A few weeks ago, while poking around the shelves at Sephora, I discovered Josie Maran Argan Oil. I’ve been on a quest to find vegan beauty products. I thought I was shopping cruelty-free but I was horrified to discover a few items in my stash are by companies that still test on animals. Shameful!

Hundreds of thousands of animals are poisoned, blinded and killed every year for cruel and unnecessary tests. It’s not required by law and there are better alternatives. Check for the cruelty-free bunny logo, a vegan logo, or look at PETA’s database to make sure the companies you support don’t make animals suffer in the name of beauty.

The woman at Sephora (edit: was wrong when she) explained that the entire Josie Maran line is vegan and cruelty-free, meaning no animal ingredients and no animal testing. (Update 4/7/15: I found out from a reader that the line isn’t all-vegan. When I checked on the JM site–which I should always do instead of trusting sales people–I found out that not all of the products are vegan. They use beeswax, lanolin, and carmine in some of their products. Check the label for the V to be sure).

Josie Maran sources argan oil from co-ops that help women in rural Morocco earn a decent living in good labor conditions, while working toward improved literacy. I love that and I’m willing to pay more for a product with those values.

Besides, the oil is great! It’s not greasy and it absorbs quickly. I use it on my face, the dry ends of my hair, my cuticles, and my elbows. I told my friend Karthik about it and she said she uses Josie Maran products too–specifically their tinted moisturizer. So we planned to stop by Sephora and see if I could get some too.

I was surprised to see that there are only five shades. I chose crème. Karthik wears desert. To find a product that we can both wear–with our different skin types and colors–was pretty impressive (Karthik was born in India and has wonderful, warm brown skin. My light skin is a reflection of my German and Scottish roots). We both love that it’s got SPF 30. No more greasy sunscreen on our faces! (And yes, skin cancer and wrinkles affect all skin types, so slather up!)

Karthik’s issue with sunscreens is that most leave a whitish residue on her face. The Josie Maran moisturizer doesn’t. My issue is that even the lightest tinted moisturizer looks orange on my skin and you can see where the product stops and my natural color begins.

This moisturizer is tinted just right. It blends in, it’s lightweight, and left us glowing, not greasy. I’ve even stopped wearing pressed powder. I really only ever used it to hide the shine of sunscreen. I can’t wait to try their cosmetics too. Argan oil mascara? Sign me up!

We also tried products by other cruelty-free companies (Tarte and Stila) and popped into Lush, so come on back for more of our reviews!

Note: This isn’t a sponsored post. I wasn’t compensated to review these products. I just really like them. Also, the content of this post was originally published on my other blog, Jean of all Trades.