Down the Indie Rabbit Hole

Current body
Shop deals on ebay
Jeffreestar cosmetics
Advertise with us
Makeuptalk.com forums

Help Support Makeuptalk.com forums:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
@@meaganola OK OK, you convinced me! I do want more of the RPG series, but I just got 4 Imps total for now. I play a lot of RPGs so I went with my go-to character race, Elf. And I want to eventually get Druid, which was my character class. And maybe also Ranger since I play a Demon Hunter in Diablo. But I went with some of your recommendations!

 
Last edited by a moderator:
@@pokeballssohard Yeah, that is one of the downfalls - the company grew so fast that Madison, the owner, has had a hard time keeping up. :/ As far as I am aware, she is still the only one filling and shipping orders, so restocks aren't as often as they would be with a bigger company.

 
Oops, sorry for the double post!

marigoldsue said:
I also want Texas Tea pretty badly.  And Toy Store Cowboy...but I don't know that I would ever actually wear that one.
Click to expand...
I have Texas Tea, it is a super pretty coppery metallic. I've even done double-duty with it as an eye shadow! Toy Store Cowboy is the green I prefer of the two in the Metaluxe line, but I haven't bought it yet - I'm in the same boat as you!

... and I may or may not have ordered Tango after thinking about it. It's an addiction.

 
There's a refinery29 slideshow with indie brands to check out!  I compiled the list so you don't have to sit and click through the whole thing:

Fyrinnae

Portland Black Lipstick Company

Silk Naturals

Geek Chic Cosmetics

Haus of Gloi

Melt Cosmetics

KB Shimmer

Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab

Huh.  Not one, not two, but *three* of these companies are local to me.

 
There are a lot of sales going on right now, so I decided to post a list with brands that I know are pretty reputable with sales right now (most end tomorrow):

  • Glamour Doll Eyes: 34% off full-sized, single eyeshadows and 2 free samples + July GWP; ends tonight at midnight PST
    http://glamourdolleyes.storenvy.com/
  • My Beauty Addiction: 20% off sitewide (no code); their crazy-colored lipsticks are pretty popular; they have sales pretty often; ends tomorrow (July 6)
    http://mybeautyaddiction.com/
  • Geek Chic Cosmetics: 20% off everything except samples and The Collective (no code); this is their anniversary sale so this is a good deal for them; ends July 7; severals years ago they've had sanitation issues (moldy lipsticks, fingerprints in jars) - but it seems that they've cleaned up their act; sanitation plus a customer service fiasco that occurred several years ago has made me not rush to buy from Geek Chic before (their themes and names are amazing, though)
    http://www.geekchiccosmetics.com/
  • Siren Cosmetics: full-size 10g jars marked down to $5 (10g jar is A LOT of eyeshadow... most indies use 5g jars), the samples are also normally $0.50 which is a good deal; free shipping at $40; ends tomorrow
    http://sirencosmetics.biz/
  • Alchimia Apothecary: various deals, sale ends tomorrow; I think they've had long turn-around-time issues before (some people have experienced "curt" customer service") but the products themselves seem to be well-reviewed;
    http://www.alchimia-apothecary.com/
  • Innocent+Twisted Alchemy: 25% off everything (no code); she just came out with Lucky Packs (5 randomly picked eyeshadows if you don't know what to get); lots of cute art involved with this brand; they also have a subscription service
    http://innocenttwisted.storenvy.com/
  • Meow Cosmetics: 15% off orders over $30 (code: CatsLuvFireworks), 20% off + free worldwide shipping on orders over $50 (code: BOOM); don't know when this ends; they have a very large mineral foundation shade range with 3 different formulations of foundation; extremely well-reviewed brand with a large range of basically everything; note - their anniversary is August 1, so people are expecting a sale then, if you buy samples now it may be possible to receive them in time for the anniversary sale so you know what to get in a larger size
    http://www.meowcosmetics.com/
  • My Pretty Zombie: anniversary sale - 33% off with code PRETTY14; ends tomorrow
    http://www.myprettyzombie.com/
  • Hello Waffle: 15% off purchases over $10 (code: EH), get one GWP if you spent $25 after discounts, get both GWP if you spend $50 after discounts (GWP names and swatches on her facebook page); ends tomorrow; the owner is moving so the site will be down for a month after this sale; full-size shadows are $4.50 which is a very good price, she's going to raise prices after the move due to the cost of shipping (ships from Canada at a flat rate of $6, which is a good deal for the customer but not so great for her)
    http://www.hellowafflecosmetics.com
  • Aromaleigh: constantly has deals (a Monday Deal and a Weekly Deal), current Weekly Deal is 25% off Brilliant Deductions collection (Sherlock based!), primer powders, and Serpens collection (based on various mythological dragons); the store is also moving/revamping itself so they also have 50% off discontinued items (lots of really awesome collections)
    http://www.aromaleigh.com/specials.html

Note: indies tend to be small businesses (often one person running it) - so the turn-around-time during sales can be extended. Make sure to check what the turn-around time is.

There are deals by other indie brands, but I'm not entirely sure about their reputability (for example, suspected repackagers). Impulse Cosmetics (which has been mentioned on this thread) has a 15% off sale which ends at midnight (June 6, 12:01am) with code INDEPENDENCE; I have not heard anything suspicious about their lipsticks, but they've stolen another brand's eyeshadow pics and posted it in their listing as their own before (they stole a pic from Fyrinnae, which is an amazing brand that doesn't really do sales).

I think this covers a lot... have fun shopping :) /emoticons/[email protected] 2x" width="20" height="20" />

Edit: should I post this in the Enablers thread? not sure if reposting is okay...

 
Last edited by a moderator:
May just have to transition my main makeup purchases to indie brands. They have exactly what I want (non-traditional lip colors, highly pigmented eyeshadow, paraben-free, no chemicals, cruelty free and mostly vegan) at a fraction of the cost it would take to buy it name brand. And I love supporting small business!

I'm going to send an email to Impulse asking for a restock estimate on those lip palettes. I need it!

 
meaganola said:
There's a refinery29 slideshow with indie brands to check out!  I compiled the list so you don't have to sit and click through the whole thing:

Fyrinnae

Portland Black Lipstick Company

Silk Naturals

Geek Chic Cosmetics

Haus of Gloi

Melt Cosmetics

KB Shimmer

Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab

Huh.  Not one, not two, but *three* of these companies are local to me.
Click to expand...
Argh, Melt Cosmetics make me so mad. I am dying to try some of their lipsticks, but they charge $7.99 (I think) shipping no matter how much you spent. The lipsticks are $19 so it adds up pretty fast. Normally I wouldn't care except I can literally walk to their company offices. I am not paying $8 to ship something only a few blocks away!

It's the principle of the thing, boo. :lol:

ETA: And here I was just brow browsing the sites that @@chibimorph mentioned and I got casually sucked into the Aromaleigh clearance section and ended up with three full size jars and one sample because I clearly have no willpower and pretty things need to be mine. :ph34r: /emoticons/[email protected] 2x" width="20" height="20" />

 
Last edited by a moderator:
Well 4th of July sales inspired me.
Two orders coming now, one from Geek Chic (The Fellowship and Princess Bride!) and one Shiro (There and Back Again)
The Middle Earth nerd in me couldn't resist, plus I really needed a new project and learning to press pigments sounds like my next challenge!
I am seriously thankful for this thread, you guys have posted a lot of unknown to me brands and I am so far down the rabbit hole now....I might have the next 3 months beauty budget purchases already planned out haha.

 
Last edited by a moderator:
Onyxspider said:
Well 4th of July sales inspired me.

Two orders coming now, one from Geek Chic (The Fellowship and Princess Bride!) and one Shiro (There and Back Again)

The Middle Earth nerd in me couldn't resist, plus I really needed a new project and learning to press pigments sounds like my next challenge!

I am seriously thankful for this thread, you guys have posted a lot of unknown to me brands and I am so far down the rabbit hole now....I might have the next 3 months beauty budget purchases already planned out haha.
Click to expand...
Haha, yeah I own all but one eyeshadow from Geek Chic's Fellowship Collection and I own the entire Hobbit collection by Shiro (full size from both brands because I wanted the stickers) :p /emoticons/[email protected] 2x" width="20" height="20" />

@@Shalott I'm still waiting to make my Aromaleigh order - I want the full sample set of the Brilliant Deductions collection, but I feel that it'll still be around for a while and more sales will come. I also like the idea for the Serpens collection - they have so many nicely themed collections!

 
Uhoh.  The bad thing about the i+ta subscription:  Exposure to all of these awesome companies that just make you want to buy more!  This month's bonus samples came from (shades I received in parentheses.  They typically vary):

-- Baroque Cosmetics shadow (Versailles)

-- DarkHeart Designs liquid shimmer (Phoenix's Ashes.  GDE OTM subscribers might remember this company and product -- albeit a different shade -- from February's bag!)

-- Darling Girl Cosmetics duochrome blusher (Boy Crazy)

-- Siren Song Cosmetics shadow (Thunderstruck.  This is going in with my Supernetutrals collection from GCC for reasons which should be clear for those who remember the fifth season)

-- Spectrum Cosmetics (Iris lip gloss)

I still haven't used last month's bonuses because I was too wrapped up in the i+ta stuff itself, but thanks to GDE, I know I love Dark Heart Designs' liquid shimmer!  This is immediately going into the rotation box.  And I should make sure that the one I got in my OTM is in there, too.  It's summer, and if I have to be exposed to the sun, I'm going to sparkle like a disco ball, damn it.

 
Last edited by a moderator:
I think it would be a really good idea to compile a masterpost of good indie brands, maybe with a side notation of their specialities. There are so many great ones out there you could theoretically never buy commercial products again and still have nearly everything commercial has to offer.

The only thing I have yet to see on the indie cosmetics scene are a solid line of brow-grooming products. Someone please prove me wrong here, I need indie brows in my life.

 
pokeballssohard said:
I think it would be a really good idea to compile a masterpost of good indie brands, maybe with a side notation of their specialities. There are so many great ones out there you could theoretically never buy commercial products again and still have nearly everything commercial has to offer.

The only thing I have yet to see on the indie cosmetics scene are a solid line of brow-grooming products. Someone please prove me wrong here, I need indie brows in my life.
Click to expand...
I think Chinovi, Silk Naturals, and Brazen Cosmetics have brow products.

 
jen711 said:
Mad minerals have a brow gel.

And that brings me to a thought: are there other indie cream shadows?
Click to expand...
Glamour Doll Eyes had some in their Spring Fling collection, but it was a very limited amount, and I can't recall finding another indie that has any.  I think creams are tricky for indies due to sanitation and shelf life issues. 

 
You guys are the bomb. The Silk Naturals brow powders and creams look awesome! I have a hard time finding colors that match my hair perfectly, but they even have Auburn shades! Yay!

I've only ever done Shiro and Ella Rose Minerals, so I don't know that much about indie brands. It's really nice to have resources from people who are more in the know than me.

 
meaganola said:
Siren Song Cosmetics shadow (Thunderstruck.  This is going in with my Supernetutrals collection from GCC for reasons which should be clear for those who remember the fifth season)
Click to expand...
Dammit, @@meaganola! I had been kind of following this thread, and I see you talk often about fandom-related makeup, but I never really "got it" UNTIL NOW. You're a bad influence, ya idjit!  ;) /emoticons/[email protected] 2x" width="20" height="20" />  I don't even like loose shadow, but this may have to happen anyway.

 
I placed an order with Meow Cosmetics for 11 different samples! I have a really hard time telling what my undertone is so I just went with one-three samples of a few different "lines" to see what looks best.  The one time I got matched in a store, the Ulta SA matched me to the lightest color of Urban Decay Naked Skin that they make.  I shrugged and went with it...went out with friends later that night and was upset when the photos showed me with serious ghost face.    So I'm not super confident in the SA's abilities to match me! 

Hopefully I get them in time to make a bigger purchase if they have a sale for their anniversary in Aug. 

 
jen711 said:
Mad minerals have a brow gel.

And that brings me to a thought: are there other indie cream shadows?
Click to expand...
The first brand that came to mind for me is Pumpkin and Poppy (but she's on vacation right now so her etsy store is closed; supposed to reopen tomorrow).

Performance Colors has cream eyeshadows in stick form.

Are you trying to use cream eyeshadows as a base or is it just your preferred format? It may also be possible to use a foiling medium/eyeliner serum (mix it with loose shadow to form an eyeliner) to make it cream-like.

 
Last edited by a moderator:

Latest posts

Back
Top