Indie Brands That Deserve Your Love (& Your Dollars!)

The season of holiday shopping is upon us (let's be real - for some of us it never left!), so I thought I would share some of my favorite indie makeup brands to shop from for gorgeous glam and keeping your money out of the hands of the corporate overlords!

Blend Bunny Cosmetics:

I know I just won't shut up about it, but it's true and I'll keep saying it: Blends by Blend Bunny Cosmetics is the best "starter drag" palette on the market, period, end of story. This gorgeous collection of rainbow mattes in beautiful gradients is great for all skill levels. Want to try experimenting with color? Blends. Love monochromatic eye looks? Blends. Need to create a rainbow look for Pride? Blends. I could go on and on...and I have. But you get the idea.

And it's not just this palette. I have every palette that Blend Bunny has ever put out and I love them all. Here is my Thunderdome video featuring the brand from a couple of years ago, and there have been so many more gorgeous palettes from the brand since then:

Full disclosure: I have received one gifted package from the brand. After doing the Thunderdome ranking, the owner of the brand reached out and asked if I would like the next release, Machina, and also sent the Forget Me Not face palette. But if you've followed me for a long time, you know that I've been ride or die with this brand long before I ever received anything for free!

Here is the video that I did with the Machina palette:

You can always use codes and check for items to rotate into the Sale section unexpectedly, you never know when you're going to run across a deal. Current recommendations? The Masterclass blush palettes (made with Jordan Liberty) are both absolutely breathtaking, and such a delight to use. My one complaint that I always have about the palettes is that there are never enough shimmers (GIVE ME ALL THE SHIMMERS!), and with the Ellis Atlantis Volume Two collection, they gave us the Garden of Stars, which is an 18-pan ALL SHIMMER palette! The Divination and Little Miss She Never Misses palettes are both also gorgeous, and I love the weird, all matte grungy vibes of the Rotten palette. All of their palettes have been amazing, but their collabs are always really inspiring, and I love that they've worked with such a diverse group of creators.

Bella Beaute Bar:

It took me a while to give Bella Beaute Bar a chance - that price point is a little jarring when you first run across it. And for some, that's going to be a deal-breaker, and I get that. But if you've got the budget for it, and if you love really impactful shimmers, especially multichrome and the fancy new "holochrome" type shades, then Bella Beaute Bar is absolutely worth the investment. For as long as I waited to try them out, they have quickly become one of my favorite go-to brands, especially when I need something to just work (without too much fussing), be easy to use and to blend, and to give me complex, gorgeous shimmers.

I created this gorgeous Mrs. Peacock-inspired look for a photo shoot using their Ocean Jewel palette:

I also created one of my favorite looks EVER using the Ultra Violet palette (a collab palette with Deandranicoleee) and a pop of green from a Gourmande Girls palette - you can check out that GRWM here:

Current recommendations? I've tried a lot of their palettes and I feel like they are super consistent in quality and ease of use, so that really comes down to color preferences. If you're a purple fan, I think the Ultra Violet palette is an absolute must have - hands down the best purple monochromatic palette I have used, ever. Ocean Jewel is great for green/blue/purple lovers. Want something more neutral but still glamorous? Smokey Glam and Unoriginal Nudes are both stellar options. Dead Roses is another favorite with it's somewhat more muted pink, red, and plum mattes with gorgeous shimmers, many of which have an unexpected green shift. No matter what you pick, you'll absolutely get some of the best high impact shimmers out there!

Gourmande Girls:

Gourmande Girls is one of those brands that puts together unique, sometimes a little odd, quirky color stories that I didn't know I needed until I saw them - and they immediately became essentials in my collection! Their spooky palettes like Haunted, Nevermore, and the OG Spooked are all classics for me all year round (but especially at Halloween!), and they were definitely well-represented on my countdown of my favorite spooky palettes from a couple of years ago:

All of their spooky palettes are recommendations: Spooked, Haunted, Nightshade, Bitten, and Nevermore (I'm not sure if all of them are currently available and which, if any might be restocked, but keep an eye on the GG socials for more information). I also really enjoyed the Trapped collection - so much so that I made a dedicated video with the collection!

Finally, I really love the Peach Perfect palette. I love orange/peach with green - I think it's such a gorgeous combination, and this palette gives you some really beautiful options.

Lit Cosmetics:

I've tried a lot of glitter, and I've loved a lot of glitter, but no glitter has my heart like Lit Cosmetics glitter! Not only do they make truly amazing glitter products and a fabulous liquid glitter base that is one of the best you can find, they were also the first brand to ever send me any kind of PR. For those who don't know, this is actually the 3rd version of this website that I've had. The first version of the site, which started in 2012, had a section called the Makeup Forum, and I was a much younger and much scrappier drag queen. I saw a video comparing Lit Cosmetics to another glitter brand, and decided to place an order. I emailed them because...well, I don't actually remember? I think they had something on their site about offering a discount to performers (or else I just had no shame and cold-called them to ask for a performer discount?! Sounds like me... lol), and Jodie, the owner, responded back and was so lovely!

Not only did they offer a discount, but she threw in a few extra freebies with my order. When they were getting ready to launch their Lit Kits in Sephora, she sent me several of them to do a giveaway on the site, and also did a phone interview talking all about her love of all things sparkly!

I was just a drag queen with a dream, and I've never forgotten that Jodie was the first person who believed in the vision of what I was creating enough to send me something to help me out. Now, it doesn't hurt that the products are actually really fabulous! But even if I dip my toes into other glitter ponds, I also come back to my favorites.

As for recommendations...I mean, with glitter, a lot of it comes down to color preference. And they have so many variations on any kind of color you could ever want! The glitter mixes are a lot of fun - they use glitters of different sizes and colors to create these really interesting mixes. Some of my favorite mixes include Pride (because gay, obvi!) and the stacks that are themed around The Devil Wears Prada - I mean, that glitter Cerulean was chosen for you by the people in this room! Mai Tai and Cosmopolitan from the drinks-themed collection are also great. And the liquid base is phenomenal, especially if you do glitter lips - which back in the day was my signature! If you're not sure about the base and want to sample it, for $26 you can get a Lit Kit that comes with a small sample of the base, two mini brushes, and the Lit glitter of your choice - or try their Lit Metals in a kit for only $28!

I don't have a specific video to link for Lit Cosmetics yet, but I am planning an episode in my Drag 101 series showing off glitter tears - and you know I'll be crying Lit glitter! I'll add it here as soon as it's done.

Fantasy Cosmetica:

Not sure what to get that makeup goblin in your life who also just happens to be a goblin in your weekly DnD game? Look no further than Fantasy Cosmetica! They've got gorgeous 9-pan palettes themed after 10 of the iconic classes from your favorite TTRPG, as well as other palettes, highlighters, lipsticks, perfumes, candles - they are also trying out fun new products with each collection!

I did my ranking of my Fantasy Cosmetica palettes this year - and I've already added 2 more palettes to the collection since that video came out!

The newest palette, The Artificer, is another great option for those who like neutrals, but don't want to be Beige Becky Bullshit! It's got some lovely metallics, rusty red tones, and this collection also included a kit you can use to repress broken shadows! I really love the Warlock palette and the Harvest of Souls - if you want smoky eye looks with a twist of color (rich emerald, navy blue, cranberry) then these palettes are must haves. I also picked up the Celestial Lights highlighter palette at a Black Friday discount, and it is amazing!

Singe Beauty:

I'm such a fan of Angelica Nyqvist's content on YouTube, and I have to say that all of that work trying and reviewing products, creating tutorials, and reporting on industry news has set her up to create a pretty fantastic beauty brand. The brushes that she launched with are easily my favorite brushes; I have a few sets of the eye brushes (plus a couple singles of my absolute favorites!) as well as the full set of the face brushes, and they are always the first to end up back in the "to be washed" container.

Now that she's branching out into color cosmetics, I've been super impressed with everything she's done. The eyeshadow palettes are amazing, and while I haven't had a chance to create any content with them specifically, I love them and the performance is amazing. I definitely need to get a video done using one of these palettes soon! The blushes and and liners have show up in a couple of GRWM videos, but that Agate Temptation palette is speaking to me. Early 2026, I promise!

Recommendations? I mean, obviously a green lover like me is going to fawn over the Agate Temptation palette! But seriously, don't sleep on those blushes. They are more muted colors, but can be built up to be more impactful and the range of colors is very unique. I love that they aren't totally matte, and instead have a slightly glowy, light satin kind of vibe. I rarely every go with a full matte cheek, but sometimes I don't want to be full-on Sparkle Fish, y'know? These give a subtle glow that I can punch up with highlighter, and save the heavy shimma-shimma blushes for when I want to be extra. The brushes are also a no-brainer. I am a holdout for natural hair brushes, but these are some of the only brushes that I like almost as much as my natural hair. So good!

Obviously, these aren't all of the indie brands that deserve your time and money, but I just wanted to give you a selection of my absolute favorites. If you've already checked out these, here are a few others for you to look into:

Klarity Cosmetics

Give Me Glow

Arttitude Cosmetics

Glisten Cosmetics

Nomad Cosmetics

Cosmic Beauty

Also, we're not shopping Ensley Reign this year because transphobia is trash.

XOXO-

Miss Jaye