Three high end beauty brands you probably didn't know were cruelty free

As I spoke about before here, I've been trying to make a big effort to use only cruelty free make up and skincare and I won't lie, it is hard. It's been hard finding brands that are completely cruelty free in terms of their practice but are also not being owned by a bigger brand who isn't, (hello Body Shop). It is also hard finding brands that don't look like they'd only be sold in Holland and Barrett or similar- no offence to Holland and Barrett, I love that shop, but it isn't where I want to go to spoil myself with new beauty treats. Also I had a few cult favourite products that have been almost impossible to find cruelty free alternatives for. That being said though, there have been a few pleasant surprises along the way, mainly in the form of brands who I never thought were cruelty free but was then pleasantly surprised to find were, so surprised, I couldn't resist sharing them with you.



Without further ado then, let's get to it...

1. Iconic London

I am reasonably new to this brand and have so far only tried their evo brushes but I am literally obsessed. They are probably the softest brushes I have ever felt and are so so dense that they blend your foundation in better than any other brush I've used (and I've tried a lot). They even manage to pack product into my usually impossible to fill huge open pores (attractive), and I've never found any brush that could do that before!The only down side is the amount of time it takes to clean them- they are so dense that at one point I literally could not remember my life before I was cleaning the foundation one.

They also do a reasonably limited face make up range with contour products and an illuminator which people have been raving about everywhere, so definitely one to watch. Even better for me they're sold in Harvey Nichols and having just moved to Liverpool there's one right here!

2. Hourglass

I'm only really familiar with one product from this brand- the ambient lighting palette- it's a cult favourite with three shades which, when worn on top of the luminating CC serum above gives the illusion of 8 hours sleep. I am still trying to master using a highlighter in a way that looks natural and glowy rather than greasy and this is the first that's made me (almost) master that.
I also recently got hold of the new lip stylo and I already love it, super moisturising and long lasting, though I still have to reapply several times per day- maybe because I eat and drink more than is average? Trying to summon up the courage to post pics with it on, but not sure I'm quite there yet...

I was looking at their products in Harvey Nichols last week and saw their ambient lighting powder and the lady on the counter said it makes you look like you're wearing a snapchat filter which I sort of dismissed, however later that evening I was playing around on snapchat and haven't been able to stop thinking about it since... If there is even a fraction of truth in that statement then I am pretty much going to be obsessed. 

3. By Terry

Again another brand I am reasonably new to and another brand I am obsessed with. I got the luminating CC serum for Christmas and it is such a gamechanger. It is basically a serum supercharged with bronzer that makes your skin literally glow. As it's a skincare product it's not as heavy as bronzer and also makes your skin feel amazing! I have quite a dark shade- sunny flash which is perfect when you've fake tanned your body and don't have foundation to make your face match your body!

I also got a Baume de rose tinted lip balm, I can't say this is head and shoulders about other lip balms but it's certainly up there and the packaging does give it an edge over pretty much every other lip balm I can think of. It does also go a long way as it really lasts meaning you apply it far less frequently than with other cheaper brands. I love using it especially right before bed, brushing my Lush lip scrub onto my lips with a toothbrush (I have a separate one for this!), then applying a thick layer of the balm and I wake up with my lips feeling lovely and staying feeling that way all day.

That's it for now, I am so enjoying discovering new cruelty free beauty brands and am considering roping my make up artist sister into a mammoth make up playing/ blogging session so she can show me how to really use the products to their potential!

I also have a VERY exciting giveaway coming later this week so keep your eyes peeled for that one...

*Contains PR samples*