Contour

Vegan and cruelty-free contour. Whether you're buying for yourself, or for the cruelty-free woman in your life, you can shop with confidence knowing that all of the makeup products we list on Get it Vegan, including the contour below, are 100% free of animal by-products, ingredients and testing.

Contour

$40
Anastasia Beverly Hills – Light/Medium Contour Kit
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$30
Aesthetica Cosmetics – Cream Contour & Highlighting Makeup Kit
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What is ‘vegan’ & ‘cruelty-free’ contour?

The term “vegan”, with regard to contour, refers to contour that doesn’t contain ingredients that are derived or sourced from animals or insects, whereas the term “cruelty-free” refers to contour that’s free of animal testing, including the individual ingredients used in those products.

In other words, ‘cruelty-free’ refers to the testing methods, while ‘vegan’ refers to the origin of the ingredients.

Good News! No matter what skin type you have, or what type of makeup your skin prefers, all types of contour, such as cream, powder and pencil contour, can all be vegan and cruelty-free!

What animal and insect-derived ingredients are commonly used in contour?

While it certainly isn’t exhaustive, we’ve put together a list of the most common animal and insect-derived ingredients that are used in non-vegan contour, including some of their aliases, why they're used in contour, and some of their vegan-friendly alternatives.

Squalene: Typically derived from shark livers, it’s used in contour and other cosmetics as a moisturizer, and for it’s reported anti-aging effects.

  • Aliases: Shark Liver Oil; Squalane.
  • Vegan alternatives to squalene: Plant-based oils, most notably olive oil and palm oil.

Lanolin: A product of the oil glands of sheep, extracted from their wool. Used as an emollient in many drugstore brand and other contours. The cruelty towards sheep in the wool (and as a byproduct lanolin) industry is often overlooked but well documented: “Inferior” sheep are killed; sheep are transported without food or water, in extreme heat and cold, legs are broken, eyes injured; castration without anaesthetics…and it goes on.

  • Aliases: Lanolin Acids; Isopropyl Lanolate; Laneth; Lanogene; Wool Fat; Wool Wax.
  • Vegan alternatives to lanolin: plant and vegetable oils.

Beeswax: Beeswax is made from melting honeycomb with boiling water, straining it, and cooling it. It’s used in contour as a thickener, and an emollient. It also happens that many bees are killed or have their wings and legs torn off because of haphazard handling when they are farmed.

  • Aliases: Apic cerana, Apis Mel, Apis mellifera, Apis Mellifica, Cera Alba, Cera Flava.
  • Vegan alternatives to beeswax: Candelilla wax; Soy wax; Sustainable carnauba wax, Cerecin.

What brands make vegan & cruelty-free contour?

Contour that’s both vegan and cruelty-free can be hard to find, but not if you know where to look! Fortunately, the following brands exclusively make contour that’s full vegan and cruelty-free… in other words, completely animal-friendly!

  • Aesthetica
  • Anastasia Beverly Hills
  • e.l.f. Cosmetics

Please Note: For the sake of simplicity, this list does not include brands that have ‘vegan options’ for contour; it only includes companies whose contour products are completely vegan and cruelty-free.

Is vegan & cruelty-free contour expensive?

In general, vegan and cruelty-free liquid or powder contour is not any more expensive than contour that contains animal/insect derived or tested ingredients.

Just like alternative versions, the prices of ‘animal-friendly’ contour can vary based on differences in the quality and the availability of the ingredients used, differences in the manufacturing processes employed, different brand names behind them, as well as a wide variety of other factors.

Why should I buy ‘vegan’ & ‘cruelty-free’ contour?

There’s something to be said about smearing crushed beetles and sheep sweat on your face. Aside from that, there’s a lot of cruelty that goes into getting some of these ingredients.

It’s important to buy contour that you know is vegan & cruelty-free because it creates demand for these types of products, reduces demand for inhumane and inherently cruel products, and is thus a very effective form of animal-welfare activism. This is referred to as ‘voting with your dollars’.

Similar product categories

If you’ve found this page on vegan and cruelty-free contour helpful, check out similar product categories to learn or shop more:

For companies that make vegan & cruelty-free contour

If you make vegan and cruelty-free liquid or powder contour, or any other vegan/cruelty-free cosmetics for that matter, we’d love to feature you and your products on the “Brands We Love” section of our site! Contact us at  - info(at)getitvegan(dot)com - to get started!

Sources

Some of the information for this guide on vegan & cruelty-free contour was gathered from the following sources: