Happy Earth Day! Last week I was thinking about how much the clean beauty landscape has changed. Even five years ago it was SO hard to find good clean beauty products – especially if you wanted results-driven formulas and (optional but always nice) aesthetically pleasing packaging. Now, there are so many great options to choose from. Today I wanted to talk about a few brands/products that might not be on your radar yet. They’re all also pretty reasonably priced which is nice.
Everyday Oil is one of the best (and most affordable) oils out there. I am a pretty massive fan of the brand (evidence here) and use it all over – face, body, even my hair. You can even wash your face with it. It also happens to be the creation of a good friend of mine, Emma Allen. I remember when she was mixing up oils and having our friends smell them yeaaars before she launched and now she’s in the New York Times and sold at Free People and other cool stuff. So cool. Anyway, this is a blend of oils and smells incredible (you’ll love it if you love Palo Santo as much as I do!)
Leo Oil is a new product that I started testing a few weeks ago. This stuff is amazing. It’s a blend of meadowfoam seed oil, rosehip seed oil, and blue tansy oil and reminds me a lot of a liquid version of another favorite – May Lindstrom’s Blue Coccon. It’s designed for all skin types – oily, sensitive, dry, irritated, etc. but I particularly love it for redness. It’s green in color, which helps counteract redness (don’t worry, it won’t make your skin look green!) And, at $36 a bottle it’s much more reasonably priced than a lot of other brands out there.
** a note about both of these oils – you CAN use them on oily/acne prone skin. Leo Oil was actually designed for oilier skin types but I find that it works just as well on my dry skin.
Abhati is a Swiss brand with a conscience. They call themselves “mindful luxury,” which I love. My friend Ellen told me about them and I was instantly obsessed. The sleek black packaging didn’t hurt but the products are also really effective and luxurious. There are several products in the line – a shampoo, conditioner, body lotion, hair oil, and a lip balm (which is my favorite lip balm right now and I meant to shoot it but forgot – oops!) They sell it at Credo which keeps annoyingly selling out but you can also order it here.
Oddly, after trying the line, my favorite product of all is the body cleanser. I know it’s weird to get so excited about a shower gel but it smells SO good (I think it’s the Himalayan wild cherry oil?) and gets skin super clean without being at all drying.
Ren’s AHA Smart Renewal Body Serum was an instant favorite but it keeps selling out! It looks like you can still get it on Ren’s website, which I highly recommend doing. It glides on like silk and is instantly absorbed into your skin. The AHA acids help to exfoliate + brighten skin tone, just like if you were to use an AHA cream on your face. I LOVE this stuff. I am obviously obsessive with how I take care of the skin on my face, and have been trying to do the same with my body… especially as the weather warms up – my legs are especially dull and ashy and not ready for shorts! My favorite thing to do is to apply this, let it sink in a few minutes (brush your teeth) and then slather on a layer of Everyday Oil for the softest skin ever. A friend swears by this for at least a few days before getting a spray tan and I plan to do the same.
Lastly, I included Green Screen from Farmacy, as it is my favorite clean sunscreen. I am always getting asked for sunscreen recs and I 1,000% recommend this one. It isn’t greasy, it won’t turn your face white, and it instantly sinks in. Just a really good basic sunscreen.
photography by Carter Fish.
Thank you for these recommendations, will most definitely check them out! Trying to change to a ‘cleaner’ approach to skin and beauty! 🙂 ❤️
Charmaine Ng | Architecture & Lifestyle Blog
http://charmainenyw.com
You’re so welcome! Thanks for stopping by Charmaine!
I love a good shower gel. I think they are weirdly hard to find, so I’m excited to try this out! Dr. bronner’s is pretty good too – xAllie
http://www.theallthatglittersblog.com
Right!? They are weird and hard to find. Another one I really love is Rahua. 😉
This is so informational and helpful! Thank you! I work as a professional bra fitter and the Town Shop, and we have a surprising amount of sustainable brands in store! There are so many aspects of life that we can change to help mother earth!
So happy to hear that – thanks Kaitlen! x
I love the Farmacy products, so I’m looking forward to trying this sunscreen. Have you tried the Tatcha one yet? It’s also supposed to be really good . I’d like to find a good pure one made in the U.S.I’m currently using the La Roche Posay spf 50( bought in Europe). The American formula, although really expensive is not the same, you have to buy the French one, although there is apparently a lot of counterfeit ones here in the U.S. I found it in Mexico and in Portugal. I really like the everyday oil too. I recently bought the Radha organic rose hip oil, after reading how healing rose hip oil is, especially for sensitive, roseacea prone skin. It’s a nice big bottle at a great price. I’d like to try the Leo( my birth sign)oil after this runs out. Looks like the Ren serum is going to be hard to get hold of, but I will keep trying. I’m making more of an effort all the time to get more natural/ organic ingredients into my daily routine, so I really appreciate your recommendations! I’m in menopause, so it’s really important to especially avoid parabens. Peri menopause can start in your 30’s for some women.
I haven’t tried the Tatcha sunscreen yet – will look into it! Thanks Cy!
I just ordered the Everyday oil! Excited to try it (PS I searched this because I saw it in your stories! )
Oh good! Hope you love it! xx