TWO VEGAN BRANDS TO KNOW NOW
ESQA
ESQA, derived from the Celtic word “eska” meaning pure beauty, was created in 2016 by a pair of Indonesian BFFs who had studied and lived in Los Angeles when the conscious beauty mindset had just taken off. Frustrated with the lack of colour selections and clean formulations in their home country, co-founders Cindy Angelina and Kezia Toemion scouted labs that could formulate the products they wanted, creating a collection that became the first vegan beauty brand to be manufactured in Indonesia. The products are affordable, priced between $11 and $32, and suits the spectrum of Asian skin tones.
The brand is Peta-certified cruelty-free, and also classified as clean beauty as it does not contain any harsh chemicals. It’s also one of the few brands to be halal-certified (everything from the ingredients, manufacturing, packaging etc are free from animal-derived ingredients that are affirmed as unclean, according to Muslim law).
Its all-time bestseller is Matte Lip Liquid ($18, in seven shades). It glides on easily and dries to a matte finish. With sunflower seed oil, vitamin E, macadamia seed oil and shea butter, it hydrates and plumps lips while giving a long-lasting colour pay-off. Another favourite is Goddess Eyeshadow Palette ($27, in three palettes). It offers day-tonight options of nine colours in four finishes: matte, satin, shimmer and pressed pearl. Housed in a sleek rose-gold compact, it’s convenient for quick touch-ups or if you want to build on the colour as you go.
Available at Shopee, Lazmall, Krisshop, Amazon and A Kinder Beauty.