Becoming A Vegan Makeup Artist: Kit Recommendations, Face Edition

Creating smooth, even, healthy-looking skin is the bread and butter of makeup artistry (or should that be the dairy-free spread of makeup artistry?) The following products are best for getting the job done, the vegan way.

• Concealer

Kat Von D Lock-It Concealer

RCMA Color Process Foundation (can be used as concealer or foundation. Comes in convenient palettes.Thinning fluid isn't vegan, but moisturiser can be used instead to sheer out product). Perfect for contouring and highlighting, too. Palettes, Singles. 

Pic via Guru Makeup Emporium

Kett Fixx Creme (can be used as concealer or foundation. Comes in convenient palettes.)
Palettes, Singles. 

Elf All Over Cover Stick

• Foundation

Kett Hydro Airbrush Foundation (Only for use with an airbrush.)

Wet n Wild Coverall (Poor shade range)

Illamasqua Skin Base

Pic via Illamasqua

Kat Von D Lock-It Tattoo Foundation

• Colour Corrector

Barry M Colour Correcting Kit

Pic via Barry M

• Powder

RCMA No-Color Powder
Cult classic. Cuts through shine like no other. Colourless and invisible.

• Highlight

Kett Hydro Shimmers

Can be airbrushed or used with a sponge.

Barry M Liquid Chrome Highlighter Drops

Makeup Revolution Soph Highlighter Palette

Pic via Tam Beauty

• Contour

Kett Hydro Contour
Can be airbrushed or used with a brush or sponge.

BH Cosmetics Studio Pro Cream Contour Palette

Lunatick Cosmetic Labs Contour Book Palette VOL 1
Buildable and mixable - a tap of each colour on your brush creates a custom shade.

Pic via Lunatick Cosmetic Labs

Shiro Cosmetics Contouring Powder - Do Your Research (Cool matte tone)

• Blush

Freedom Makeup London Pro Blush Palettes in Peach & Pink

BH Cosmetics 10 Pan Blush Palettes in Professional, Glamorous and Nude

Pic via Beauty Bay

• Setting Spray

Skindinavia Bridal Finish. This stuff is legendary. Shake well and spray liberally to ensure the makeup lasts all day!

What are your favourite vegan face products? 
Check back next week to hear about some killer eye products!

Til Next Time,
Emma
xXx

Review: Lunatick Cosmetic Labs Cool Contour Palette & a Brief History of Contouring

Apart from my birth (obvs), one of the great things that happened in the 80s was the rise of the contour. The art of sculpting the cheekbones using makeup moved from stage and film, into fashion and everyday wear. Women and men were using colour to give their faces definition and enhance their features. It was awesome, but in the bold blush colours of the day, it didn't look natural. At all. 

What do you mean? We woke up like this! (Pics via Google Images)

In the 90s, the contour trend waned a little, although makeup god Kevyn Aucoin was giving celebs and top models the sculpted look, using lighter and darker shades of foundation to add light and shade.

Technique diagram, from Kevyn Aucoin's Book 'Making Faces'

Fast forward to the 2000s and it was all about the tan. Everyone and their Nan was on the sunbeds and fake tan. People smelled of dirty biscuits, and calling a girl 'pale' or 'white' was the harshest of insults. Contouring was in again, and this time it was done with bronzer, applied in an orange-brown stripe under the cheekbones.

Britney, being a Slave 4 Bronzer. Pic via Google Images.

The problem with all of these techniques is that they don't take into account the colour of actual shadows. Shadows are not hot pink, bronze, or even a darker foundation colour. They are a cool greyish taupe. And this is where I think Lunatick Cosmetic Labs has got it spot on with their Cool Contour Palette.

The palette itself is coffin shaped, and is decorated with Ouija boards, ghouls and monsters! But even if you're not a fan of creepy kitch, the 5 shades inside will more than make up for it.

The shades don't have names, so I have imaginatively called them, from L-R, 1,2,3,4 & 5.

I think the lightest shade, 1, is supposed to be a highlight. With shades 2-5, you can create a truly real looking contour on the lightest to the darkest of skintones. It doesn't look like makeup, it looks like shadow, a true hollow in your skin. 

The colours are extremely pigmented, so you only need a little on your brush. They work wonderfully as eyeshadows, too. They have a silky texture, which means they blend easily into the skin with little effort.

One swipe, no primer.

I've really enjoyed using this palette, but I'm afraid this can't be a 100% glowing rave review. When I first received it, I noticed there seemed to be a little powder that had leaked between the outside of the palette and the plastic it was wrapped in. Uh-oh. This was what I found when I first opened it -

As you can see, the powder has leaked a little and made a mess inside the palette.  Each pan came with a glass counter on top to help you re-press the powders. Hmm, this doesn't bode well. You see, as soon as you touch the surface with finger or brush, the powder turns from pressed to loose and goes everywhere! Massive pain in the bum! I was worried the powders would break and go everywhere during transport in my kit, but luckily they have stayed intact so far. I've put one of the counters in my kit so I can re-press them before I pack my things away. I've tried spritzing them with alcohol before pressing them, to see if they would stay solid longer, but as soon as I touched them with a brush, they turned powdery again. 

Does this put me off the product? I think the colours and performance outweigh the negatives, but I kind of wish Lunatick Cosmetic Labs had just made them loose contouring powders, and sold them separately, with an option to buy the full set. I do think it's worth having all the colours though, because they do all work wonderfully as eyeshadows, too. Plus you can blend them together to get the shade that is right for you. 

Lunatick Cosmetic Labs Cool Contour Palette is £22.95 from CuteCosmetics. 

Keep an eye on my Instagram, I'm going to post a pic of this in action in a day or two!

Til Next Time,

Emma

xXx

This product was purchased by me. My reviews and opinions will always remain unbiased and impartial. Please see skimlinks disclosure in the sidebar.