Popular Clean Beauty Brands
Time To Get Started!
Now that you have a basic understanding of what clean beauty is, why it’s confusing, and all of the must-avoid ingredients, you’re probably ready to get started cleaning up your beauty routine. But where should you start? Below I’m sharing some go-to, trustworthy brands to try out!
If you’re new to clean beauty, make sure you check out these posts first…
Do You Want To Try Clean Beauty? Start Here.
The Reason Why Clean Beauty Is So Confusing
The Top 10 Ingredients to Avoid for Cleaner Beauty
Find more clean beauty posts here.
Where To Start
Most of us probably can’t afford to throw out everything and buy all new clean beauty products. So I would start with your heavy hitters. The products you use daily and wear all day, every day. Think deodorant, face moisturizer, and hand soap. I would also take a good hard look at the products that cover a lot of surface area…like body lotion, for example. The continued use of toxic products can build up and potentially be very harmful to you.
I know that convenience is key for all of you busy ladies and moms. You can now find cleaner products in stores like Target and Sephora. I explained in the clean beauty posts #1, #2, and #3 that just because something says it’s clean, doesn’t means it’s actually clean. So you should still do some research to make sure that the ingredients in those products are actually safe! The beauty industry and the ingredients they put in our products are not very closely regulated so advocating for yourself is so important.
Clean Beauty Brands
The quickest and easiest way to determine if the ingredients in your beauty products are safe? Look them up in the EWG Skin Deep Database. You can also try the Think Dirty app, although admittedly they don’t list that many products.
Here are some popular CLEAN brands to consider:
Colleen Rothschild
Drunk Elephant
Tower 28
Glow Recipe
Saie (try their beauty award-winning tinted moisturizer)
Jones Road (Bobbi Brown’s clean line)
Merit (one of Team Busbee’s favorite clean makeup brands!)
Tatcha
Westman Atelier
Josie Maran
First Aid Beauty
fresh (great lip balm!)
Kosas
Beautycounter
Juice Beauty
Yes To
Deborah Lippmann (nails)
Primally Pure
Dr. Bronner’s
RMS Beauty
Kjaer Weis
ILIA (try their serum skin tint!)
Tata Harper
Follain
W3ll People
In the picture above, I’m holding one of my favorites, the Mandelic Acid Radiance Serum by Colleen Rothschild. Her products are not listed on EWG’s database. I looked up every single ingredient and this product is clean! Phew!
Make sure you check individual products within clean beauty brands. Just because the brand is clean doesn’t mean every single product has clean ingredients.
What I’m Using Right Now
Websites like BeautyCounter.com and CredoBeauty.com mostly feature clean beauty products. This is SOOOOOOO helpful! BEWARE buying beauty products on Amazon. No one is monitoring expiration dates or shelf-life so even if you get the right product (which you don’t always get) it may be passed its prime… and no longer effective. I once ordered my favorite conditioner and half the bottle was already gone! They must have poured out a bunch to create more bottles and sell more products. So shady!
Products I’ve used for years that are clean!
I am using a mix of old and new products. Here are the products I’ve used for years:
Colleen Rothschild’s Radiant Cleansing Balm. It is free of all the bad stuff including Parabens, SLS/SLES Sulfates, Phthalates, Triclosan, Formaldehyde, PABA, Toluene, and Benzene. I use the cleansing balm on a dry face to clean off all my makeup. At night, I wash off my makeup and then alternate between Colleen’s Mandelic Acid Radiance Serum, as well as her Retinol Supreme Night Oil. I also use her Retinol Supreme Eye Cream. Her eye cream has Phenoxyethanol, but I use the tiniest amount under my eyes so I’m okay with that. During the day, I often use the No. 9 face oil since it’s so dry here in Telluride.
Newer Clean Products I’m Testing
Here are the newer ones I’m loving:
One Love Skin Savior Balm. I use this when my face feels REALLY dry. It’s wonderful and smells so citrusy and fresh. I found this gem at our local spa here in Telluride. You can also cleanse your skin with it! I love the Caudalie Moisturizing Toner. I use it after cleansing my face to remove any remaining eye makeup or makeup. It’s very gentle! I’m testing out this Ursa Major Vitamin C Serum. I was using Sunday Riley’s LUNA Night Oil for a while which was wonderful for both anti-aging (has retinol) and also soothes redness. I may go back to it but I haven’t decided yet. And, next on my testing list is Tata Harper’s Hyaluronic Gel Moisturizer.
Best Skincare Ingredients
If you’re just starting out on your clean skincare and makeup journey, it can be SO confusing. Cruelty-free ingredients and products, naturally derived ingredients, natural ingredients, plant-based ingredients… there are SO many terms used to describe different products and ingredients in the clean beauty world. Try to get passed all of that and solely focus on the ingredients you want (or don’t want) in your products. That may be different for different people and skin types. If you haven’t already checked out this post with all of the ingredients to avoid, make sure you do that first! Next, consider some of the ingredients you do want in your products. Here’s a list of a few ingredients we know are clean. We also found this list that’s helpful to reference if you need it…and don’t forget you can look up ingredients and products on EWG!
Vitamin C
Bakuchiol
Niacinamide
Coffee extract
Activated charcoal
Apple cider vinegar
Argan oil
Avocado oil
Coconut Oil
Hyaluronic acid
Jojoba oil
Squalane
Have you made any changes to your beauty routine? Do you have a holy grail clean skincare product you can share with us? Please share in the comments below!
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Thank you for stopping by!
[…] ALL of Team Busbee’s favorite clean skincare products here. Plus, if you’re looking for more clean beauty brands, you can find our list […]
Yes I use Beauty Counter products almost exclusively! I’m 65 and my skin has never looked better. I get compliments all the time I look younger than my age. In fact I was so impressed with their products I became a consultant 4 years ago.
It’s such a great clean beauty brand! Thanks for sharing, Delores! ~Team Busbee
Gorgeous pictures ERIN.
I have a QUESTION for Kaitlyn about the charcoal deodorant. After reading uP on the website, it says it does not control PERSPIRATION. So hOw do you deal with the sweat? That’s the main reason I use anti-perspirant. I wouLd liKe to switch, but that makes me Very nervous ESPECIALLY since I lIve in the south and it is Hot in the summer.
From Kaitlyn: I haven’t noticed a difference in sweat. But that might be because I was using the Kopari deodorant before this and it made me feel very wet under my arms all the time. I also live in the south and understand that concern. But I’ve never been a big sweater so it hasn’t been an issue for me. Finding a clean deodorant is so hard because everyone prefers something different. I started out with the Native deodorant and then went to Kopari. I didn’t like them as much but maybe you could start there?
Hi ERIN,
I SIGNED UP FOR YOUR NEWSLETTER JUST A FEW WEELS AGO, AND I LOVE IT. I RECENTLY STARTED TO MAKE THE CHANGE TO use CLEAN PRODUCTS. I STARTED WITH CLEANING PRODUCTS, soaps, and the easy stuff. Still working on finding a good shampoo. NOW I AM WORKING ON BEAUTy PRODUCTS. THAT IS SO MUCH HARDEr!!! I AM CURRENTLY WORKING ON FINDING THE RIGHT FOUNDATION. I HAVE TRIED ILIA, MILK AND BECCA. I DON’T LIKE ANY OF THEM. THEY EITHER SETTLE INTO TO MY LINES, OR FEELS DRYING ETC. I am 48, so my skin is changing, it is now dry, and of-cause i have some lines. Anyway, whay foundation do you use/recommend?
Thank you for all your great information.
Not yet, but we are working on makeup next! Stay tuned… Erin xo
Thank you. Excited to hear what you have learned.
THere’s a terrific app called yuka that enables you to scan cosmetic – and food – bar codes and gives a grading, explanation of all the ingredients and offers alternatives. It is sO
easy to use and has transformed my shopping experience.
Oh, can’t wait to check out that app! Thank you!! Erin xo
Yes! Love clean beauty wHat I’ve found is ThaT i Love different things from diffeRent comPanies. I love true botanicals fir skin care, ecco bella for mascara aNd eye liner, honest for eyeshadow and lip gloss, 100 pure for setting powder, eye shadow palettes (they have a Few naked palettes that compare to urban decay) bLush aNd liPstick aNd Juice beauty for concealer
Thanks, Cathy!! Erin xo