Clean beauty, aka green beauty, is no longer a niche industry. Organic options abound from skin care to makeup to hair care and are available from retailers small and large alike. And it’s no longer the territory of crunchy granola types. Clean beauty is for people of every persuasion.
In honor of Earth Day (April 22), we’re awarding top marks to beauty products boasting minimal formulas that contain nothing harmful. For these awards, we’ve searched high and low to find the best in eco-friendly beauty. And the products can’t just be all-natural and cruelty-free. They also have to work and work well. But it doesn’t hurt if the products look good doing it!
So whether you’re looking for a new deodorant that actually smells great or a self-tanner featuring good-for-your-skin ingredients, you’ll find your next vanity staple here. Read on for the best organic and natural beauty products of the year.
2020 Clean Beauty Awards
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Best Face Wash
Apis Apotheca Golden Milk Emulsifying Cleansing Balm, $32 at Apis Apotheca
You’ll love this emulsifying cleansing balm from the experts in problem skin care. Many of the ingredients are homegrown and everything else is ethically sourced. This cleansing balm goes on dry, then emulsifies with a small amount of water. The dual step technique leaves skin feeling pampered, not tight.
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Best Toner
Indie Lee CoQ-10 Toner, $34 at Follain
This toner featuring just a handful of pronounceable ingredients gets rave reviews for keeping complexions hydrated. CoQ-10 fights the signs of aging, while hyaluronic acid increases moisture.
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Best Moisturizer
Biossance 100% Squalane Oil, $32 at Biossance
We can pretty much thank Biossance for bringing squalane oil into the beauty spotlight. Derived from sugarcane, this lightweight yet nourishing oil will moisturize you from head to toe. And it won’t upset oilier complexions.
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Best Facial Mist
Flora+Fungi Apothecary Sweet Fern Facial Mist, $15 at Etsy
Trust us — you’ll love the pleasant scent (think forest floor vibes) and the way this small-label facial mist makes your skin feel. We love to use it after cleansing our faces, but it's also an excellent pick-me-up.
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Best Face Mask
Onekind Pore-fectionist Refining Facial, $24 at Onekind
An eco-friendly facial in a squeeze tube? Yes, please. Onekind paired pink clay with a variety of good-for-skin acids, like AHA/BHA and salicylic, to both refine skin and fight acne while brightening. Plus, the tube and its cap are made of post-recycled plastic.
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Best Serum
Summer Fridays CC Me Serum, $64 at Summer Fridays
If you love the brand’s face masks, you’ll fall hard for its new serum. Complete with two forms of vitamin C, it reduces the appearance of both hyperpigmentation and dark spots while noticeably brightening your skin.
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Best Eye Cream
Tata Harper Boosted Contouring Eye Balm, $215 at Tata Harper
Banish undereye bags with this natural eye balm. Its high-performance botanicals depuff, lift and firm the delicate skin under your eyes plus minimize the look of wrinkles.
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Best Sunscreen
Suntegrity Natural Moisturizing Face Sunscreen & Primer, $45 at Credo
A sunscreen that actually works with your skin instead of against it? It does exist. This sunscreen and primer in one boasts SPF 30 and protects your face from sun damage while a moisturizing combo of oils makes your skin feel ah-mazing.
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Best Body Wash
Bathing Culture Mind and Body Wash, $20 at Bathing Culture
Biodegradable? Check. Only ingredients we can pronounce? Check. Bathing Culture's body wash smells like Northern California in a bottle. It’s also ultra concentrated so one bottle will last and last. And the bottle is made from 100 percent preexisting recycled material.
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Best Body Scrub
Herbivore Botanicals Amethyst Exfoliating Body Polish, $44 at Herbivore Botanicals
We're still in love with this body scrub because it combines crushed up amethyst with coconut oil. Plus, the scent of jasmine makes sloughing off dead skin a real treat.
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Best Body Lotion
Pipette Relaxing Body Lotion, $14 at Pipette
Plant-derived lotion that’s cute to boot? Sign us up. If it’s safe for a baby — and smells like a wonderfully intoxicating mix of citrus and geranium — then we want in.
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Best Deodorant
Corpus Nº Green Natural Deodorant, $22 at Corpus
This natural deodorant features a delightful bouquet of bergamot, pink lemon, orange blossom and cardamom. Oh, and it really works.
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Best Lip Balm
Meow Meow Tweet Vegan Lip Balm, $14 at Meow Meow Tweet
We are obsessed with lip balms in paper tube packaging. It’s a small step, but a big leap forward when it comes to sustainability. Made with plant-derived oils and butters, this one keeps lips feeling super smooth.
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Best Shampoo
Dae Shampoo, $24 at Dae
This Arizona-based brand is garnering rave reviews not only for its scents (fittingly inspired by the warm Arizona sun), but also the way its hair care products make manes look and feel. This shampoo will hydrate and strengthen your strands while giving your scalp a "desert detox."
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Best Conditioner
Dae Conditioner, $24 at Dae
Since the brand scored the best shampoo spot, it’s only natural it would earn the award for best conditioner. Especially since its color-safe formula hydrates and detangles locks and is infused with a beautiful blend of essential oils.
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Best Hair Treatment
NOTO Agender Oil, $40 at NOTO
Not only do we love NOTO’s products, we love the way the brand markets and develops them. NOTO notes that this oil is for bodies of all gender expressions and encourages its use on any and all places hair grows, from your scalp to your underarms. Pro tip: Try it on your eyebrows.
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Best Foundation
Kjær Weis Cream Foundation, $68 at DermStore
If you’re looking for weightless, buildable coverage, meet your new (natural) BFF. With coconut oil, sweet almond seed oil and jojoba seed oil, this cream foundation evens skin tone without the help of parabens, gluten and artificial fragrance.
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Best Cheek Product
ILIA Color Haze, $32 at ILIA
We love the creamy consistency and the almost hazy, buildable color of this multitasking product from one of the original luxe clean beauty brands. While this makes a killer creamy blush, it’s also perfect on lips or even eyes.
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Best Eyeshadow
Rituel de Fille Ash and Ember Eye Soot in Exuviae, $38 at Rituel de Fille
This eyeshadow proves it's possible to channel your inner goth while wearing natural makeup. Its texture is somewhere between a powder and a cream. Since it's made with pure pigments and oils sans wax, you don't have to worry about it melting off under the hot summer sun.
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Best Highlighter
RMS Beauty Magic Luminizer, $38 at DermStore
Shine on with this subtle yet effective highlighter. It supplies a soft glow on cheeks and your Cupid's bow. Reviewers praise this highlighter for its champagne-like glow.
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Best Lipstick
Kosås Weightless Lip Color, $28 at Kosås
The shade range of this clean, nontoxic formula is really impressive. Whether you're looking for the perfect pink or a brilliant berry hue, these weightless lipsticks have you covered.
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Best Mascara
Thrive Causemetics Liquid Lash Extensions Mascara, $24 at Thrive Causemetics
You can lengthen your lashes the natural way with this mascara. And it won’t clump, flake or smudge.
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Best Self-Tanner
COOLA Organic Sunless Tan Express Sculpting Mousse, $48 at COOLA
A self-tanner that’s actually good for your skin? Yup, this mousse will not only give you that coveted bronzed goddess glow, it’ll lead to firmer, smoother skin.
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Best Fragrance
Catbird Summer in Italy Water Perfume, $36 at Catbird
Can you get any purer than a water perfume that combines just water and fragrance? Catbird’s summery scent smells like the dreamiest vacation you have yet to have. It’s also alcohol-free.
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Best Nail Polish
Côte Cream Nail Polish in No. 111, $18 at Côte
This nail polish is cruelty-free, vegan and free of 10 of the nasty ingredients typically found in conventional polish. And we think this pretty lavender color is the perfect hue for spring.
