Today is the second part of my 2018 beauty favourites where I will be concentrating on my favourite cruelty free eye makeup products. I’ll also go over the products I didn’t get to try but would have liked to. If you’ve tried any of them, I would love to know what you think of them in the comments below. Don’t forget to check out the post about my favourite complexion products if you haven’t read that yet.
Brows
My favourite eyebrow pencil will be no surprise to those of you who have been around a while. I still love, and use, the Eye Of Horus Brow Define in Husk all the time. It comes in three shades, Husk (light), Dynasty (medium) and Nile (dark). I use the lightest one, Husk, which is a great ash blonde shade – I have it swatched in my original review. I love the formula, but if I happen to misplace it, then I can use my Anastasia Beverly Hills Brow Wiz in Blonde or Taupe, Garbo & Kelly Retractable Brow Perfector Pencil in Cool Blonde, NYX Micro Brow Pencil in Taupe, or even the Colourpop Precision Brow Pencils (if I’m in a pinch) – but I’ll choose the Eye Of Horus first. I have dark eyebrow hairs considering my natural hair colour (my brows are the same colour as my hair, whereas most natural blondes have much lighter brows), so I can use any colour that is in the blonde to taupe range, but I like the Taupe shades better. If you need them all swatched together so you can choose a shade, let me know.
My favourite clear eyebrow gel is the Anastasia Beverly Hills Clear Brow Gel. It doesn’t keep my unruly brow hairs in place all day, but it does a better job than any others I have tried. I am still looking for a clear brow gel that has maximum hold without the crunchy feeling.
I have tried a few different coloured brow gels, but the one I use the most is the Essence Make Me Brow Eyebrow Gel Mascara in Blondy Brows. I’ve previously used brow gels from Innoxa, Chi Chi, Too Faced and considered the Hourglass one, but the Essence brow gel is really good and it just can’t be beaten on price. I just got the new Eye Of Horus Universal Brow Lash Serum for Christmas, so I will be putting that to the test soon.
I don’t use brow pomades so I can’t give you any recomendations on those, but I do like the Anastasia Beverly Hills Brow Powder Duos in Blonde and Taupe.
Mascara
My favourite Mascara for the year was the Designer Brands False & Flared Mascara. I really don’t like the look of clumped eyelashes, so a mascara needs to be able to lengthen them without making them look like big clumps, and I don’t want it to flake or smudge. I can put on multiple layers of the False & Flared mascara and it doesn’t do any of that, which is great. Towards the end of the year I also bought the Designer Brands Beyond Amplifying Mascara which has a tubing formula so it won’t smudge off, which can be a problem on my lower lash line with some mascaras. I would happily recommend either of these, plus they’re cruelty free and vegan. I have used the Too Faced Better Than Sex Mascara but I need to use a lash tool to separate the lashes when using that one, and I’m sad to say that I really hated the new Hourglass Caution Mascara as it clumps up my lashes and dries too quickly to be combed through to separate them. I have the Elate Mascara in my drawer for when I need to start a new mascara next, so I will let you know how that goes.
Eyeliner
My favourite eyeliners are still the Eye Of Horus Goddess Pencils – the only negative about them is that I have to sharpen them, but it’s the same deal with most eyeliners. They have a waxy texture so they stay on my waterline longer than any other brands do. I have swatches of all the Eye Of Horus Goddess Pencils in the original review. I own 9 out of the 12 colours, and all the ones I own have been amazing – I’m just missing Jewel Amethyst, Lazuli and Serpentine, but I will eventually get those too. I use Sahara Nude, Nubian Brown, Smoky Black and Bronze Amulet the most. The nude eyeliner is perfect as it is matte and not too light to overly lighten the tight line.
The Eye Of Horus eyeliners do however contain beeswax, so if you need a vegan alternative, the Hourglass 1.5mm Mechanical Gel Eye Liner and new Designer Brands Pigment Plus Retractable Eyeliners are worth trying – they’re both twist up so they don’t need sharpening, but you can sharpen the tip to get a more precise application. Lots of people love the Marc Jacobs Beauty Highliner Gel Eye Crayons but I don’t have any of them in my collection. Dose of Colors have just released 15 eyeliners in a variety of nice shades, they are however lacking a nude colour which is always the hardest to find.
I don’t use liquid or gel eyeliners, but I do have a few liquid eyeliners in my collection that are waiting there until I regain some health, and get rid of my shakes. So when I’m feeling better I will review the liquid eyeliners from theBalm (Schwing Black Liquid Eyeliner), Eye Of Horus (Liquid Define) and Revolution (Renaissance Flick) for you.
Eye Primer
The cruelty free eye primer I tend to use the most is theBalm’s Put A Lid On It eyelid primer as it’s not too drying. I do also use Too Faced’s Shadow Insurance, especially when travelling as the mini versions are really small, and Too Faced’s Glitter Glue comes in handy when using pigments or loose glitters. I want to try the P Louise Eye Base next, and Makeup Revolution have just launched an eye primer that people are calling a dupe for the P Louse product.
Eyeshadow Palettes
I don’t think I bought a single eyeshadow palette in 2018 (none that stood out to me anyway), so my eyeshadow favourites are probably the same as last year. I still love my Dose Of Colors 5 pan palettes in Marvelous Mauves and Baked Browns – the formula is outstanding. The other palettes I use are the three 9 pan palettes from theBalm: Meet Matt(e) Nude, Meet Matt(e) Trimony and Meet Matt(e) Ador. The only eyeshadow palette that is vegan out of those is theBalm’s Meet Matt(e) Ador, so I would really like to see more vegan eyeshadow palettes next year, especially cooler toned ones. If you’re looking for a more natural eyeshadow palette, then check out my review of the Ere Perez Chamomile Eye Palette in Pretty.
There were some palettes that I nearly bought like the Milani 9 pan palettes, Soft & Sultry and Most Loved Mattes, which are still tempting me. Anastasia Soft Glam launched to rave reviews, but I have all the single shades that were used in it, so I would only want it for the shimmers and I would prefer if they were just launched as single shades (probably won’t happen though). Charlotte Tilbury launched a whole collection around the cult classic Pillow Talk shade, and the eyeshadow quad in that collection looks really nice – it is however very pricey. I hope there are more palettes made in the mauve colour family, as I have seen enough warm orange eyeshadow palettes for a while now.
Single Eyeshadows
Not buying eyeshadow palettes allowed me to focus on single eyeshadows, even though my collection isn’t much bigger than last year. I still have lots of pressed eyeshadows from Colourpop, Anastasia Beverly Hills and Makeup Geek. They’re all good, Colourpop however, often discontinue their shades, so they don’t have colours that stay around like ABH and MUG do. Makeup Geek is however re-branding in March, so many of their eyeshadows will be discontinued then. I will try to swatch all of mine asap so you can get what you like before then. I started doing my Colourpop ones, but I’ve only posted the green shades so far. The Glaminatrix Cosmetics single eyeshadows have been on my wishlist all year, I just haven’t purchased any yet. It’s a small indie Aussie brand that by all reviews is producing some great eyeshadows, so they are one to try this year. Coloured Raine and Sugarpill have been on my wishlist for a long time too, they both have people raving about their eyeshadows, so they’re brands to keep an eye on.
Most of my glittery and metallic eyeshadow shades are from Colourpop. The Colourpop Super Shock Shadows are really good for adding something extra to the lid. They do have matte Super Shock Shades, but I prefer to use a powder eyeshadow with the sparkly Super Shock Shade on just the mobile lid. The Super Shock formula is a cream-powder hybrid. It is bouncy like a cream but it dries to a powdered finish, and is easily applied over powder eyeshadows. I just got two Stila Magnificent Metals Glitter & Glow eyeshadows for Christmas in the shades Kitten Karma and Wanderlust. Wanderlust is a beautiful mix of pink and gold shifting glitter, while Kitten Karma has a champagne base with silver glitters. I can’ wait to use them, but I need ideas for how to use the Wanderlust shade. I have been trying to get my hands on the Hourglass Scattered Light eyeshadows to see how they stack up, but they’re always sold out.
Want To See
Eyeshadow is the makeup item I am least likely to apply as I have eyelid eczema, so any product application on my eyelids hurts and makes the eyelid eczema flare. I do however want to try to do more eye makeup this year and find a way to reduce the flare afterwards. I would love to see an eyelid primer that had some sort of anti-inflammatory effect to it, but I’m not sure if that is possible. I would also love to see more nude eyeliners that come in a matte finish as most nude eyeliners are shimmery, which doesn’t look good with many looks. And I of course want to see more mauve and cool toned eyeshadow palettes, as brands have been very focused on warm tones for the last few years. I hope brands focus more on the quality of their products in 2019 and not the quantity. I also hope we see a shift in the beauty community as a whole to be more honest. Honesty and integrity were lacking from both brands and many influencers in 2018 so I really hope that changes this year.
What do you think of my favourite cruelty free eye makeup products? Do you know of any cruelty free eye cosmetics that I need to try? Don’t forget to check back for my next favourites post which will be all about my favourite lip and nail products. You can sign up to email updates to get my blog posts sent to your inbox and find me on social media – Instagram, Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest.
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