In the sometimes daunting and confusing world of cruelty free cosmetics, a refreshing oasis looms on the horizon in the form of cutECOsmetics, an online retailer who specialize in natural, organic, vegan and cruelty free beauty products.

One of the main stumbling blocks for people wanting to make the change to a cruelty free lifestyle is the vast amounts of conflicting information there is about animal testing. Unfortunately, many companies try to mislead consumers about their cruelty free status in order to gain sales, which is not only unethical but extremely frustrating and time consuming as you try to weed through the good, the bad and the down right evil (Proctor and Gamble, I’m looking at you).

cutECOcosmetics make things unbelievably easy, by stocking a fantastic variety of amazing cruelty free brands including Korres, BM Beauty, Lily Lolo and EOS and I wanted to share the site with you as a great way to dip your toe into the waters of ethical cosmetics. I love the fact that you can navigate the site by searching for products by ethics (vegan or organic, no more scouring the ingredients list to check if a product is vegan!) and they have a great section for gifts sets which is perfect for those of you who are planning for Christmas 2012 already.

Shopping for makeup online can be tricky, as ensuring that you have the right colour of foundation for your skintone isn’t easy, but cutECOsmetics have a sample service, which means you can pay a small fee for a sample of a particular foundation or bronzer. This is the perfect way to choose a shade that’s right for you and test it out at home before you buy the full size.

I absolutely love that they are a family run, independant business with a genuine concern for animals and the envirnoment. They have an active Twitter account and are always sharing interesting links and replying to tweets from customers and followers; social media is a huge tool for any business in this day and age and it’s wonderful to see it being utilised so well.

They have a huge selection of stock to cater for every beauty need, from lip glosses to mascara and moisturisers to self tanners. Free UK delivery is standard on all orders, so why not pop over and take a look at what’s on offer? You may find becoming cruelty free is easier than you think!

+Karris McCulloch