Clean Beauty Is Confusing to Navigate. These Brands Make It Simple

In the not-so-distant past, buying clean makeup was often a compromise. Options were limited, and the products that were available usually missed on performance and quality, forcing a choice between your skin’s health and mediocre makeup. But times have changed. The clean beauty revolution has amped up in recent years, innovating the industry and expanding access to high-performing, sustainable, and healthy makeup options that rival their conventional counterparts.

From foundation to eyeshadow, clean makeup has found a home with brands like Victoria Beckham Beauty and Jones Road offering a range of benefits that go far beyond looking your absolute best. With clean makeup, you’re choosing products that are gentle on your skin and kind to the planet — a beautiful combination. The best part? Many clean makeup products are industry leaders, far outperforming their traditional competitors and redefining the standards of excellence. Wondering where you can find the best clean beauty buys? Look no further than these 10 must-have products. We’ve also rounded up some eco-friendly beauty products that reduce waste in their production or packaging.

_{Prices are accurate as of November 5, 2024. Subject to change.}

What Exactly Does “Clean Beauty” Mean?

Clean beauty is a term that gets tossed around as a buzzword and advertising tactic in the industry, so it’s not always easy to identify what’s clean vs. not clean, especially when brands enlist open-ended descriptors like “natural” and “eco-friendly” without backing up these claims with credibility and credentials. Though there’s no one-size-fits-all definition, clean beauty is essentially the practice of utilizing products that are free of potentially harmful chemicals, toxins, and synthetic ingredients that can harm one’s health and/or the environment.

How a brand approaches this is crucial and telling, as some take a more stringent, honest approach with everything from the ingredients to the workforce and recyclable packaging, while others are looser in their definition of “clean,” without transparency and tangible data to back up their claims. 

This practice of greenwashing — making misleading or incorrect claims about environmental friendliness —is sadly quite common, but when you know how to spot embellished and misleading claims, you can instead support brands that prioritize clean, honest practices. Look for transparency, tangible data, and detailed information about ingredients and sourcing if you’re on the hunt for authentic clean beauty brands, and you’ll be able to spot the real deal from the imposter. With that, let’s jump into these brands that pass the test for championing clean beauty and producing some of the industry’s best products – period.

Lawless Forget the Filler Moisturizer + Primer

The right primer sets you up with a smooth canvas for easy makeup application and extended wear. Lawless Beauty enlists complexion-enhancing ingredients like a biometric hyaluronic acid complex and peptides to soothe, brighten, and improve your skin’s elasticity. Apply a thin layer of this velvety soft cream before makeup application and you’ll see just how vibrant, hydrated, and youthful your skin is throughout the day. I use this multi-purpose potion in the AM and PM and it gives me breakout-free, intensely moisturized skin that’s primed for whatever comes next — whether that’s makeup or a fresh face. 

Merit Beauty Flush Balm

Sarah Jessica Parker and Cameron Diaz join a legion of fans who trust this minimalist, clean beauty brand to bring out their natural radiance. Enlisting cruelty-free, eco-friendly components, the fairly new brand has created viral, best-selling products like The Minimalist complexion stick and Signature Lip lipstick. But if I had to pick a favorite among the small-but-mighty product lineup, it would be the multi-purpose Flush Balm. Perhaps the most used product in my makeup bag, the Flush Balm glides on with a smooth, non-greasy finish that melts into the skin, leaving me with a dreamy just-kissed look. I also use Flush Blam to add a pop of color to my lips and eyelids, making it a versatile essential for a natural, everyday makeup look that’s equally effortless and elegant.

Victoria Beckham Beauty Lid Lustre Eyeshadow

Leave it up to former Spice Girl and current fashion and beauty icon Victoria Beckham to create a brand that not only delivers coveted, appearance-enhancing products, but to also abide by clean beauty standards while doing so. The company’s products utilize sustainably sourced, clean ingredients without added fillers or yucky materials, which means the products you apply are actually good for your skin and the planet — a win-win. I’m a fan of the brand’s gel-like, long-lasting Satin Kajal eyeliner and the pimple-vanishing concealer pen, but my favorite product has to be the Lid Lustre eyeshadow. The shimmery, satin-like shadow glides on with a metallic sheen in shades of gold, silver, navy, and beige that look great on every skin tone, adding a touch of sophistication and sensuality. Posh Spice would certainly approve!   

Kosas Air Brow Volumizing Brow Gel

Kosas is leading the charge in sustainable beauty practices, proving that glamour and green values go hand-in-hand. Instead of relying on not-so-great ingredients like parabens and synthetic fragrances, Kosas enlists skin-loving, toxin-free essentials like hyaluronic acid, peptides, and natural, plant-based extracts to not only improve your appearance, but also your skin’s texture and luminosity. I came to know Kosas through their best-selling tinted mineral sunscreen, but I’ve stayed a customer because of the brand’s Air Brow volumizing brow gel. Unlike runny, smearing gels I’ve worn in the past, Air Brow goes on light, adhering to your hair without staining your skin or melting away. You won’t have to worry about sweating or wiping it off because it stays put, leaving you with sculpted, natural-looking brows. 

Ogee Complexion Perfecting Tinted Serum

These days, I’m all about embracing my natural skin texture and finding products that work with my skin, not against it. Ogee’s Complexion Perfecting Tinted Serum is one of those rare finds that marries skincare and makeup into one superb serum that not only gives me great, buildable coverage, but is also lightweight and breathable. A little goes a long way with this glow-instilling serum that utilizes clean ingredients like gooseberry fruit and brightening vitamin C concentrate to bolster your complexion, making it look radiant and revived. I’m amazed by how easily the serum – my new favorite foundation – blends into my skin, concealing imperfections without accentuating fine lines or unsightly spots in the process. 

Jones Road Tinted Powder 

Founded by renowned beauty entrepreneur Bobbi Brown, Jones Road has become a premiere clean beauty brand in swift time, embracing simple, effective, and sustainable beauty standards to produce some of the best modern cosmetic buys. The brand forgoes potentially harmful ingredients like phthalates, sulfates, and cyclic silicones and creates products, like the best-selling Miracle Balm, that honor natural, ageless beauty with skin that’s authentically gorgeous. I enlist the brand’s Tinted Powder to settle and perfect my complexion, and it’s the flawless finish to any well-rounded makeup routine. It seamlessly blends into my skin, controlling shine and adding a dose of natural-looking, balanced color without enhancing creases in the process. 

Honest Beauty Extreme Length Mascara + Lash Primer

The clean beauty industry often gets a rap for being expensive and inaccessible to those on a budget, but Honest Beauty is changing the landscape by offering affordable and effective sustainable products. The Jessica Alba-founded brand’s versatile goods are made from naturally-derived ingredients that skip phthalates and sulfates and rely on natural, organic, non-toxic components to produce best-sellers like the dual-purpose Creme Cheek + Lip Color. I’ve long been a fan of Honest Beauty’s renowned Extreme Length Clean Mascara + Lash Primer, and my lashes should tell you why: Length, fullness, and volume that lasts all day, without flaking, clumping, or smudging. I’ve discovered the holy grail of mascaras, achieving dreamy, won’t-quit lashes without the harsh chemicals or a hefty price tag because, honestly, everyone deserves access to clean and honest beauty.  

Summer Fridays Lip Butter Balm 

I rarely feel complete without a pretty paint on my pout, but I find that my lips are often left dry and flakey after a few hours of lipstick wear. I almost gave up wearing the dehydrating product altogether until I discovered Summer Fridays Lip Butter Balm. Instead of stripping my lips of key moisture, the vanilla-flavored vegan lip mask acts as a conditioner, instilling my lips with a surge of hydration and long-lasting shine. I was worried that the subtle-hued balm would dissipate and disappear in a flash, but on the contrary, the seed butter-formulated balm has impressive staying power, lasting for hours without fading or feathering. The color selection ranges from clear to sheer reds that pair well with any outfit or occasion. My personal favorite is sheer beige, which adds a touch of warmth and whimsy to any look. 

Haus Labs Bio-Radiant Gel-Powder Highlighter

Get ready to glow with Haus Labs’ best-selling highlighter  — a game changer from Lady Gaga’s clean beauty brand. The vibrant pressed powder utilizes antioxidant-rich fermented arnica oil and silver vine extract to smooth out skin and brighten your complexion  — leaving you with earth angel skin that adds oomph to your everyday look. I’ve used my fair share of highlighters in the past that go on promising but disappear from view, but Haus Labs Bio-Radiant Gel-Powder Highlighter melts into the skin and stays on until you wash it off. I like to layer the highlighter across my cheeks and on my eyelids to add a pop of color, but even if you’re aiming for a no-makeup look, the highlighter adds a subtle sheen that promotes your natural features. The non-irritating, weightless highlighter comes in shades of pink, gold, bronze, and beyond. 

ILIA Skin Rewind Complexion Stick 

If you’re an SPF fiend, chances are you’re familiar with ILIA’s Super Serum Skin Tint SPF 40. The foundation-like product packs a punch of UVA/UVB protection married with a skin-matching base, and while that’s how I discovered ILIA, it’s not the reason I’ve stayed a customer. Non-pore-clogging, gentle ingredients like plant-based squalane have remarkably improved my complexion, making it easy to love the skin I’m in. My favorite ILIA product has to be the new Skin Rewind Complexion Stick, which unlike the tinted serum’s light-coverage finish, glides on and stays on, giving your skin a medium-coverage, matte-like finish that blurs imperfections and looks oh so au naturel. The coverage stick, which doubles as a concealer and foundation, comes in wide-ranging hues, and unlike other options, won’t enhance fine lines and wrinkles.

Feature Image Credit: Andrej Lišakov/ Unsplash+