I came to cruelty-free beauty the slow way. It was not a sudden ethical awakening or a viral documentary that shifted things. It was more gradual than that. Reading ingredient lists out of curiosity. Learning what carmine actually is. Noticing that some of my favourite Indian beauty brands had been quietly doing things right for years without making a big noise about it. Now I buy makeup the same way I approach most things: slowly, intentionally, with some research done first. And blush, which I wear almost every day because it is the one product that makes me look like I have slept properly even when I have not, is…