It’s so easy to get caught up in the glitz and glam of your favorite makeup brand, but in the midst of Earth Month, it may be time to take a closer look at what we are swiping on to our brushes. Brands often leave consumers unaware of their sourcing practices, ingredients in products, and how to dispose of them once it’s empty.
This lack of transparency from brands can cause unfair treatment of workers, unsustainable sourcing practices, unfamiliar ingredients that can harm you over time, and a significant ecological impact on the planet. We know this isn’t as glamorous as picking a new mascara or buying that vibrant new eyeshadow palette everyone has been talking about, but being a conscious consumer gives you a say in the ingredients and practices you want to see from makeup brands.
Try shopping for brands that give you visibility into the ingredients and how they are sourced— which is best done locally. Go for products that are mindful of their purpose or offer multi-use to minimize over-purchasing. Look for brands that provide refills to their products or sustainable/ biodegradable packaging to eliminate excess waste.
To celebrate Earth Month and its mission to improve the health of the planet, it’s time to become more aware of our beauty regimen and start advocating for brand transparency.
If you need some direction on where to start, we’ve found ten eco-conscious brands to get you started on your green makeup journey.
1. Noyah
Noyah Cosmetics is a line of eco-friendly cruelty-free makeup with biobased ingredients. They are committed to creating better products for you and the planet.
2. Saie
Discover Saie, a mindful brand in its product production from start to finish. They produce environmentally friendly packaging, have sustainable sourcing practices, and formulate their cosmetics with clean ingredients.
3. Ilia
In a world full of unsustainable beauty brands, Ilia stands out. Offering clean and cruelty-free ingredients. They also allow US customers to mail in up to 10 empty beauty products per month from any brand to be recycled.
4. Pacifica Beauty
Pacifica Beauty is redefining how you think of beauty and makeup products. They pride themselves on producing 100% vegan, cruelty-free products. And soon will also be offering a recycling program for all your empty products.
5. Lilah B.
An uncomplicated and minimalistic approach to clean beauty is Lilah B cosmetics. They promote multi-purpose products and mindful purchasing, so there’s no need to have a cluttered makeup routine.
6. Axiology
Axiology is an ethical lipstick brand that gets straight to business. Their products are produced with organic elements and are handmade in small batches.
7. Noto Botanics
A natural multi-use cosmetic line packed with organic high-performing ingredients. They are consciously working to optimize every level of the production stage to minimize their ecological footprint by locally sourcing their ingredients and packaging. Noto Botanics also offers refills in their LA stores.
8. Well People
A plant-powered beauty brand that values transparency and authenticity—opting to disclose its organic ingredients while avoiding synthetic fillers, fragrances, and sulfates—a brand you can trust to keep you and the earth healthy.
9. Elate Cosmetics
Elate is a brand passionate about sustainable cosmetics. They are fair-trade certified, have refillable products, and donate 2% of sales to social and environmental programs. Elate hopes to be the first zero-waste cosmetic company.
10. Bésame Cosmetics
Vintage-inspired luxury makeup that is also sustainable, sign me up! Bésame Cosmetics produces beautifully recycled and refillable makeup packaging that you’ll want to reuse again and again.