Recently, I connected with the founder of Elate Beauty, Melodie Reynolds through Instagram.

We'd had Elate Beauty on our wish list of brands we'd love to collab with and then boom- her DM appeared! 

After connecting on a call together, we knew we needed to collaborate on something as our brands are so aligned in our values and who we help with the products we create.

Elate Beauty is a Canadian-made, vegan, cruelty-free cosmetics brand based on the west coast of Canada.

Founder Melodie wanted to create less waste in the industry while producing beautiful products that are safe and kind to our skin, while providing long lasting wear and coverage. 

Elate Beauty was kind enough to gift me some products as part of our collaboration together, and I - who rarely wears makeup on my mid 40s skin, put together this fun get ready with me video where I tested a ton of their products. 

Watch the Get Ready with Me x Elate Beauty here:

After filming this video, and spending hours editing it - Instagram decided to speed up my voice to Alvin and the Chipmunks style, so I apologize for that one clip!

It was actually a ton of fun to film. As I mentioned, I don't wear a ton of makeup as I don't like to 'look' like I'm wearing makeup, however I do want to look more put together on the daily, and makeup does play a role in that for me.

Here are my top 5 favourite Elate Beauty products that I tried:

1. The Serum Concealer

I've used concealer in the past, but actually have preferred for a while to use a colour corrector from Stila, and then some foundation because I find in my midlife phase that many concealers are just WAY too drying. So, they enhance the fine lines under my eyes and then flake later in the day. Not this one! The Serum Concealer has hyaluronic acid in it, which must be part of the reason it's so moisturizing. Seriously NO dryness and amazing coverage. 

Shade: SN1.5 | Light Neutral

*Full disclosure I had to ask AI what shade to get since I'm clueless with makeup/colours and it was BANG on.

2.  The Essential Mascara

I've got extremely sensitive skin, especially as I've hit 40. Everything irritates me and my eyes have gotten dryer... is that a midlife thing? Anyway, I LOVE this mascara. Firstly, the packaging is clean. It's in a glass container with a bamboo wood top - love that. It's also refillable which is really cool and sustainable. The product itself goes on smooth, and doesn't over cake my eye lashes. The brush is small which I love. After a day of wearing, it didn't flake either which might be from the Jojoba Oil or Organic White tea in the formula.

Shade: Brown

3. The Good Gloss

If you were alive in the late 90s, you're probably still traumatized from MAC Cosmetics lip glass. Gosh darn, that was SO sticky. Why did we put that on our lips?! Anyway, I'm not a lipstick girlie. In fact, I own zero lipsticks, but I love the idea of a gloss as it's moisturizing but adds a pinch of colour. It's SOOOOO moisturizing. Again, I'm guessing it's the hyaluronic acid, but there's also Rosehip and Meadowform seed oil. Lovely.

Shade: Enamour, a sheer neutral pink and Clear.

*AI also helped me pick the right shade here, as I'm clueless. Though I will say Elate Beauty had a lot of pics of products on different skin tones which was helpful for colour selection.

4. The Powder Brush

This was something I added into my cart last minute.. I have a LOT of makeup brushes but they're old, and despite a regular cleaning routine, they don't feel great against my skin and some are also shedding as I use them. So, I picked this cute fluffy powder brush. It's made from Taklon, a cruelty-free, anti-bacterial and hypoallergenic alternative to fur, and sustainably-sourced bamboo. Firstly - I had NO idea makeup brushes used real fur. Ugh. But the bristles on this are insanely soft, and I love that it's kind to animals and my skin.

5. The Eyeline Pencil

I'm not one to wear eyeliner but I thought I'd give this a go! Firstly, I love a two-fer. So, this is not just an eyeliner but you can use it in your brows too. A win for packing and traveling lighter. It went on really easily (and I'm not a pro at lining) and I thought it looked really good and wore well throughout the day. It's got a lot of moisturizing ingredients like Vitamin E, and rice bran oil. The packaging - again, so thoughtfully done and rooted in sustainability. The pencil itself is California cedarwood and it's PEFC-certified which means it's from sustainably managed forests. The lid is made from corn so it can be industrially composted. A beautiful, staple product in my beauty routine.

Shade: Brown

Honourable Mention: Their Palettes

One of the coolest things about this brand is their reusable, magnetic palettes where you can custom create your favourite go-to makeup palette. They're made from water-treated Bamboo! Although I did find it a little confusing to figure out how much product to put in each one, I ended up going with the Essential Palette and putting in four eye shadows and a cream blush. There's a nice little mirror inside and it reduces the amount of packaging that the products like the eye shadows come in (they come in biodegradable paper packaging made from sugarcane!)

I can tell you as someone who runs a brand with sustainably at it's core the attention to detail that Elate Beauty has to their sustainable packaging is SO impressive. It's an incredibly huge on cost to create a brand in Canada and utilize premium, eco-friendly and naturally-derived packaging. I cannot imagine her supply chain and how complex it is. That said, it creates a unique experience for their brand and customers which makes them stand out online.

Where to Find them

They have a full online store but if you struggle with shade selection, you can find a store near you here.

You can learn more about Canadian-made beauty brand Elate Beauty here.

Give them a follow on Instagram here - I love their content on beauty, aging, mindset and building a sustainable brand.