Kawaii culture and the ACG (anime, cosplay, and gaming) community have long gone hand in hand, influencing everything from fashion, accessories, and even beauty products. If you want to add a little more fandom to your everyday look, check out these indie makeup brands inspired by your favorite anime and video games.
Yva Expressions (US) is a cruelty-free, vegan, Black- and woman-owned makeup brand founded by Yva Corwin at the height of the pandemic. Their bright and self-expressive aesthetic ranges from sweet to retro, and pastel goth to alt. Apt for the summer season, the beach episode series is my personal favorite and a nod to the classic anime trope.
Bone Idol Beauty (UK) offers a wide range of cruelty-free makeup, accessories, and themed bundles. Their kawaii characters and designs are also all created by real artists with no generative AI involved. If you’re in the mood to try your gacha luck, they also have mystery boxes containing four randomly chosen full-sized items from their collection.
All of Yinnabelle’s (US) products are proudly vegan, cruelty-free, and inspired by anime tropes and aesthetics like gamer girls, cute animals, and even villains. Aside from your usual makeup essentials, they also offer faux eyelashes and makeup tools to help channel your inner mahou shoujo. Case in point, their fluffy silk Serena faux eyelash set is reusable and perfect to switch to whenever you’re feeling extra magical.
Game Beauty (US) is a well-known cruelty-free indie brand inspired by all things video game. They’ve already made several collaborations, including the limited-edition Street Fighter 6 makeup collection. You can find chromatic eyeshadows, lipsticks, blushes, and highlighters inspired and named after SF6 characters. The collab lineup is impressively extensive in terms of makeup product types and colors, and will have you ready to find your next match.
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