19 Brands Like Make Up For Ever for Professional Makeup
Building a kit around one brand gives you one point of failure. The shade you match half your clients to gets reformulated, the setting powder goes out of stock for six weeks, and you're improvising on a job that pays by the hour. If you're buying for yourself rather than for work, the same thing happens more slowly and costs you a favourite.
One thing to get straight before we start: Make Up For Ever writes its name as three words, MAKE UP FOR EVER, though most of us type "Makeup Forever" into a search bar. Here are 19 brands worth keeping alongside it, from Berlin stage-makeup houses to online-only colour lines you can only buy direct.
Make Up For Ever is a professional colour-cosmetics brand founded in Paris in 1984 by the makeup artist Dany Sanz, priced as a premium line and owned by LVMH since 1999. It sells through Sephora as well as its own store, and that store blocks automated price checks, so we haven't quoted a figure for it here.
Quick comparison:
- Closest to the pro kit: Kryolan, Ben Nye, RCMA Makeup, Make-Up Atelier Paris, Mehron, TEMPTU
- Cheapest: Revolution Beauty, NYX Professional Makeup, Morphe, Juvia's Place
- Most premium: Pat McGrath Labs, Huda Beauty, Fenty Beauty
- Specialist picks: Anastasia Beverly Hills for brows, KVD Beauty for liner, Beauty Bakerie for lip, BPerfect for collaboration palettes, FARSÁLI for skin prep, Beauty Bay for own-label palettes
Prices below are US dollars unless marked otherwise, and they're full-size list prices rather than whatever happened to be on sale the day we checked.
| Brand | Best for | Example full-size price |
|---|---|---|
| Kryolan | Stage and screen, deep pigment | TV Paint Stick, $32.50 |
| Ben Nye | Character and SFX, via stockists | No prices on brand site |
| RCMA Makeup | Cream foundation palettes | No-Color Powder, $14 |
| Make-Up Atelier Paris | French pro line, 33 foundation shades | Long Wear Liquid Foundation, €36 |
| Mehron | Body paint and Halloween | Paradise Makeup AQ, $14.95 |
| TEMPTU | Airbrush systems | SilkSphere Airpod Foundation, $48 |
| NYX Professional Makeup | Drugstore price, artist range | Sold through retailers |
| KVD Beauty | Vegan liner and long-wear lip | Tattoo Liner, $25 |
| Revolution Beauty | The cheapest way to test a shade | Conceal & Define Concealer, £4.99 |
| Fenty Beauty | Shade range and skin finish | Diamond Bomb, $43 |
| Anastasia Beverly Hills | Brows | DIPBROW Pomade, $25 |
| Huda Beauty | Full-coverage base, bold eye | #FauxFilter Foundation, $42 |
| Juvia's Place | Pigment per dollar | I Am Magic Foundation, $22 |
| Beauty Bakerie | Transfer-resistant lip colour | Matte Lip Whip, $22 |
| Pat McGrath Labs | Editorial and runway finishes | Mothership XII palette, $128 |
| BPerfect | Big collaboration palettes | Chroma Cover Foundation, $33.95 |
| Morphe | Brushes and cheap palettes | Ready, Set, Pro 16-piece set, $95 |
| FARSÁLI | Skin prep under makeup | Rose Gold Elixir, $54 |
| Beauty Bay | Own-label 42-colour palettes | Mid-range, UK retailer |
Kryolan
Kryolan has been making theatre and film makeup in Berlin since 1945, when Arnold Langer founded it, and his grandsons run it now. The TV Paint Stick ($32.50) is the product most artists know it for, a cream foundation stick built to sit under lights without breaking down. The Velvet Vision Eye Shadow Palette runs $64.90.
Where Make Up For Ever splits its attention between pro kits and the Sephora shopper, Kryolan points almost everything at working artists. Its PRO CARD knocks 20% off for professionals, but you don't need one to buy. Some individual products carry a vegan badge on their page, though Kryolan names no certifying body and makes no company-wide cruelty-free claim.
Ben Nye
Ben Nye is the character and special-effects house behind the Banana powder that turns up in half the setting-powder videos on the internet, founded in 1967 and still run by the Nye family. Read this part before you get attached: its own FAQ says "Ben Nye is a wholesale manufacturer. We do not sell directly to individuals or organizations." You buy through a stockist, and the site points you at a store locator.
That also means there's no price to quote. Ben Nye sets a suggested price and each retailer picks its own, so the Creme Foundation you find at one shop won't cost the same at the next. The site makes no cruelty-free or vegan claim of any kind.
RCMA Makeup
RCMA Makeup is the cream foundation brand artists buy in palettes and mix on the back of the hand. Vincent J-R Kehoe started it in 1962 and the third generation of Kehoes owns it, with no parent company involved. The No-Color Powder ($14) is capped at five per order because of demand, and the five-part Series Favorites palettes cost $30.
The appeal against Make Up For Ever is arithmetic. A palette of concentrated cream base costs less than two single foundations and covers a room full of skin tones. US orders over $50 ship free. RCMA makes no cruelty-free or vegan claim on its site, so don't assume one.
Make-Up Atelier Paris
Make-Up Atelier Paris is the other Paris professional line, created by Hélène Quillé and run from Rue de Londres in the 9th. Its Long Wear Liquid Foundation comes in 33 shades at €36 for 30ml, which is the closest direct comparison to a Make Up For Ever base you'll find at a similar price.
It ships to more than sixty countries, and UK buyers have a separate site at makeupatelierparis.co.uk. Pro accounts get 30% off and are optional. The brand puts "Cruelty Free | Vegan" badges on its own product pages without naming a certifier, so treat that as the company's own statement rather than a Leaping Bunny or PETA certification.
Shop Make-Up Atelier Paris Now
Mehron
Mehron has been in New York since Mehron Melik started it in 1927, and the Melik family still owns it. Paradise Makeup AQ in the 1.4oz pro size costs $14.95, which is the water-activated cake paint you'll see on body painters and cosplayers at every convention. Orders over $60 ship free.
On animal testing, Mehron's own page states that "All Mehron products are cruelty free and never tested on animals" and, separately, that "Many Mehron products are vegan". Read that second sentence carefully, because it means some products aren't. No certifying organisation is named on the page, so the claim is Mehron's own.
TEMPTU
TEMPTU sells airbrush systems rather than anything you apply with a sponge, which makes it the one brand here that changes how you work rather than what you own. The Air Pro Essential Kit is $219 and includes the compressor. Individual SilkSphere Airpod foundation pods are $48 each, or $150 for six.
Airbrush earns its keep on bridal and broadcast work where a base has to survive eight hours and a close-up. The trade-off is that you're buying into a pod system, so the running cost matters as much as the kit price. TEMPTU sells direct to anyone, no pro credential required, and runs a separate trade site for artists. Its Clean Beauty Commitment page says its products aren't tested on animals and marks the range vegan with an asterisk, since two shades contain carmine. No certifying body is named.
NYX Professional Makeup
NYX Professional Makeup is the drugstore line that borrowed the artist vocabulary, with liners, primers, setting sprays and brushes in a range wide enough to build a starter kit from. Its own site blocks automated checks, so we can't publish a verified price here, and in practice most people buy it through Ulta, Target and Boots anyway.
Against Make Up For Ever it's the experiment budget. A shade you'd hesitate to buy at $40 is easy to try at drugstore money, and if it doesn't suit you, you've lost little. L'Oréal has owned NYX since 2014, and PETA lists it as approved under Beauty Without Bunnies, so that certification sits with PETA. We've gone deeper on the range in our guide to brands like NYX.
Shop NYX Professional Makeup Now
KVD Beauty
KVD Beauty built its reputation on two products that stay put: the Tattoo Liner ($25) and the Everlasting Hyperlight Transfer-Proof Liquid Lipstick ($23). The Good Apple Full-Coverage Serum Foundation lists at $42 and the Shade + Light Face Contour Palette at $52.50.
The catalogue is smaller than it once was, at 31 products when we checked, so KVD is worth visiting for the liner and the lip rather than as a place to build a whole kit. Windsong Global bought KVD from LVMH's Kendo Brands, so anyone still calling it an LVMH brand is working from old notes. KVD writes that "our makeup is and always will be 100% vegan and cruelty-free" without naming a certifying body, which makes that the company's own statement rather than a Leaping Bunny or PETA certification.
Revolution Beauty
Revolution Beauty is the company behind Makeup Revolution, and that distinction matters because you shop the parent site. Revolution Beauty Group plc is listed on London's AIM market and also owns I Heart Revolution and Revolution Skincare. The Conceal & Define Full Coverage Concealer is £4.99, the Maxi Reloaded Eyeshadow Palette £14.99, the Superfix Blur Longwear Foundation £9.99.
Its own page title reads "Revolution Beauty | Cruelty-Free Makeup, Skincare & Hair", and that certification sits with Revolution Beauty through PETA's Beauty Without Bunnies programme. The company has said its range is around three-quarters vegan, which is a different claim, so check the individual product. Our Makeup Revolution comparison covers the sibling brands.
Fenty Beauty
Fenty Beauty arrived in 2017 with 40 foundation shades and forced the rest of the market to explain itself. The Diamond Bomb All-Over Diamond Veil is $43, the Smoke 'N Diamonds Eye Trio $48, the Gloss Bomb Stix $27 and the Sun Stalk'r bronzer $38.
Fenty shares Make Up For Ever's preference for skin that reads as skin on camera rather than as a mask. The shopping experience is the difference, because Fenty sells hard on a small number of hero products instead of a deep professional catalogue. It sits inside Kendo Brands, an LVMH division, which puts it under the same corporate roof as the anchor brand. Fenty makes no cruelty-free or vegan claim on its own site, so don't assume one. We compare the range in brands like Fenty Beauty.
Anastasia Beverly Hills
Anastasia Beverly Hills is a brow brand that grew into a colour brand, and brows are still what it does better than anyone on this list. DIPBROW Pomade costs $25 for 4g. Anastasia Soare still controls the company, with TPG Capital holding a minority stake since 2018.
Watch the sizes on the site. Plenty of the cheapest listings are minis at $18, so filter for the full size before you compare a price against anything else here. One practical warning: search results for this brand are thick with clone shops copying the real site's page title. Type the address rather than following a search link.
Shop Anastasia Beverly Hills Now
Huda Beauty
Huda Beauty came out of Huda Kattan's makeup-artist career and still writes its products for a heavier hand than most of the market. The #FauxFilter Luminous Matte Foundation is $42, the matching Concealer $31, the Blush Filter Blurring Blushlighters Palette $43 and the Liquid Matte Mousse $25.
This is where the mini trap bites hardest. The #FauxFilter mini sits on the same shelf at $16, and quoting that as the price of the foundation understates it by $26. The full catalogue runs to 172 products with almost everything in stock, so it's one of the deeper ranges here. Huda Kattan bought back her investor's minority stake in 2025 and owns the company again. Product imagery carries a "Vegan Friendly" badge with no certifier behind it, and the range isn't fully vegan. More options in brands like Huda Beauty.
Juvia's Place
Juvia's Place sells more pigment per dollar than anything else on this page. Chichi Eburu launched it in 2016 and still owns it outright. I Am Magic Velvety Matte Foundation is $22, the Blushed and Bronzed Blurring pro palette $25 and the Culture Duochrome Pencil Liner $15.
The palettes take their names and colour stories from African histories, and the mattes are built to show up on deep skin without three layers. If you've ever swatched a nude palette that vanished on you, this is the corrective. Note that Juvia's Place makes no cruelty-free certification claim on its own site, whatever third-party lists say. We cover similar pigment-first brands in our Juvia's Place guide.
Beauty Bakerie
Beauty Bakerie wraps long-wear lip colour in dessert packaging, and the packaging is the least interesting thing about it. The Matte Lip Whip is $22, the Oat translucent Loose Flour Setting Powder $26 and the Gimme Lip Duos $34. The catalogue is 96 products with almost every variant in stock, which for an indie brand this size is a healthy sign.
Cashmere Nicole founded it, and West Lane Capital Partners bought the company in July 2024, so the founder no longer owns it. The Lip Whips are the reason to visit, formulated to resist transfer the way Make Up For Ever's long-wear range is, at half the price of a luxury equivalent. The site badges its products "Cruelty-Free" and "Vegan-Friendly" without naming a certifier.
Pat McGrath Labs
Pat McGrath Labs is the most expensive brand on this list and the closest to the runway. Mothership XII: Petalmorphosis is $128 and the Gilded Nirvana Mega Eye Shadow Palette $72. Several Mothership palettes show as coming soon or unavailable, so check stock before you set your heart on a number.
Ownership changed in 2026. GDA Luma holds the controlling stake and Pat McGrath continues as chief creative officer, so describing this as her own company is out of date. The site makes no cruelty-free or vegan certification claim of its own, and it ships worldwide.
BPerfect
BPerfect is the Northern Irish brand that turned collaboration palettes into its main event. Brendan McDowell started it in Belfast in 2012 and still owns it. On the US site the Chroma Cover Luminous Foundation is $33.95 and The Cheek liquid blush $27.95, with free US shipping over $130. The Stacey Marie Carnival XL Pro Remastered runs £41.95 on the UK site.
Get the address right. The real site is bperfectcosmetics.com, while bperfect.com belongs to an unrelated Swiss business serving a holding page behind a self-signed certificate. The US catalogue is a subset of the UK one, at around 52 products, so a palette you saw on the UK site may not be there. BPerfect's own About page says its makeup products are "certified by Beauty without Bunnies", which is PETA's programme, with PETA holding the certification.
Morphe
Morphe is the brush brand first and the palette brand second. The Ready, Set, Pro 16-Piece Face & Eye Brush Set lists at $95, the ChromaPlus 6-Pan Eyeshadow Palette at $16 and the Continuous Setting Mist at $18.
One thing to hold onto: more than half the catalogue was marked down when we looked, so the number on the tile often isn't the list price. If you're comparing Morphe against a full-price brand, compare list to list. A 16-piece brush set at $95 is still the cheapest route to a full artist's brush roll on this page. Morphe's help centre states "Morphe is Leaping Bunny Certified and cruelty-free", which puts the certification with Leaping Bunny, run by Cruelty Free International. Its parent is Forma Brands, owned by its lenders since a 2023 restructuring, and the US shops closed while the website kept trading. More options in brands like Morphe.
FARSÁLI
FARSÁLI sits before the makeup rather than in it, selling primer serums and essences that change how a base sits. Rose Gold Elixir and Unicorn Essence are $54 each, The Reset Renewal Fluid Cream $39 and The Lip Reset $17. Sal Ali and Farah founded it and still own it outright.
Set your expectations on the size of the operation. Of 25 listings on the site, five are buyable, with the rest showing as unavailable or coming soon. The brand describes its ingredients as "cruelty-free" on its own pages without naming a certifier, which makes that the company's statement rather than a certification held by anyone.
Beauty Bay
Beauty Bay is a Manchester online retailer whose own-label line, By BEAUTY BAY, sits alongside the indie brands it stocks. That makes it the odd one out here. The 42-colour palettes are what people buy it for, and the makeup line runs past a hundred products on its own.
Two caveats. You're buying from a shop rather than a brand, so the range shifts with whatever it decides to carry, and it's a UK storefront pricing in pounds, so check delivery to your country before you fill a basket. By BEAUTY BAY product pages carry plain "Vegan" and "Cruelty-free" badges with no certifying body named. As a way to try several small brands in one order, nothing else on this list does the same job.
Picking Your Next Kit Staple
Start from the gap rather than the brand. If the gap is a base that survives a wedding day, look at TEMPTU or RCMA Makeup before anything else. If it's colour that shows up on deep skin, Juvia's Place and Pat McGrath Labs answer the same question about $100 apart, at $25 and $128 for a palette.
Two of these you can't shop the usual way, and that's worth knowing before you click. Ben Nye sells only through stockists, and Beauty Bay is a UK retailer rather than a brand. Everything else takes your order direct.
On the cruelty-free question, be careful whose word you're taking. Morphe cites Leaping Bunny, BPerfect and NYX Professional Makeup are covered by PETA's Beauty Without Bunnies, and Revolution Beauty holds a PETA certification too. The badges on KVD Beauty, Huda Beauty, Beauty Bakerie, TEMPTU, Make-Up Atelier Paris, Mehron, FARSÁLI and By BEAUTY BAY are the companies' own statements with no certifier behind them, which isn't the same thing.
If you want to keep going, our article library has the same treatment for the rest of the beauty aisle.
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Written by
Spencer Lanoue
