Let’s be honest, the beauty industry is a multi-billion dollar business, and clean makeup is only growing in popularity. Clean makeup has most famously been associated with celebrities such as Jessica Alba with the Honest company and Gwyneth Paltrow with her brand named Goop. We knew clean beauty was starting to influence more mainstream beauty companies, such as when Kylie Cosmetics turned over a new leaf and began to market her business as a clean beauty makeup brand. This is a beautiful thing to hear that we, as consumers, have enough power to change the direction of the beauty industry. We are now taken more seriously, and I feel like corporate companies such as Sephora and Ulta are starting to see that consumers are increasingly careful about what we put on our largest organ… our skin. Picking the best clean makeup that not only is safe on our skin but delivers in quality can be a little tricky to maneuver in this ever large pool of selections. So, what a girl to do?

Blogs Like This One

I read blogs and asked friends if they knew of any clean beauty lines. Blogs like mine recommended a few brands. Blogs are a great place to start because these bloggers are usually giving you their honest reviews. I read a blog once that led me to this website called credo.com, and that’s where it all started.

Ingredients

To know what is in a product, you have to learn to read the ingredients list. Don’t depend on marketing because brands that claim to be clean, vegan, and/or not tested on animals can be very misleading. For example, some companies say, “we don’t test on animals.” Still, another lab has already tested their makeup before, so they can technically get away with saying that they don’t test on animals. Crazy right? But we’re talking about clean beauty, so make sure you read the ingredients list and do your research on certain chemicals to avoid. For example, in Europe, they have banned 11 ingredients from ever entering their skincare or makeup that are not banned here in the U.S., why is that? These nasty ingredients are:

• Formaldehyde
• Petroleum
• Parabens
• Triclosan
• Hydroquinone
• P-Phenylenediamine
• Quaternium-15
• Talc
• Titanium
• Avobenzone
• Fragrance

Reviews Reviews Reviews

While on the website of your choosing, and after checking the list of ingredients, make sure you keep scrolling down to the reviews! For online shoppers, we depend on other people’s thoughts to get a real sense of the product. Many websites include the age and skin tone of the woman leaving a review, which can be very helpful. Disregard the negative reviews where they only complain about the item arriving broken or late; you are curious about the product itself. The logistics of how it comes to your house can be handled through customer service, but purchasing an item you end up not liking will feel like a huge hassle to return. Also, be wary of positive reviews of women who just received their product and haven’t even tried it on and worn it all day. For example, “omg, yay, I just got it today, and I love this product; it’s so pretty on my skin!”. Only time will tell if a product is durable, and of good quality.

It’s Not All About the Pricetag

Like Jessie J. Once said, “It’s not about the money money money.” Some people associate spending a lot of money on a product with it meaning it is a good product. Well, sadly, that is not true in our world. Like I said before, these companies’ ultimate goal is to make money. So it is up to us to be wise, and do our research with what products we want to spend our money on. Sometimes make-up can be very affordable and be clean, and get great reviews and guess what it is a fantastic product, and the same can happen with more expensive products too. My motto is why spend more money on makeup when I don’t have to unless you want to spend a little more cash for better packaging, which for some is worth it.

My Picks

1. Kosas- Revealer Super Creamy + Brightening Concealer and Daytime Eye Cream

2. Ilia Limitless Lash Mascara

3. Tower 8 Beach Please cream blush

I hope you all learned something new from today’s blog post. If you have any concerns or comments, please feel free to leave me a comment down below. Also, I’d love to hear from you; what are your favorite clean makeup lines? Like this post, if you did, and subscribe to my blog for more from me.

-with love, Amanda