Life is Short. Buy the Makeup.

Shopping for Vegan beauty products can be very easy or it can be very difficult, depending on your definition of Vegan. As Ulta is one of the most readily available cosmetic retailers, I have put together a Vegan shopping guide full of brands I would highly recommend! Let's get started!

The end of January is here, you know what that means....Fifty Shades Darker is 2 weeks away! Just kidding, though I will be seeing it when it releases. This month's favorites feature a few new products and some old favorites. All products mentioned are Cruelty-Free, Vegan, and all but one are non-toxic. Let's get started!

One of my biggest goals for last year was to go completely Cruelty-Free and promote only Cruelty-Free brands. On my journey, I realized there are different ways to classify Cruelty-Free and it is not black and white. As Ulta is one of the largest cosmetic retailers....and also where I happen to work....I thought I would show you guys how shop truly Cruelty-Free at Ulta. This list will not include Vegan or Non-Toxic only brands. Those shopping guides will be coming up soon! Let's get started!

I was on the hunt for the longest time to find a brush small enough to add darker colors of eyeshadow to the socket of the corner of my eye. I wanted to define the crease just a little more. Unfortunately, due to the tiny size of my eyes, finding a brush small enough was impossible! I have heard amazing things about brushes from MAC, and particularly, the MAC 219 Pencil Brush looked small enough and pointed exactly to the shape that I hoped would fit my crease perfectly! However, the one downside to MAC brushes are that they are quite expensive. The 219 retails for $25 . I was determined to find a dupe for this brush! It took quite some time to find the right size, most small brushes were still too fat and not pointed enough on the end to be considered a dupe. But I finally found an exact dupe from Eco Tools!

I recently picked up some new goodies from Ulta over this past weekend! Here's an overview of some of the things I picked up. Let me know if you guys would like additional reviews on any of these products! Seche Vite Dry Fast Top Coat Seche Vite Dry Fast Top Coat This was a re-purchase item. This top coat retails for $9.95 at Ulta . This is my favorite top coat. It seals in the color and adds a shiny finish to the nails that locks in the color and prevents chipping on my nails for at least 4 days. Definitely a great top coat! Highly Recommend! Eco Tools Six Piece Day-To-Night Clutch Set 5 Eco Tools Day-To-Night Brushes This clutch set becomes with 5 individual full size brushes; 4 eye brushes and 1 face brush. This set retails for $16.99 at Ulta . I purchased this because I saw one of the eye brushes looks exactly like the MAC 219 brush! I have always loved Eco Tools brushes, and its a great price for 5 brushes! Benefit BADgal Waterproof ...

This week at Shopko, all Eco Tools , Real Techniques , and Studio Basics brushes are 25% off !  This sale excludes clearance merchandise. I absolutely love the Real Techniques Buffing brush to apply foundation, the Real Techniques Contour brush, and the Eco Tools soft domed concealer brush for getting in small areas of the face. Happy Shopping!

If you're in the market for some new makeup brushes or are new to makeup and need some basic brushes to get you started and don't want to spend $20 on a single brush, then Real Techniques and Eco Tools are some inexpensive but very reliable choices! This week, 3/9-3/15 at Ulta , Eco Tools and Real Techniques are buy one get one 50%, but you can mix and match brands so you can grab one from Eco Tools and get the other from Real Techniques for 50% off, and vise versa. I use Real Techniques Buffing Brush every day to apply my foundation and their Expert Face Brush to apply cream contour. Both are amazing quality brushes. I also use the Eco Tools Flat Eyeliner Brush to apply eye shadow to my lower lash line, and if you couldn't get your hands on the NARS Ita Brush , a possible dupe for this could be the Eco Tools Face and Body Sculpting Brush ! And to make this deal even better, you can stack this sale with Ulta's $3.50 off $10 coupon ! Source: Ulta