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Meet the co-founders of the 100% Cruelty Free, Vegan and Gluten Free makeup line, Belladonna’s Cupboard, and founders of the #selfexpressionrevolution.

I’d like to introduce you all to the beautiful creative souls that run Belladonna’s Cupboard makeup. Beth Amphetamine & Rachel Boese travel the country for their makeup line, subscription box & magazine. They do makeup for small films, in haunted houses and go on tour with bands. They have a totally cool life, and their goal is to promote self-expression, inclusivity and the pursuit of dreams in whatever they do.

It wasn’t always this way — they truly started from the bottom and are still working their way up, with a work ethic and ambition unfettered by society’s expectations and doubts.

It took them years of hard work in those haunted houses, on horror films, and traveling with musicians and burlesque performers. This was how they developed and improved their products, but it was worth it for the customers! All the wonderful makeup offered at Belladonna’s Cupboard is 100% Cruelty Free, Gluten Free, Vegan and Paraben Free. It is all designed for special effects makeup artists and performers, to be long wearing for stage and film use, yet gentle and easy to wash off.

Let’s hear from Beth and Rachel themselves:

“Less than 4% of individuals born below the poverty line ever make it out, we have. Despite years of setbacks, homelessness and trauma, we have. This is part of why we are committed to give back with this product line, and all our other endeavors, to help as many people as we can. After we went viral earlier in 2018, we’ve had some growing pains, but the best is yet to come, and we can’t wait to share all of that with you.”

“We initially started these lifestyle companies because we noticed a gap in accessibility to affordable and quality alternative makeup and clothing. It all started with our makeup line, Belladonna’s Cupboard.”

“We believe in #selfexpressionrevolution, the apparently radical notion that everyone should be respected and allowed to express themselves regardless of their race, age, sexual orientation, gender or gender identity, disability or style choices. This includes tattoo and piercing acceptance and inclusivity in the workplace. We are tired of being told how we ‘should’ look, of having the beauty industry dissect their body parts, sizes and features. It is time to embrace and encourage the message that all people are beautiful.”

The hashtag #SelfExpressionRevolution began on March 6th, 2014. Belladonna’s Cupboard installed a living art/social awareness piece at the Express Gallery in the crossroads neighborhood of Kansas City. They had four models, one each to represent four different problems that modern media and societal perceptions have brought to light: Skinny shaming, fat shaming, slut shaming and discriminations against alternative fashions, as well as the effects that sufferers of those prejudices can face in the workplace.

Each held up a sign explaining why such judgements were unfair, and each had effects makeup done to them, representing their own personal experiences with the topic. The artists carved (with makeup) insults that each of them had heard about themselves into their skin. The models said that it was very therapeutic for them, and almost immediately the greater social experiment made itself known.

A woman came in off the street to scold the management over one of the models (ironically, the “slut shaming model”) for not wearing enough clothing. A gentleman walked in to compliment the “skinny shaming model”, walking right past the “fat shaming model” who was doing the exact same thing without noticing her.

Very quickly, they found people responding with exactly the behaviors they were trying to protest, underlining the issues themselves. Even so, many more people thanked both the models and artists for making them think, pause or even just giving a voice to their own negative experiences.

Self-Expression & Body Autonomy shouldn’t be revolutionary concepts, but they clearly still are. Everyone, regardless of race, gender or gender identity, sexual orientation, age, size, disability or style deserves respect. Colored hair and tattoos do not impede one’s ability to do a job. That was the initial movement and hash tag.

Rachel and Beth have now created so much more than that under the umbrella that is the Self-Expression Revolution.

They are building a company whose sole purpose is to encourage self-expression and bring together alternative indie brands that are socially conscious and inclusive, to further small businesses that share those values, and bring education and events surrounding those topics to as many people as possible.

In addition to makeup though Belladonna’s Cupboard, they sell Self Expression Boxes (the only size inclusive, fully  customizable alternative clothing subscription box) and Crazy Kids Boxes (its counterpart for kids) sold exclusively at: selfexpressionrevolution.com.

I have personally used their makeup, and it’s so rich, beautiful and highly pigmented. The have gorgeous palettes with names like Unicorn, Circus, Endless Nights Vampire, Cthulhu and so many others. Many have matching brush sets that you must see to believe. They are almost too beautiful to use — they are such works of art!

Please go to their website to see what you can’t live without. Hint: Everything there makes great Xmas and birthday gifts, or just a gift to yourself!

Another thing they do that I absolutely adore is the FREE Bad B!tch Makeup Academy! They have classes for SFX and Basic to Advanced. Having a chance to learn how to do some of their beautiful designs is so cool, and the free part makes it even better!

They also utilize their very own magazine, Crazy Bitch Magazine, as an outlet and a voice for underrepresented individuals and ideas. It’s a FREE QUARTERLY ONLINE MAGAZINE and is available in print on demand. They get called crazy because of their ambition and get called bitches because of their passion. That’s okay, they embrace the name because they wholly believe in empowerment through self-expression.

From Beth and Rachel in closing: “Each and every one of you reading this page right now, means the absolute world to us. We love you.”

Join the Revolution!
#selfexpressionrevolution
– Rachel & Beth xoxo

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