Social media is packed with image after image of flawless-looking women living life to the fullest. No matter what their platform is, be it fitness, food, or lifestyle, all of these influencers do what they do with a dazzling smile, perfect hair, and glowing skin. With holiday parties galore and tons of pictures being snapped (with or without our permission), we all want to look our best at any given moment. Let’s be real, sometimes we just can’t edit away an awful hair day, and we all have that friend who doesn’t have an eye for the right filter. To help us through the holidays, we got the insider tips on how to achieve effortless, cruelty-free glamour from the social media mavens who are always on point.

Meet The Influencers:

1. Devyn Howard (@DiningwithDevyn): Television host, media personality, and Instagram darling. This San Diego native epitomizes an effortless, laid-back Southern California style. Her daily Instagram and Instastories will have you drooling over her tantalizing plant-based meals and make you envy her photo-shoot-ready beauty.

2. Agnes Muljadi (@artsyagnes): Professional ballerina, vegan advocate, and entrepreneur. One scroll through Agnes’ gorgeous Instagram profile – with 329K followers – made us beg for her beauty and fashion tips. Fully embracing the ballerina image, Agnes’ look exemplifies classic beauty and grace. 

3. Nicole Derseweh (@NicoleDerseweh): Actress, personal chef, and curator of the wildly popular plant-based Unicorn and Mermaid brunches in Los Angeles, this stylish redhead spreads good vibes through her colorful food and vivacious personality. With fun accessories and a statement-making wardrobe, Nicole can make any style look straight from the runway.

4. Taryn Rasgon (@Vegetaryn): Entrepreneur and owner of her own plant-based apparel line, Vegetaryn, this girl rocks a laid-back vibe of sweatshirts and tees while still looking fabulous. With perfect hair and expertly-applied eyeliner, Taryn makes sweats look good.

5. Michelle Marquis (@ellemarquis): Personal plant-based chef with a clientele of celebrities and Los Angeles elite. She rocks a punk style with bold lips and dark accessories, but in person she is as sweet as can be. She focuses on allergen-friendly, vibrant meals, and is most recently known for her pop-up “Awful Waffle” brunches.

Learn Their Secrets

1. Eat the Rainbow

All of the influencers we asked swore by eating a plant-based diet; in fact, it was their first tip. There’s no doubt you are what you eat, and your diet is reflected in your hair, skin, and nails. Taryn swore that her vegetable-heavy diet makes her glow naturally from the inside out. Agnes seconded this idea. She drinks a glass of green juice every morning to keep her skin clear, naturally. Nicole makes her own weekly beautification tonic, which includes fresh young coconut, water, raw aloe, lime juice, and fresh mint. 

2. Take Care of Your Skin

When your skin looks good, you look good. Each gal has a slightly different routine, but all focused on daily cleansing and moisturizing. Taryn keeps things basic by cleansing with Pacifica’s Coconut Micellar Water Cleanser, which is available at Target.

For those with super sensitive skin, try Agnes’ suggestion. She uses Naturally Lindy products for everything from simple cleansers to acne prevention. “It’s aloe vera based, vegan and cruelty free!” she promised.

Devyn is a bit more regimented, due to her occupation as an on-camera host. “I have to wear a lot of makeup everyday, so it’s very important to me to make sure I take it all off at the end of the day,” she cautioned. “I use the Alba Botanica Volcanic Ash Cleanser and the Osea Malibu Eyes & Lips moisturizer. They’re made of seaweed, and I absolutely love it! I also occasionally cleanse with Micellar water and will do a red algae or clay mask if I feel a break out coming on. Weekly, I also apply the Osea Malibu Hyaluronic acid to stimulate collagen production and prevent wrinkles. I also recently started applying a Vitamin C serum each night that helps reduce blackheads and brighten skin. I’m loving it!”

3. Cruelty-Free Makeup Tips

With a clear canvas of beautiful skin, makeup isn’t necessary, but it can add a nice touch to accentuate your natural beauty. Plus, its fun to play! Each influencer emphasized the importance of purchasing cruelty-free brands. Favorites included Kat Von D, NYX, Lime Crime, and Elf.

Elle shared her secret to her stand-out look: focus on just one element. “I pretty much only do eye make up and maybe a matte lip,” she said. She uses the NYX liquid black eyeliner for her signature pop. “Usually, I don’t have a lot of time between cooking, visits to the gym and delivering food around to my clients, so you’ll almost always find me with my thick black eyeliner! I love this look, because it is so versatile.”

4. Wear Timeless, Sustainable Fashion

Of course, all of these animal-loving glamour girls steer clear of clothing made from animals. However, each upped the fashion game by insisting that sustainable, ethical fashion is an equally important factor. For unique finds from shoes, accessories, and clothing, the gals suggested Bead & Reel, Mat & Nat, MooShoes, and Reformation. On a budget? Nicole, Devyn, and Michelle advocated thrift shopping. Michelle, who attended fashion school, gushed, “Thrifting is a great way to not only save money but it also allows you look cute as Hell without harming the environment!”

When shopping for that perfect outfit, Agnes advised, “Comfort and ease is everything to me. I typically prefer high waisted, loose clothes since I find them to be more flattering and give the illusion of longer legs.”

For a cute, comfy look that makes a statement, check out Taryn’s vegan apparel line, Vegetaryn. All of her tanks, tees, and sweatshirts are incredibly comfortable and surprisingly flattering. With tongue-in-cheek sayings like, “If Looks Could Kale,” “#VeganAF,” and “Basic Vegan Babe – Extra Hot,” you’ll look cool and confident.

Want to stand out? Follow Nicole’s fashion sense by adding statement accessories to your wardrobe. Think colorful, chunky necklaces, vibrant sunglasses with unique frames, and eye-popping, attention-grabbing earrings.

Tanya Flink is a vegan, foodie, and certified Master Personal Trainer based in Orange County, CA. She is also the host of the podcast, “The Vegan Potluck.”

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Eva Mendes is not only beautiful but, it seems, has a soft spot for animals. Proof? Her new PETA-approved cruelty-free makeup line.

Eva Mendes has followed in the footsteps of other animal friendly celebs and come out with a new cruelty-free cosmetics line called CIRCA. Drew Barrymore and Honest Company founder, Jessica Alba, have gone the cruelty-free route too with cosmetics and personal care products that have not undergone animal testing. CIRCA is available at Walgreen’s and Drugstore.com, and included in PETA’s Beauty Without Bunnies guide, a searchable database for brands that do not test on animals.

The PETA guide is one of the most reliable ways to search cruelty-free products. To make PETA’s list products must be free from animal testing, and this includes ingredients, suppliers, and formulations. Not just the finished product. Because there are no set laws in the U.S. on cruelty-free labeling it can be difficult to know if a product went through animal testing at any point in the manufacturing process.

Animal testing is big business. More than 100 million animals suffer and die due to animal testing each year. Some of the tests are in the name of medicine and food. But many are for cosmetics and cosmetic ingredients. Poisoning, blinding, burning, toxic inhalation all for a new lipstick or perfume? Horrible and completely unnecessary.

Most cosmetic brands committed to toxin-free ingredients also go cruelty-free. Look for the Leaping Bunny logo or read the brand commitment page to see if they use animal testing or source ingredients that have been used in animal testing.

Keep in mind, cruelty free does not equal nontoxic. CIRCA contains several ingredients that should be avoided if you are looking to stay toxin-free. The best way to ensure the products you buy are safe is to read the labels.

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Giving the gift of organic beauty products can also give back to the world around you. 

We are deep into the holiday season and I am ready to get glam. The most stylish presents are the ones that make you feel beautiful inside and out. Here are our top organic beauty products for the holiday season. Whether you gift them or keep them for yourself, they’re guaranteed to bring lots of smiles.

1. Bite Beauty Mix & Mingle Lip Minis $12: This brand has a cult following for its lipsticks. They claim their food grade ingredients are “healthy enough to eat”. For an indulgent stocking stuffer, it packaged its lip duos into cute ornaments for the holidays.

2. Kahina Giving Beauty Glow Box $75: This luxurious set features three products made with argan oil. Kahina Giving Beauty uses recycled packaging. The company sources its argan oil from cooperatives of Berber artisans from the Atlas Mountains. Kahina contributes to the One Million Tree campaign that plants in rural areas of Morocco. The foundation also provides drinking water to girls schools in the region.

3. RMS Beauty Glowing Gift Set $120: This collection includes four of RMS Beauty’s bestselling items. You can choose your favorite shade of luminizer, cream eye shadow, lip2cheek and ‘un’cover-up. RMS uses certified organic ingredients like castor oil and shea butter that are nourishing to the skin. The containers are made from recycled glass and recyclable aluminum.

3. Juice Beauty’s Spa Infusion Essentials Set $28: For a pampering spa experience at home, this box includes the organic beauty brand’s popular ylang ylang products. It even gives you tea and honey to sip while you relax. The company is proud to be cruelty-free. This set is made without toxic ingredients like pesticides, artificial dyes or synthetic fragrances.

4. Caudalie’s Premier Cru Anti-Aging Set $99: Are the holidays not complete without champagne? This gift has two travel-friendly versions of their best anti-aging products. The key ingredients are plant based antioxidants like polyphenols and resveratrol, found in some wines. Caudalie is adamantly against using toxic ingredients like parabens in its products. Each product purchased from Caudalie contributes to 1% for the planet  to help the environment. This initiative supports projects like building a sustainable, Fair-Trade shea butter industry  by communities of women in Burkina Faso.

5. Zoya Dream Box $36: Nail polish is one of the most difficult beauty products to make non-toxic and eco-friendly. This is due to the fact that the ingredients like formaldehyde and toluene have always been needed to make nail laquer work. Zoya is one of the pioneering companies to formulate nail polishes without the classic toxins. For the gift season, the Zoya Dream Box collections offer trios of complementary holiday shades.

6. NVEY Eco Eye Shadow Palette $40 and Brush $9: NVEY Eco is an organic beauty brand from Australian brand dedicated to using natural ingredients. The makeup brushes are environmentally friendly and use cruelty-free fibers. The beautiful eye color palettes contain five complementary shades for a complete look.

Now what organic beauty gift will your BFF receive? Feeling good, having your friends and yourself look good, isn’t that what holiday spirit is about?

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top image: wencor teo

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When I’m flush with cash, I always buy the most natural makeup I can find, which typically is, thankfully, cruelty free! But sometimes when I’m in-between paychecks (or if I didn’t pick up enough projects for the month), I fall back on some of my favorite cruelty-free drugstore makeup brands. All of these products will fill your face with color and leave a little extra cash in your wallet.

NYX

I’ve used a countless number of NYX’s lipsticks and have never found a stinker. Also: Most of their lipsticks are priced under $7. My personal favorite: Pure Red. It. Is. Divine. The company also has a killer BB cream, mascara and eye shadow. In addition to the products mentioned above, the company also sells nail polish, body bronzers, makeup tools, and cleansing products.

e.l.f.

e.l.f. (Eyes, Lips, Face) is another great line of drugstore makeup. And the brand is super cheap. (Most of its products are priced at $3.) I’ve tried its tinted moisturizer with 20 SPF, mascara and lipstick. All three products went on smooth and had lasting power. This brand also carries an impressive line of makeup brushes, makeup primers, and has makeup removing wipes, too.

Physicians Formula

This may be the best drugstore brand yet. That’s because Physicians Formula uses organic ingredients. So, it’s about as natural – and cheap – as you can get. I really like the company’s BB cream. I will note, though, that its mascara can wear off onto the under eye area during the day. The company sells products that are: Hypoallergenic, fragrance-free, paraben-free, gluten free, oil-free, and more.

Wet n Wild

This one surprised me. Wet n Wild is a cruelty-free brand, too! This brand carries concealer, powder, eye shadow and liner – pretty much everything.

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Image: Beth

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