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Picking foundation, especially when you can’t try it on first, is difficult. In a quest to find the best cruelty free foundation, I’ve tried at least 50. Probably 10 of which are 10 years old and just picking up dust at the back of my cupboard. It’s good to have back-ups I guess.
BUT, through all this testing — calling it testing makes having an orange face, visible pores, streaks down my face worthwhile — I’ve learnt the brands that do it well.
And brands that do it without any animal testing – so your skin tone can be even, while your conscience is clear. Each brand picked out here is also vegan – so there are no animal products, bi-products or derivatives being slapped onto your face… nice.
What’s on this page?
We’ve kept this list to the best of the best, but within here, there is something to suit every face and every budget.
Il Makiage Woke Up Like This
With 50 shades, Il Makiage’s promise is to find an exact shade match. It does this via an in-depth online quiz (and offer free returns and replacements if the colour isn’t right), which takes into account skin type, issues, tones, everything!
This has quickly become my favourite foundation – the colour is just right, the coverage is buildable and it really evens out my skin tone.
- £36
- Certified Cruelty-free and vegan
- Type: liquid
- Coverage: buildable
- Finish: medium
- Shades: 50
- Skin type: suitable for all skin types
- Paraben-free
- (Nearly) Plastic-free – the bottle is glass but the cap and pump are plastic
e.l.f. Flawless Finish Foundation
e.l.f has almost cult status online – and this foundation is one of its most popular products.
On the website, there is a great feature where you can tell them which foundation you currently use, and it’ll give you the closest shade match. I have oily skin and this product is great for me – it gives a matte finish.
- £7.99
- Certified Cruelty-free and vegan
- Type: liquid
- Coverage: medium
- Finish: semi-matte
- Skin type: all – especially suitable for oily skin
- Shades: 40
- Paraben-free
- Not Plastic-free
Charlotte Tilbury Magic Foundation
Although this Charlotte Tilbury foundation is a tad cheaper than Il Makiage, I consider this product to be my ‘treat’.
As its label suggests, its finish is beautiful – it looks light, but covers pores effectively. It contains ingredients to plump the skin and make it look fresher and more alive – magic!
- £34
- Cruelty-free
- Vegan. But other products from CT are not
- Type: liquid
- Coverage: buildable – light to high
- Finish: demi-matte
- Skin type: suitable for all
- Shades: 20
- Paraben-free
- Not entirely plastic-free. The bottle is glass but pump is plastic
CT have a pop-up shop in China (but only sell products online). While no animal testing has taken place so far, technically the products in the pop-up could be taken away for testing. We’re keeping a close eye on the situation!
Read our cruelty-free and ethical review of Charlotte Tilbury here.
Nyx Bare With Me
Nyx has a great range of foundations, but this one is perfect for a ‘barely there’ layer.
This is great for the dry skin, or dry areas on your face. With oily skin (like mine, joy), you may need to reapply after a few hours.
- £10
- Certified cruelty-free, but their parent company (L’Oreal) does test on animals
- Vegan. But other products from Nyx are not
- Type: liquid
- Coverage: light
- Finish: satin-y
- Skin type: all
- Shades: 12
- Not paraben or plastic-free
bareMinerals Original Foundation
I wasn’t going to include any powder foundations in this list, but this foundation from bareMinerals is not only great for sensitive skin, it’s just a nice easy standalone or ‘use on top’ foundation. It only has five ingredients, and is the definition of clean beauty.
- £30
- Certified cruelty-free
- Vegan. But other products from bareMinerals are not
- Type: powder
- Coverage: light – full
- Finish: naturally luminous
- Skin type: all – especially good for sensitive skin
- Shades: 30
- Paraben-free
- Not plastic-free
Read our cruelty-free review of bareMinerals here.
Wrap up: the best cruelty-free foundation
So there you have it. I hope you’ve found something that suits your face and your budget in this list. For me, foundation is really important (I have big pores, oily skin and rosacea), but it’s equally important to choose products that haven’t had any negative impact on an animal.
At Red Orange Peach, we regularly check companies, their practices and their certification, so you can rest assured that every foundation on this list is cruelty free.
Recap of the best cruelty free foundations:
- Il Makiage ‘Woke Up Like This’
- e.l.f. ‘Flawless Finish Foundation’
- Charlottle Tilbury ‘Magic Foundation’
- Nyx ‘Bare With Me’
- bareMinerals ‘Original Foundation’
FAQs
The brands that produce cruelty free foundations include: Superdrug (own brand), Barry M, 3MINA, Charlotte Tilbury, bareMinerals, e.l.f., Nyx, Il Makiage, The Body Shop, Urban Decay, BPerfect and Beauty Pie. There are plenty of other brands, but these are some of our favourites.
Brands that are not cruelty free include: La Roche Posay, Clinique, Estee Lauder, Maybelline, NARS, Bobbi Brown, Benefit, Bourjois, Rimmel, Mac and Elizabeth Arden.
This list is in no way exhaustive, these are just some of the bigger/more popular brands we would recommend avoiding if you want to be cruelty free.
Yes Charlotte Tilbury is a cruelty-free brand. It sells in a pop-up shop in China, which doesn’t require animal testing.
Some Mac products are technically vegan, although the general range isn’t. Mac isn’t cruelty free, so we don’t recommend them as an ethical buy.
Through a lot of product testing and product analysis, but to be more specific, all products featured in our 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
– Used by me. I have used them all so I can give some personal insight, rather than just regurgitating marketing materials from the brands themselves (although all of the marketing is truly excellent, which is why I bought them in the first place!).
