry. The idea behind her indie brand is that when you grow older, "less is more," and it becomes essential to have the right products in order to achieve the looks you want.
"The biggest makeup mistake that middle-aged women make is putting on too much under-eye concealer," Cindy said on her website. "At home, it might look okay, but in the daylight, it just looks like a bunch of gunk under your eyes. The older you get, the less makeup you should wear. It's not a blank canvas anymore."
BOOM!'s most popular products include their Boomstick Trio, which is advertised as many makeup products in one. These sticks can act as a blush, lipstick, eyeshadow, highlighter, contour, and more. They're designed "for every woman's skin tone" because of the sheerness of the formulas. The products are lightweight and airy, and are perfect for older women.
If you're looking to switch up your makeup routine, try some new formulas or products, or even just support a new brand, checking out these indie beauty brands is a surefire way to find some amazing new makeup products.