Cruelty-free: My Favourite Nail Polish Brands

My cruelty-free deadline has come and gone, and one of the products I have anguished over the most have been nail polishes. How can something comprised entirely of noxious chemicals possibly be cruelty-free?
My nail polish collection is... extensive. Sickeningly so. But, in my mind at least, calling it a hobby makes it acceptable, so let's leave it at that. I've given up OPI, Chanel, Rimmel, and China Glaze to name but a few, and while I haven't thrown out the existing offenders in my collection, I have stopped buying from these brands.

So, without any pomp or ceremony, here are my top ten cruelty-free nail polish brands (in no particular order) based on formula and colour range:

1. Zoya - Zoya polishes are hard to come by outside of America but their polishes have a great consistency and come in variety of colours and finishes.

2. Australis - Australia is an Australian makeup brand and although I haven't tried a great deal of their makeup, I rate their polishes - they're an affordable option and last up to a week on my nails without chipping.

3. Deborah Lippmann - Another American brand which can be difficult to find but these high end polishes are beautiful.

4. Nubar - A lesser known brand but equal to more popular brands in quality and formula.

5. Color Club - These polishes are really inexpensive, even taking into account the extra expense of purchasing them online. Hundreds of colours and the cream formulas perform very nicely indeed.

6. Models Own - I love these polishes - they're cheap and cheerful.

7. Lime Crime - Say what you will about Lime Crime (and there is plenty to say) I do like their nail polishes. Their polishes are very opaque.

8. Butter London - I love Butter London's approach to beauty - tongue-in-cheek and top quality. In my humble opinion, they do the best glitter polishes going.

9. Illamasqua - Beautiful, long-wearing, fun. These are certainly at the higher end of the price spectrum but the quality matches the price.

10. Nails Inc - Baker Street is one of my favourite colours of nail polish ever. I find some of their polishes give off quite a pungent odour, but if you can handle the smell, you cannot go past these polishes.

If you would like to go cruelty-free but struggling to figure out what's what, you can find a fairly comprehensive list of cruelty-free and vegan nail polish brands here.

Cruelty Free Brands #1 - Illamasqua

Once upon a time I thought that I was a relatively good person. I volunteered at the RSPCA, I apologised to people who bump into me, occasionally I even bought a copy of the Big Issue. However, the might and venom of the internet's extremist vegan faction swiftly relieved me of this thought. After all, what is the internet for if not the radicalisation of beliefs and anonymous victimisation of others by people who would normally be perfectly pleasant in the non-virtual world?

You see, I had been attempting to research and locate ethically raised meat in my area but my search only led me to forums where I was brusquely informed in no uncertain terms that such a thing did not exist and that the very notion of ethically raised meat was an oxymoron and I was a fool to believe otherwise. I couldn't deny their conviction but existing health problems meant that taking meat & dairy out of my diet would leave me with a very restricted palette.

So, what does this have to do with anything? We'll, after this meat lambasting I decided I could do a little more for animal welfare by making more of a concerted effort in the cruelty-free beauty stakes. That's not to say I don't still get suckered in the alluring packaging of Chanel and their ilk but I try. Thankfully there are hundreds of affordable and high quality cruelty-free products on the market and first in my sights is Illamasqua - an incredible brand that doesn't receive nearly the virtual blogger love it deserves.

Two products I use every single day are the Skin Base foundation (in SB06) and the concealer (in cc135). The Skin Base foundation provides medium coverage with a satin finish - it's neither matte nor particularly "dewy," a finish which Illamasqua describes as "skin realism." This foundation blends well into the skin and does not highlight any dry patches. There are an impressive 25 shades in the range and shockingly, my colour is not nearly the palest - they even make a white shade for mixing with others. The concealer performs equally well - good coverage without becoming cakey or separating throughout the day.

I use the powder blush in Disobey as a contour on days when I want to chisel out those cheekbones a little more. This is an incredibly highly pigmented product which requires a light hand to apply but still blends really well.

Equally pigmented and blendable are these eyeshadows in Boomerang, Fiasco and Creep. The Precision ink in Scribe is a white liquid liner pen which I mostly use for nail art. 

It is very opaque and is perfect for fine lines and sharp points.

Lastly, we have the lipsticks, the product for which the brand is perhaps most well known. I own the shades Maneater and Shard. 

Shard is described as a matte red violet - a deep purple with red undertones. Maneater is a classic true red which would suit all skin tones. Both lipsticks have a matte finish but do not drag on the lips during application, nor do I find them particularly drying for a matte.

These lipsticks are richly pigmented and do not need to be built up on the lips.

I think perhaps some people may be shy of Illamasqua because it may be seen as more of an 'alternative' brand catering to those with more daring or exotic tastes (which it does magnificently); however, it also produces high quality, wearable products suitable for the more conservative amongst us and those who prefer a more natural makeup look. Thus, whatever your inclinations, Illamasqua has you covered.