What are indies?
The archetypal indie beauty company is a small independent business run by one person, creating, marketing, and selling products directly to customers through the Internet. However, companies we would consider "indie" can run the gamut--they may have multiple employees, they may distribute through major companies like Anthropologie or Urban Outfitters, they may have products manufactured for them rather than doing everything DIY, they may not sell direct to consumers or over the Internet (although we focus on those that do). There's a great discussion post on Portrait of Mai about this topic and the various gray areas that different companies like Sugarpill or OCC fall into.
Why buy indie?
If you take a look at our About Us page, you can get an idea of some of the different reasons people may be attracted to buying indie beauty products. We also put together a guest post on TheMakeupHoney on this very question.
For a brief summary:
- Price: indies tend to be very affordable compared to mid- or high-end cosmetics, and most of the cost goes into the product itself rather than marketing
- Availability of samples: if you love variety, it's much easier to try 10 different sample baggies of eyeshadow at $1 apiece than to buy 10 different eyeshadow singles at $18 a pop (I'm looking at you, Urban Decay)
- Where your money goes: it's important to many people to use their money to support small entrepreneurs rather than large corporations
- Communication and personal connection: with indie companies, you can frequently interact directly with the business owner, asking questions or providing feedback
- Quality/simplicity of ingredients: indie products, particularly in the skincare realm, tend to have much simpler ingredient lists than major brands, so if you have sensitive skin or concerns about particular ingredients, it may be easier to find a product that suits your needs--for example, a mineral foundation free of bismuth oxychloride, which makes many people itchy
- Cruelty-free/vegan status: it's often much easier to find vegan or cruelty-free alternatives in the indie world than among mainstream and larger cosmetic companies
- International shipping: many mainstream brands have prohibitive shipping costs or simply aren't available outside their home countries, while many indie brands are willing to ship abroad using affordable mailing options
- Culture/branding: Goths, geeks, and misfits will find products created for them, by their peers, in the indie world instead of having to feel out of place amongst the Walgreens or Sephora aisles
- Selection: you can find far stranger, more interesting options among indies than among mainstream cosmetics when it comes to color, scent, or formulation--crazy color-shifting eyeshadows, green lipsticks, or perfume that smells like werewolves are all par for the course among indie companies
What types of products are best represented among indies?
There are lots and lots of indie options for loose powder products such as eyeshadow, mineral foundation, blush, bronzer, highlighter, and finishing powder. Pressed powder products are available from some indies but far less common.
Eyeshadows can be found in all different finishes, but often tend towards sparkly and duochrome finishes (duochromes give the appearance of multiple colors depending on the angle of the light).
There are indie liquid and cream products (eyeshadow, blush, eyeliner, foundation, etc.) but it's harder to find these options than their powder equivalents. Indie mascaras exist but are rare, and I've never tried one.
There are lots of indie options for lotions, bar or whipped soaps, nail polishes, and lip balms.
Tinted lip balms are also very common. Full-coverage lipsticks/lip crayons and liquid lipsticks are becoming more common but still harder to find.
Oil-based perfumes are extremely common, and solid perfumes are fairly common as well. Alcohol-based perfumes are far less common in the indie world than oil-based ones, partly because there are more restrictions on shipping alcohol-based perfumes.
There are plenty of skincare products with useful actives in them, but any indie claiming to contain SPF is probably lying about their FDA approval due to the sheer cost of the testing required to get an official SPF rating.
We had a discussion post called "Things I DON'T buy from indies" that goes into more detail about all of this.
What indie companies should I buy from?
Check out our Company Overview posts for information about different indie companies and what products they specialize in! The Indie Brand Experiences forum from /r/indiemakeupandmore is also an invaluable resource--or just Googling the name of a company can be very helpful in finding people's opinions about it.
This is completely subjective, but for a first indie order, I'd recommend buying a couple of eyeshadow samples from Fyrinnae or Shiro Cosmetics. For perfume, I've had a great hit rate with Blooddrop and Solstice Scents, so I'd recommend trying a couple of samples from either of those companies--I love Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab, but the size of their catalog can be overwhelming and there have been more misses than hits because of that. If you'd like recommendations for a particular color or type of product, feel free to comment here or hit up the friendly community at /r/indiemakeupandmore, where a couple of my co-bloggers are mods!
Sounds great, what else should I know?
Because indies are small companies often flying under regulatory radar, they can be unreliable. This can range from companies absconding with customers' money and never sending the goods (if this happens to you, don't be shy, file a Paypal claim!), using unsafe ingredients, or manufacturing in unsanitary conditions, to more innocuous problems such as long turnaround times or communication issues when customer service problems arise. The best way to protect yourself from this is to read up on the brand you're planning to buy from, using the resources I listed above. Don't let these potential problems scare you off from indies, though--there is so much to love about them!
OK, so what do I do with this plastic bag of loose eyeshadow now that I have it? All my normal eyeshadows are pressed.
Use a brush to dip into the bag, wipe off any excess, apply to your eye! Jeannie did a post on this, and there's also a great guide posted here with more details. You may want to use a sticky eyeshadow primer like Fyrinnae's Pixie Epoxy or use a damp brush to apply the eyeshadow to get a more intense color payoff and better adhesion on the eye; a patting motion typically works better than a sweeping motion.
OK, so what do I do with this little glass sample vial of perfume now that I have it? All my normal perfumes are spray bottles.
Take off the cap--there will usually be a little plastic applicator stick attached to it. There will be drops of perfume clinging to the applicator wand. Swipe this onto your wrists, your neck, your chest, or anywhere else you'd like the perfume applied. Perfume oils can be very intense--go easy on the quantity until you understand how strong the scent is. I usually use one swipe that I rub between my wrists, and one dab on either side of my neck. You can also apply perfume oils to your clothes or hair, where they will last longer but will smell less complex. Lisa wrote a comprehensive beginner's guide to perfumes that has more details!
OK, what about _____? How do I _______? What do you recommend for _____?
What would you like to see in the next installment of our guide? Please weigh in in the comments so we know what kind of content would be helpful to you, or to friends you'd like to convert to the world of indie beauty products!
I buy indie a lot, it started when I was trying to find a shade match for my really pale skin but has now evolved to an obsession...
ReplyDeleteWe're very familiar with this evolution :>)
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