LUSH

With the incredibly unfortunate prevalence of companies testing on animals, those of us committed to purchasing cruelty-free products need to be on the look-out for companies who share that commitment and focus on high quality.  LUSH is an ethical company that only uses vegetarian ingredients and clearly marks its vegan products (all photos below are from the LUSH website).  I was inspired by this part of their mission statement:

We believe in making effective products from fresh, organic* fruit and vegetables, the finest essential oils and safe synthetics.  [* We also believe words like fresh and organic have honest meaning beyond marketing.]
We invent our own products and fragrances. We make them fresh by hand using little or no preservative or packaging, using only vegetarian ingredients, and tell you when they were made.
We believe in buying ingredients only from companies that do not commission tests on animals and in testing our products on humans.

When it comes to my beauty routine, I'm very natural.  The only make-up I wear is mascara and a touch of highlighter around my eyes.  Nothing else.  That's even fairly new for me, as I didn't start wearing those until a couple years ago.  I was thrilled when LUSH finally started selling mascara and, even better, that it's one of their vegan products, only contains one preservative (as opposed to most mascaras which contain 4-5), and has wheatgrass as an active ingredient!

This mascara is a nice, dark black and goes on smoothly despite the teeny, tiny application wand, which is shorter than my thumb.  That took a little time to get used to, but it's worth it for a vegan, low-preservative mascara that looks good, feels good, and lasts.  Speaking of the single preservative formula, you must toss this mascara after three months or it can cause skin irritation around the eyes.  I have very sensitive skin and I learned this first hand.  I can't imagine using another mascara now that I have access to this one.

LUSH's new highlighter is made from oatmeal, cocoa butter, almond and jojoba oils.  It's creamy and simply reflects light rather than providing color.  Also, considering how little I use, there is a lot in this small jar and it will last a long time.

I tried their Dreamwash, a thick, paste-like body wash made of soothing botanical ingredients.  I have eczema, so I have to use products that are appropriate for my sensitive skin and this one is full of aloe, lavender, rose, tea tree, calamine, and chamomile.  It's not effective for all-day freshness, but it's a lovely body wash to use at the end of the day in the bath.

I loved their Dream Cream, also formulated for sensitive skin with oat milk, lavender, chamomile, cocoa butter, and olive oil.  I went through this jar very quickly and used every last drop.  It was perfect for my skin, absorbed easily, had a gentle scent, and kept me feeling moisturized all day. 

If LUSH's products fit in your budget, it's a great company to support.  I know I'll be back in a couple months to for a new mascara.