All products are independently selected by our editors. If you buy something, we may earn an affiliate commission.
By Angela Trakoshis and Annie Blackman Volcanic Rock For Garden
We spend a lot of time thinking about what we put in our bodies, but what about what we put on our bodies? The best clean makeup brands are committed to ensuring you're taking care of yourself from the outside in. We're so pleased that beauty and skin-care industries have made strides in improving the quality of plant-based and cruelty-free makeup that applies (and wears) just as beautifully as the stuff your mom swore by in her 20s. And hey — you may already be using some of them without realizing they're labeled as clean or natural beauty. Ahead, shop 14 clean makeup brands that have received high marks from Allure editors.
Merit, a thoughtfully curated brand of dew-enhancing products, follows the European Union's cosmetics regulation standards and avoids over 1,300 ingredients in its formulas. However, it treats your face with beloved skin-care ingredients like hydrating squalane and moisturizing vitamin B5 and looks beautiful all the while.
Shop our favorites from the brand:
You own blush, but do you own flush? The Merit Flush Balm is a must-add to your repertoire for its creamy sheer, clean formula and super easy application. We love how it adds the perfect rosiness without overwhelming your natural complexion. The 2021 Best of Beauty Awards agree.
While you're at it, add the Merit Clean Lash Lengthening Tubing Mascara to your list. The tubing formula separates lashes without clumping, and the fatty acids and olive oil esters are working hard to condition and nourish all the while.
Ilia Beauty is focused on creating clean, pure products with organic bioactive botanicals that nourish skin as they wear. From lipstick to eye shadow to base makeup, Ilia's products give you a luxurious feel, look, and wear while relying on some of the cleanest ingredients around.
Shop our favorites from the brand:
The Limitless Lash Mascara — a great pick for sensitive eyes — is flake-resistant and lightweight, so you can maintain that lift all day long. The dual-sided brush works double time to curl and lengthen, and when it's time to wash it all away, this mascara doesn't put up a fight. Just wipe it away with warm water.
We also love the Super Serum Skin Tint SPF 40, which features nourishing ingredients like antioxidant-rich niacinamide and plumping hyaluronic acid. It's racked up a ton of accolades, including a 2020 Best of Beauty Award for its hydrating formula that imparts a dewy finish. This also minimizes the look of dryness, redness, and fine lines over time. No gluten, silicone, or fragrance necessary.
If this is the first time you're hearing about Jones Road, turn your ears all the way up because it's not one to miss. Founded by legendary makeup artist Bobbi Brown (you know her namesake brand from which she stepped down in 2016), Jones Road is all about bringing minimalism and quality to the clean beauty scene.
Shop our favorites from the brand:
We awarded the Jones Road Miracle Balm a 2022 Best of Beauty Award for its comfortable, soft, sheen-y wear. We adore this product because you can use your fingers to apply the cream (available in nine shades) pretty much anywhere you want a dewy boost. The hydrating power of jojoba oil plays an important part, too.
Somewhere between a tinted moisturizer and a classic foundation, Jones Road What The Foundation gets us going. It imparts buildable, not-too-heavy coverage and stays creamy all the while. The formula's sodium hyaluronate keeps the skin moisturized and protected. You can put it on with a clean finger or a brush.
The Summer Fridays founders started the brand because they felt their high-quality, clean beauty choices were limited. They seek to make simple, effective products and don't sacrifice sustainable, ethically sourced ingredients to do so. Their skin-care line has won multiple Best of Beauty Awards and made a major splash in the press since its launch in 2018.
Shop our favorites from the brand:
In 2023, Summer Fridays stole our hearts with its Lip Butter Balms. These silky, tinted balms blanket dry lips in a nourishing coat of shea and murumuru seed butter to soothe and condition, as well as vegan waxes that soften lips and boost shine. For a pop of color, give Poppy (coral), Pink Sugar (pink), or Cherry (red) a whirl — and thank us later.
Our editors are also huge fans of the Sheer Skin Tint. This lightweight base works well for all skin types (especially sensitive skin), thanks to tiger grass, glycerin, hyaluronic acid, and a blend of emollients — squalane, vitamin E, safflower, and avocado oil.
Haus Labs came back in a big way in 2022 when founder Lady Gaga re-debuted her line at Sephora with 90 items across seven categories. "I wanted this makeup to be unlike any other makeup that's out there and makeup for everyone," she told Allure. "So this is supercharged makeup with supercharged ingredients — it's infused with skin care."
Shop our favorites from the brand:
One of the supercharged ingredients from Gaga's team is fermented arnica oil, which allows for better absorption than ordinary arnica oil. You'll find it in everything from Haus Labs's bronzers and highlighters to the TikTok-viral Triclone Skin Tech Foundation, which our editors loved for its buildable, adaptable, and dewy-not-greasy formula. (No wonder it won a 2023 Best of Beauty Award.)
Another Haus Labs fave is the sheer, tinted, never-sticky PhD Hybrid Lip Oil, which is infused with vegan collagen and prickly pear oil to deliver pucker-worthy hydration. It comes in four colors and a clear hue and can be used as a primer or a glossy topper over your favorite lippie.
Tower 28's ultra-gentle cosmetics and skin-care products were inspired by brand founder Amy Liu's journey navigating the makeup market with eczema-prone, sensitive skin. Since its 2019 launch, the brand has followed the National Eczema Association's Ingredient Guidelines for formulating every product that hits its virtual shelves. Two of Tower 28's best-sellers — the Save. Our. Skin (S.O.S.) Daily Rescue Facial Spray and SunnyDays Tinted Sunscreen SPF 30 (an editor-beloved multitasker) — have received an NEA Seal of Acceptance.
Shop our favorites from the brand:
Need another rec? Start off with the Bronzino Cream Bronzer, which imbues instant warmth and dimension, low-key doubling as a highlighter. If you really want to seal the deal, tap a bit of the stuff on your lips for a little bronzey wash of color.
This lightweight, buildable mascara stays on all day without being a pain to take off (AKA minimal eye irritation). The formula also uses technology typically found in hair care to protect lashes from humidity.
Here's the honest truth — we love Honest Beauty because it's a line of high-quality makeup and skin-care products that contain good-for-you (and the environment) ingredients. Founder Jessica Alba created The Honest Company back in 2015 but rebranded it in 2018 with minimal packaging and a simplified product lineup.
Shop our favorites from the brand:
Honest Beauty's Extreme Length Mascara + Lash Primer is a 2021 Best of Beauty winner that goes on smooth to amp and extend lashes all day long. It's made with jojoba esters and skips all of the junk like parabens, paraffin, and silicones. Oh, and it also has over 18,000 positive reviews on Amazon.
If you're all set in the eye department, check out the Honest Beauty Liquid Lipstick. This vegan, matte lippie is infused with avocado oil and hyaluronic acid to add hydration to the super velvety formula. It comes in four colors and lasts up to six hours, at which point, reapply.
Makeup artist Gucci Westman created Westman Atelier with the vision of a luxurious yet clean collection. Some of the skin-nourishing ingredients featured in the products are jojoba oil and coconut oil to ensure skin stays moisturized with any makeup application.
Shop our favorites from the brand:
The Westman Atelier Vital Skin Foundation Stick won a 2022 Best of Beauty Award for its skin-nourishing ingredients like the moisturizing squalane and the soothing phytosphingosine — a lipid found naturally in the skin. The brand suggests skipping primers and prepping your skin with a moisturizer before going in with this medium-coverage, buildable foundation.
Cozy up rosiness with the Westman Atelier Baby Cheeks Blush, which comes in seven shades, so you're bound to find something that makes you swoon. The formula incorporates ingredients like jojoba oil, ayurvedic oil, and berryflux vita extract to moisturize your cheeks. You can also swipe the stick across your lips for a color-coordinated situation.
Each Kosas product is made with active botanicals and balanced with safe synthetics, giving you luxury formulas and beautiful pigments that flatter a multitude of skin tones (Hello, Revealer Concealer). They all look as good as they feel. Fun fact: Kosa's first shades were created during a portrait painting class.
Shop our favorites from the brand:
Among our faves is the Brow Pop Nano, which picked up a 2023 Best of Beauty Award because its ultra-fine, 1-millimeter tip draws in some of the most precise, natural-looking brow hairs we've ever drawn.
Like the good kind of cloud hanging around the sun rather than blocking it altogether, the Kosas Cloud Set Baked Setting Powder smooths, blurs, and glows on the skin. The bamboo stem extract reduces shine while the peony extract makes pores look smaller. Just dust it on with a tapered brush and touch up whenever you feel like it.
Saie, pronounced "say," is among the newer makeup brands that everyone is talking about. Founded in 2019 by Laney Crowell, this fan-favorite brand (that avoids 59 ingredients like synthetic fragrances) is gunning to be your go-to for basics — think goof-proof brow gels, lightweight tinted moisturizers, and a cushiony marshmallow-textured highlighter.
Shop our favorites from the brand:
Our current must-have? The Glow Sculpt, a hybrid blush-highlighter that leaves skin looking fresh, dewy, and glazed for hours on end — no wonder we gave it a 2023 Best of Beauty Award. It's glowy, but not glittery, compact but not chalky, and goes with everything.
There's no time like primer time. This product can be worn beneath makeup to prep for a long day of serving face, or by itself as a luminizer. It contains SPF for UV protection and skin-forward ingredients like glycerin, squalene, and rosehip seed oil.
Founded by Tisha Thompson in 2019, this independent and clean beauty brand was the first Black-owned company to launch under Sephora's Clean Color Cosmetics program. The line contains editor-loved complexion products with wide shade ranges and each formula is made with plant-based ingredients that are free of gluten, talc, SLS, fragrance, and mineral oil.
Shop our favorites from the brand:
LYS Beauty — which stands for "love yourself," by the way — has a lineup of clean makeup products that are as pigmented and high-performing as they are non-toxic. The Speak Love Lip Liner Pencil scored a Best of Beauty Award, thanks to its creamy, long-lasting formula, featuring castor oil, hyaluronic acid, and candelilla.
We'd be remiss not to mention the brand's Higher Standard Satin Matte Cream Blush which looks good on literally everyone, no matter the shade, and no matter your skin concerns. It's never greasy, and always creamy.
Driven by the knowledge that your skin is an organ that absorbs a high percentage of what you put on it, Well People (previously spelled "W3LL People") strives to create products that look and perform as beautifully as they feel. The expansive collection of complexion and color products has something for everyone, no matter what foundation formula you prefer. Many of the color products are cream-based to melt onto the skin for a natural look that leaves you looking healthy, flushed, and beaming.
Shop our favorites from the brand:
Looking for a clean mascara? Well, people, it just so happens that Well People's Expressionist Mascara is an Allure Best of Beauty winner for that exact reason. Big ups to the 100% vegan formula, non-flaking wear, and plant-based ingredients like cellulose plant fiber, sunflower seed oil, and vitamin E.
Don't skip the brand's bronzer, which has a kinda-matte-kinda-satiny finish suitable for any face. You can layer this dewy formula over powdered bronzer for an extra moisturized-looking touch. Grab it in one of three shades, and pick up a Kabuki Complexion Brush while you're at it.
Since its inception in 2014, Milk Makeup has been a major player in the vegan and cruelty-free beauty world. With innovative products that are just as pretty and fun as they are effective, it's easy to see why so many people adore the brand.
Shop our favorites from the brand:
There are a ton of standout products from Milk, but we love the Sculpt Cream Contour Stick, which adds dimension to your complexion. You can apply this matte, buildable cream formula wherever you want to mimic a natural shadow; under cheekbones, around the nose, jawline, or hairline.
Before you go to town on the contouring, consider going in with the Hydro Grip Primer, whose gel formula keeps your makeup budge-free for up to 12 hours. It's grippy without the stickiness and is infused with blue agave extract, hyaluronic acid, niacinamide, and aloe water. Just blend a thin layer onto your skin, letting it rest for around a minute before applying the rest of your makeup.
The Lawless tagline is “Clean AF,” and no…not that “F” word. Here, “AF” stands for “always free” of carcinogenic, toxic, hormone- or endocrine-disrupting ingredients (among others). Lawless is working hard to ensure the products you put directly on your mouth and skin are as safe as possible.
Shop our favorites from the brand:
If you're new to the brand, you can't go wrong with the Forget The Filler Lip Plumping Line Smoothing Gloss, which makes your lips look plumper, and shinier, smoothing fine lines all the while. It's so moisturizing you can even apply it before bed as a PM treatment.
Also for your powdering pleasure is the brand's Perfecting Powder, which won a 2023 Best of Beauty Award for Best Pressed Powder. It's ultra-light, talc-free, and wears like a soft-matte. Use it for a no-makeup-makeup look, or to touch up shiny spots throughout the day. The formula includes oil-absorbing China clay and shine-reducing perlite powder.
While clean beauty is a buzzy topic and a shopping philosophy becoming increasingly popular, it isn't always clear what it means when beauty is “clean” or “natural.” Cosmetic chemist Ginger King tells Allure that though there isn't much regulation on the term "natural" in the beauty industry, a more accurate term might be "natural-based," as long as the bulk of the ingredients are naturally derived. "The true naturals have seals like COSMOS Natural or Ecocert — European organizations that allow up to five percent synthetics," King explains.
According to King, “'Clean beauty' is a much better term for the consumer as the products are non-toxic and still effective.” For King, 'non-toxic' means free from undesirable ingredients listed by the Environmental Working Group (EWG), a nonprofit organization. She adds that this is more helpful than claiming 'natural' or 'organic' as they are products that perform without compromising safety.
It's important to note, however, that the FDA does not have a definition for the term "organic" either (let alone organic beauty or organic makeup), as it is not defined by either the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act or the Fair Packaging and Labeling Act, which it uses as guidelines. "'Organic' usually means USDA-certified food grade. There are limited numbers of products you can make to be classified as organic green," King says.
Thanks to growing consumer concern and education, we're seeing an uptick in the phrase "clean beauty." Retailers like Sephora, Ulta Beauty, and Target have established seals of approval for clean beauty products and brands by implementing their formulation guidelines. Credo Beauty is known for having particularly rigorous standards, leading brands to follow its standards when formulating their clean products. The Credo Clean Standard includes a so-called Credo Beauty Dirty List that includes over 2,700 ingredients that the retailer prohibits due to safety or sustainability.
In 2019, we also created the Allure Clean Standard for navigating the clean beauty space. Any product or brand that's deemed "clean" by our editors is free of 15 ingredient classes: parabens, phthalates, sodium lauryl sulfate or sodium laureth sulfate, cyclic silicones, polyethylene or polypropylene (microbeads), aluminum salts, formaldehyde, hydroquinone, PEGs, triclosan, talc, mineral oil, petrolatum, formaldehyde, and toluene.
Another key benefit to buying clean makeup is that many of the ingredients are ethically sourced and cruelty-free. As consumers, prioritizing what we want in our makeup and our money talks has never been more critical.
An ingredient might be naturally-derived or organic, but that doesn't mean that there isn't a chance you'll have an adverse or allergic reaction. "People want natural because they assume natural ingredients are safe, which is not necessarily the case," King explains. "They also may not be as effective as synthetic materials." If you know you have sensitive skin, patch test any makeup or skin care before using it as directed.
Before reviewing any makeup, we ask questions about a number of factors: What ingredients are in it? Does the brand offer a wide shade range inclusive of consumers with all skin tones and undertones? Is it safe for readers who have sensitive skin or wear contact lenses? Is it on the affordable side or more of a splurge? Is its packaging consciously designed or needlessly wasteful?
For our review of the best clean makeup brands, we enlisted the help of multiple editors, writers, contributors, and cosmetic chemists to review the products. This ensures our testing base spans different points of view, genders, demographics, and dermatological conditions. We considered each product’s performance across four primary categories: ingredients, wear, longevity, and of course, whether it met our Allure Clean Standard. For more on what's involved in our reporting, check out our complete reviews process and methodology page.
A beauty product is a personal purchase. You might be searching for a face cream to address persistent dryness or a new nail product to add to your Sunday self-care routine; you may simply be browsing around for the latest launches to hit the hair market. No matter what you seek or your individual needs and concerns, Allure wants to ensure that you love anything we recommend in our stories. We believe that having a diverse team of writers and editors — in addition to the wide range of outside testers and industry experts we regularly call upon — is essential to reaching that goal.
After all, can we really say a skin-care product is the “best” for people over 50 if the only testers we’ve solicited opinions from folks who have yet to hit 30? Can we honestly deem a high-end diffuser worthy of your hard-earned cash if it’s never been tested on curls? We’re proud that our staff spans a wide range of ages, skin tones, hair textures, genders, and backgrounds, which means that we are able to fairly assess any beauty product that comes into the beauty closet.
More from Allure The BEAUTY EXPERT
Naturally Fresh Cat Litter © 2024 Condé Nast. All rights reserved. Allure may earn a portion of sales from products that are purchased through our site as part of our Affiliate Partnerships with retailers. The material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used, except with the prior written permission of Condé Nast. Ad Choices