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The literal translation of mascara in Spanish is ‘more face’. So, if you’d like a bit more face on you, you’re in the right place.
Mascaras promise to do all sorts: lift, shape, curl, lengthen and fix all of your life’s problems (kind of).
Lots of the big brands that we tend to buy from: Rimmel, Benefit, Mac, are not cruelty free. But fear not, there are plenty of mascaras that will make your eyelashes look perfect, that are also cruelty free and vegan to boot.
I’ve split this list into sections, so you can dive straight to your preferred mascara style. If you haven’t tried tubing mascara before, I recommend having a little read about those products. I only recently discovered tubing mascara and it’s changed my life.
Well, maybe not my life, but I look a bit nicer :).
What’s on this page?
The 9 Best Cruelty-free and Vegan Waterproof Mascaras
Eyeko: Beach Waterproof Mascara
Eyeko’s speciality is, unsurprisingly, eyes. The non-vegan range has some great tubing mascara, but their vegan range is great for ‘standard’ mascara.
This beach waterproof mascara gives you long lashes that last long, whether or not you’re on the beach.
- £19
- Certified cruelty-free
- Vegan
- Shades: black
- Effect: volumising
Extremely hard to smudge, this mascara is made with coconut oil for extra waterproof protection.
They also do an incredible sport mascara that is 100% water and sweat proof.
Code Beautiful: VLM (Volumising Lengthening Mascara)
Code Beautiful’s VLM has rave reviews, nice ingredients (vitamins to help eyelash growth) and is paraben free.
The brush (or wiper as they call it) only picks up a bit of product each time – this prevents clumping and allows you to build the mascara up to the level you want.
- £19.95
- Certified cruelty-free
- Vegan
- Shades: black
- Effect: volumising
CODE Beautiful has a few videos on site to show you how to apply the mascara to get the most effective results, which is a nice touch.
Barry M: Lash Vegas 2
Barry M may remind you of being a teenager and buying 90,000 glitter eye products, but they are a good budget option for cruelty free makeup.
If you don’t mind the terrible pun in the name, Lash Vegas 2 is actually a good mascara – it really does lengthen.
- £4.99
- Certified cruelty-free and vegan
- Shades: black
- Effect: volumising & lengthening
It’s not as good as the expensive brands, but it does have a place.
Best Cruelty-free and Vegan Non-Waterproof Mascaras
MUA: Eye Define Nourish & Care Mascara
MUA has just become an entirely vegan company, which is great news for ethical beauty shoppers! It has a good range of mascaras, which are all incredibly, incredibly cheap (some are £2).
But we’ve gone with the ‘eye define nourish & care mascara’ because it’s made with avocado oil (is that still trendy?), which really does encourage lash growth.
- £3
- Certified cruelty-free and vegan
- Shades: black
- Effect: nourishing & volumising
Flower Beauty: Lash Warrior
Flower Beauty isn’t yet a household name, but it’s getting there. Founded and run by Drew Barrymore, it has some lovely, lovely makeup.
Superdrug sells Flower Beauty products in the UK, which saves on ordering it from the US site and paying postage.
And its Lash Warrior mascara is extremely effective and also reasonably priced too.
- £7.32
- Certified cruelty-free
- Vegan
- Shades: brown and 2 blacks
- Effect: volumising & lengthening
The ‘spiked warrior’ brush isn’t as aggressive as it sounds, but it does help give your lashes extra length and definition, but takes a bit of getting used to.
Best Cruelty-free and Vegan Tubing Mascaras
What is tubing mascara? I hear you cry…
Well rather than paint your eyelashes in traditional mascara, tubing mascara coats each lash in a ‘tube’. The tubes bind to your eyelash and therefore don’t smudge, rub or come off with water.
Don’t worry though, the tubes do come off, and they come off easily and gently. Just use warm water or a gentle micellar water / eye makeup remover.
Blinc: Original Tubing Mascara
If you’re looking for a tubing mascara that’s cruelty free and vegan, then Blinc is the original pioneer here.
Blinc’s mascara is formulated for sensitive eyes, which is another plus.
- £15.75
- Certified cruelty-free and vegan
- Shades: 2 browns, black and blue
- Effect: volumising & lengthening
You can buy direct from its website, but it’s easier and cheaper to get from Amazon here in the UK.
The Beauty Crop: Fabulous Flocking Lashes
As a rule of thumb, you shouldn’t judge a mascara by its packaging. But this mascara from The Beauty Crop comes in a very cute little pink tube, and is just as effective as it is pretty.
This is a classic ‘everyday’ tubing mascara, which contains argan oil and jojoba to nourish.
- £9
- Certified cruelty-free
- Vegan
- Shades: black
- Effect: volumising & lengthening
If you haven’t tried tubing mascara before, this is a nice starter buy as it’s really reasonably priced.
Best Cruelty-Free and Vegan Clear Mascaras
Ere Perez: Aloe Gel Lash & Brow Mascara
Ere Perez’s mascara is a luxury option, but it is worth the money. It is not only lengthens, separates and enhances your natural eyelash, but is water resistant and sweat-proof too.
The stand out ingredient (as the name suggests) is aloe vera. This is excellent for cell renewal and nourishment. Consider this a treat for your eyelashes.
- £45.99
- Certified cruelty-free and vegan
- Shades: clear
- Effect: separating & lengthening
Oh, and you can use it on your brows too – bonus.
Collection: Lash Primer
Another good value option here. All of Superdrug ‘own brand’ products are cruelty free, and this lash primer is also vegan.
Formulated with vitamin E and shea butter, it provides nourishment for your lashes, and adds some definition, separation and shape before mascara.
- £2.99
- Certified cruelty-free
- Vegan
- Colour: clear
- Effect: separating & nourishing
Read our review of whether Collection Cosmetics is cruelty-free here.
Wrap Up: The Best Vegan and Cruelty Free Mascaras
Mascara is a beauty bag essential. But animal testing isn’t essential. In this list we’ve given you loads of options for cruelty free mascaras to try – from high street brands like Superdrug, to specific eye makeup specialists like Eyeko and Blinc.
How did we create this list?
All products in this list had to be:
– Cruelty free, either certified by PETA or via a cruelty free guarantee
– Vegan. While not all the brands are vegan, all the products featured here are
– Good quality and readily available to buy (a true necessity)
FAQs
The Body Shop, Blinc, The Beauty Corp, Eyeko, MUA, Flower Beauty, Superdrug own brand, Nyx, Victoria Beckham, Ere Perez, Urban Decay, MEMI, bareMinerals, e.l.f, Barry M, TROPIC, 3INA, BPerfect, Charlotte Tilbury.
Note – all of these brands have vegan products, but not all products are guaranteed to be vegan (always check yourself).
Rimmel, Boujois, Chanel, Bobbi Brown, Mac, Benefit, Lancome, YSL, Nars, Maybelline, Estee Lauder
Generally mascaras aren’t vegan as they will use animal derived products such as beeswax, guanine (fish scales), panthenol (from honey and/or meat) and collagen (from a variety of animals).
Fortunately all products listed in our article are vegan, as well as cruelty free.
Maybelline mascara is not cruelty-free or vegan. Maybelline as a brand is not cruelty-free as it either.
– Beeswax / honey
– Guanine: derived from fish scales
– Panthenol: a soothing healing / moisturising agent. Although this can be derived from animal or plant sources
– Collagen: A protein obtained from animal sources
– Shellac: Made from insects
– Lanolin: A waxy substance obtained from sheep’s wool
– Cholesterol: typically extracted from lanolin – even sometimes from spinal cords
– Gelatin: taken from collagen and usually promotes anti-ageing
Sky High mascara is made by Maybelline and – as above – Maybelline is not a cruelty-free brand.
Regular mascara typically contains animal derived ingredients like beeswax, collagen or lanolin.
Vegan mascara uses plant-based or synthetic substitutes like high fat vegetable oils. But vegan products are not necessarily cruelty-free and there’s an important distinction to make.
