Sustainable and Ethical Beauty Brands You Need!

Even the baby steps we take towards being more sustainable make a difference. You don’t have to all-at-once cut out all your air travel for sailing through the ocean for your next business meeting. Or skip the eggs benedict for breakfast the next time you want to treat yourself. Changing something as small as your daily foundation and mascara, or your eye cream can also have a positive impact on the planet and the people who produced it.

What makes a beauty brand sustainable and ethical?

Previously, I created a list of characteristics that make a brand or a product fit in the criteria of ethical and sustainable. Those are the aspects we want to pay closer attention to the next time we are looking to fill our beauty cabinet.

The products we want have these attributes:

To review why each of these aspects is important, read my article on Sustainable Beauty and Why it Matters.

Knowing what to look for is a great start. However, with the myriad of brands and products that fill the shelfs of drugstores and online catalogues, it takes a long time to find exactly what you are looking for, keep within your budget and make sure it fits the eco-friendly criteria. This is why, I have created a list of sustainable and ethical beauty brands that will give you the wow effect you are looking for, while not harming the environment and caring for the people who create the products.

Sustainable and ethical beauty brands you should know about

There are numerous brands on the market that offer products that are sustainable and produced ethically. Using the criteria I mentioned earlier, I got the chance to narrow down the ones that fit all or most of the characteristics and help you discover this new realm of beauty products.

Sustainable and ethical beauty products come at a higher price compared to what you’ll find in the drugstore. This is why I have split the brands based on their price ranges in order to help you find the ones that fit within your budget easier.

More affordable sustainable and ethic beauty brands:

Barefaced Beauty has a wide range of products, all of which are vegan and cruelty-free, created with 100% naturally derived ingredients. The brand proudly announces that the products are free from chemicals, parabens, ethanol, alcohol, and perfume, as well as being gentle and beneficial to problematic or sensitive skin. A mineral foundation will run you about $20, a mascara or a lipstick are $18.  

The more limited line of products by the beauty brand P/Y/T, offers similar pricing and contains no toxic ingredients, as well as being cruelty-free and hypoallergenic. They are in process of rolling-out eco-conscious packaging made with post-consumer recycled and recyclable materials.

W3ll People is another more affordable beauty brand that produces natural cosmetics that will nourish and soothe the skin while having good color payoff and coverage. It is ideal for a no-makeup makeup look and the brand is most known for its multi-use products suited for eyes, lips, and cheeks.

Mid-range susitainable and ethical beauty

Taking a step up from the most affordable brands, there are a few brands that provide exceptional quality to their products. A famous brand in this price range is 100% Pure. The beauty brand creates organic and natural cosmetics that are cruelty-free and come in recycled and reusable packaging. They are vegan, full of natural vitamins and antioxidants. The range of 100% Pure features not only makeup but also skincare, haircare, and nail polishes.

Another beauty brand in this price range is RMS Beauty. Their cosmetics line is produced with raw, food-grade and organic materials. The brand focuses on choosing ingredients that are beneficial for your skin, aiming to heal and nourish it. The product line features flawless, lightweight makeup as well as skincare, beauty supplements and brushes.  

Vapour Organic Beauty focuses on creating products that use natural, healthy and barely processed ingredients, that are cruelty-free and developed in a wind-powered factory. The brand is at the higher end of the price range because it does not compromise texture, comfort, long wear, and color payoff. Vapour chooses to be transparent, use pure ingredients and pay attention to health and sustainability.Other sustainable and ethical beauty brands to pay attention to and their most famous products are: Axiology (No-Evil lipsticks), Ilia Beauty (serum foundations), Kosås (cream blush & highlighter duos), Elate Beauty (lips and cheek Universal Crème), Inika Organic (Long Lash Vegan Mascara).

Sustainable and ethical cosmetics are, of course, not limited only to the makeup we put on. As we all know, it all starts with a healthy base – your skin. While some of the brands I mentioned already do have a skincare line, I have found a few more that focus solely on developing products that will nourish and benefit your skin.

Skincare Sustainable Brands

One of the pioneers in the field of sustainable skincare is Tata Harper, although her products do come with a heftier price tag. The products are non-toxic, naturally derived and cruelty-free.

On the other end, there is Nourish Organic, which is a much more inexpensive skincare brand that is cruelty-free, vegan and free from harmful ingredients. The company stands for being kind to your skin, to animals and the earth. Another inexpensive option is Alaffia, one of the most affordable, natural skincare brands.

Other sustainable skincare brands you should check out are True Botanicals (Renew Pure Radiance Oil), Osea (Ocean Cleansing Milk), Herbivore Botanicals (Superfruit Night treatment).

The first step was understanding why sustainable and ethical beauty is the better choice. Now that you also know it does not mean spending hundreds of dollars on beauty products, you may be interested in dipping your toes in this new world of cosmetics. Let me know in the comments, which brand you are curious to try or which one you already use and love.