8 Latina-Owned Vegan Beauty Brands You Need to Know
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When we think of Latinas leading vegan beauty, Kat Von D immediately comes to mind. While she sold her namesake beauty brand to its parent company at the beginning of the year, there are other Latinas behind flourishing cosmetics businesses that don't use animal-derived ingredients.
Across the country, Latinas are creating their own face paint brands. Even better, many of these small — and medium — sized companies are vegan, meaning their products don't use any animal components (like carmine, beeswax, or honey), and are cruelty-free, meaning the formulas aren't tested on animals, either.
Keep reading to browse through some vegan makeup and lacquer brands by Latinas and treat yourself to something you won't regret this summer.
Alamar Cosmetics
Alamar Cosmetics celebrates culture through makeup. Miami-based founder Gabriela Trujillo, a veteran makeup artist, started the brand — which is now vegan — in 2017 and named it after her birthplace: Alamar, a small barrio in Havana, Cuba. Many of Alamar Cosmetics' products also honor this heritage, including the Reina Del Caribe eyeshadow palettes.
Necromancy Cosmetica
Necromancy Cosmetica is a line of brooding matte lipsticks. The cruelty-free, handcrafted vegan shop comes from an independent, two-person team — Des and Zal — based in Puerto Rico. Their (mostly) dark, witchy non-liquid lipsticks come in colors like Grave Digger, Mourning Rose, Carnal Sin, Bitchwitched, Divine Flesh, Morgue, and many more.
Vive Cosmetics
In Northern California, Vive Cosmetics is putting on for the culture with its cherished collection of lipsticks, highlighters, and makeup accessories. Behind the scenes, owners of the vegan and cruelty-free line Joanna Rosario-Rocha and Leslie Valdivia are ensuring their products are accessible and portray the heterogeneity of Latinidad, from gorgeous beso-proof liquid lipsticks like Spanglish, and cremosa matte lipsticks like Piel Morena, to the models they book to represent the brand.
Belle en Argent
Belle en Argent celebrates the timeless beauty of the arts, channeling iconic women in its shades and textures of vegan lipsticks and glosses. Founded by Latina entrepreneur Christina Kelmon, and creative director Lauren Young, Belle en Argent takes inspiration from the storytellers behind silver screen sirens, musicians, artists and films.
Lights Lacquer
Back in Miami, Cuban-American beauty blogger Kathleen Lights is behind the vegan nail polish brand Lights Lacquer. The vibrant colors of the 7-free and cruelty-free nail polishes aren't just influenced by the founder's Caribbean background, but Lights also seriously considers suggestions from her followers for both hues and polish names.
Bésame Cosmetics
In 2004, Gabriela Hernandez founded Bésame Cosmetics, a Los Angeles-based cosmetics company honoring classic looks of yesteryear. Hernandez, who in addition to being the CEO of the brand is also a makeup historian and author, recreates makeup shades, packaging, and products from the 1920s to the 1970s. However, Bésame Cosmetics makes the vintage aesthetics modern with its clean, vegan formulas.
Mia del Mar
The colors, product names and inspiration behind Mia Del Mar's cosmetics scream Latina, and that's because the Miami-based company is run by a group of women representing various parts of Latin America: Colombia, Brazil, Cuba, Venezuela, and Argentina. The cruelty-free and newly vegan brand anchors the secrets of Latin American and Latina beauty to develop makeup and skincare sets while honoring the culture with palette names like Novelera, Cafecito, and Life is a Fiesta.
Passport Polish
In New Orleans, Passport Polish is taking users on journeys all over the world through its handmade vegan lacquer. Owner and globetrotter Mari is a cosmetic chemist who created the collection to combine her love for travel and beauty. The nail polishes are all inspired by the culture, vibrancy and hues of different countries across the globe.