Cruelty-free Favorites vol 1: Golden Oldies

I’ve been planning this post for what feels like ages, and every time I think about it, I think of that old Girl Scouts song, “Make new friends, but keep the old, one is silver and the other’s gold”.  Does anyone else remember that song?

I always assumed that the ‘old’ friends were the ‘gold’ friends… and that’s how I consider my old favorites.  Products that have stood the test of time.   In fact, in some cases, they’ve become literally the only product I’ll reach for for a particular beauty task.

For example, the dreaded tightlining.  Which brings me to gold-standard product #1, the Trish McEvoy Intense Gel Eyeliner Pencil.  I will use nothing else for this creepy feeling, but oh so flattering, job.  Trish also makes my fave formula of cream eyeshadows, the 24-Hour Eye Shadow and Liner, which glide on incredily smoothly, leave zero sticky or patchy residue and last all day with nary a crease or smudge.

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When I want a glowy, seriously metallic look on the eyes, which honestly is pretty often, my go-to shadows, gold-standard#2, are the Makeup Geek Foiled Eyeshadows.  They have have outstanding pigmentation and shine, and as long as I wear an eye primer, which I always have to anyway, they are creaseless and very long-wearing.  Two of my faves are High Wire and Mesmerized… I mean, come on!

I have many more luvs in this line, but we recently had a beauty tragedy affecting our Makeup Geek goodies here at Beauty, for Good HQ, so I’m saving up for a serious restock.

In the interim, you can check out my faves here, and then some more here!

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A final contribution to general eye maintenance, and gold-standard #3, is the Honeybee Gardens Pressed Mineral Powder Foundation in the shade, Avignon.  This is the only powder I’ve ever found that sets my under eye corrector without looking cakey, crepey, and like an overall hot mess.

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For face powders, at gold-standard #4, my faves bar none are the Hourglass Ambient Lighting Powders. Dim Light is the only powder I consistently use as an all-over face powder.  It provides just the teeniest touch of coverage to set the skin on extra oily days, adding a lovely diffused glow without looking cakey or, forgive the obvious, powdery.  Meanwhile, Ethereal Light is fabulous for diffusing the look of redness and large pores in the t-zone.

And don’t even get me started on Mood Light.  I ❤ this. I’m fair enough, and bold-blush phobic enough, that this light pink/lavendar wonder is what I always reach for when I want a perfected face.  It provides just the right amount of flush and sheen, and even seems to smooth the look of my skin.

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And last but not least, and rounding out the gold-standards at #5, is the E.L.F. Lip Exfoliator!  I luved the original, and now I love the coconut flavor even more.  Most lip exfoliators come in a little tub, so you have to stick your finger in to get the product out.  Gross!  These come in a lipstick bullet, making application much easier and more hygenic.  This has been a long time fave, but now it’s even better as the formula of the new flavors seems to have been updated to balance the the amount of exfoliator sugar bit better with the balm.  Plus the scrubbies seem more finely milled.  At $3 bucks, I just don’t see it ever being topped.

 

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That’s it for these golden oldies, but stay tuned for my follow-up post, detailing recent (aka silver status), faves from Ofra Cosmetics, Eye of Horus, 100% Pure, and more!

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*These are only my opinions, formed through my personal experience as a consumer.  I am not a medical doctor, an aesthetician, or a health/beauty professional.  There is no guarantee what effect, positive or negative, these products may have on anyone else.

**All products were purchased by me from brands that, to the best of my knowledge, are cruelty-free.