7 Ethical Makeup Brands You'll Love
We believe the best beauty brands not only make you feel beautiful in your own skin but are also ethically produced. No matter if you only wear mascara every day or love a full face of makeup, we have you covered.
We've broken down our favorite makeup brands into three categories: People, Planet, and Animals.
Animal-conscious makeup brands are cruelty-free. Some go a step further and offer products that are vegan - without animal products.
People brands empower women by making them feel good in the skin they’re in, support other women-promoting organizations, or use non-toxic ingredients that don't negatively affect people's health.
Our favorite planet brands make their beauty products with the environment in mind. The beauty industry generates tons of waste from packaging and contaminates the planet with the toxins in their products. Planet-conscious brands aim to reduce the negative impact they make on the environment caused by producing (and using) makeup.
Here are our top 7 picks!
KORRES - Planet & Animals
KORRES was born out of a Greek homeopathic pharmacy, and their products are inspired by traditional remedies. Not only are all their products cruelty-free—their ingredients are natural and/or organic. The company’s agriculturalists carefully choose the ideal cultivation regions for their herbs that won’t disrupt the environment, and they also work to protect endangered herbs and plant populations. KORRES’s plant also uses more than 20 environmental management programs throughout production, packaging, and storage to minimize its ecological footprint. They also also run on 100% renewable energy, and 99% of its packaging is recyclable.
Their award-winning Vitamin C Active Brightening Oil will keep your skin bright and hydrated year round, and Lip Butter is a cult-favorite balm. KORRES can be found at Sephora.
Glossier - Animals & People
Since its founding in 2014, Glossier has rapidly gained a cult following, and for good reason: in reaction to the beauty industry profiting off of and emphasizing women’s insecurities, the brand was built on making women feel good in their own skin and creating “fun, easy, imperfect, and personal” beauty. All their products are cruelty-free, and their packaging is minimalist and baby pink—what’s not to love?
We’re all about makeup that enhances natural beauty. Our favorites include Boy Brow for feathery brows and Haloscope for a dewy finish. Glossier also has several vegan options, such as their Mega Greens Galaxy Pack and gentle Milky Jelly Cleanser.
Stila - Animals, Planet, & People
Stila strives to make women look and feel amazing, supporting empowering charities such as Women Helping Women, Foundation for Living Beauty, and the EMA. The company also reduces their ecological impact by using 100% recycled packaging and offering refillable compacts and palettes. Also, all of their products are cruelty-free.
Stay All Day® Waterproof Liquid Eye Liner is one of the best on the market, and their Eye Shadow in Kitten can be used for both the inner corners of the eye and as a highlighter. Stila can be found at Sephora.
Physician’s Formula - Animals & Planet
Like the name suggests, Physician’s Formula has provided what they call “healthy beauty:” clinically tested and doctor-recommended. Their products are all cruelty-free, and they also have a line called Organic Wear that is free of preservatives and harsh chemicals and packaged consciously with 90% less plastic than traditional compacts. With products ranging from $5-$20, this line is also budget-friendly compared to many other organic makeup brands.
Organic Wear has several award-winners: their Natural Origin Mascara was an Allure Readers’ Choice Award Winner in 2015, and their 100% Natural Origin CC Color + Correction Cream SPF 20 was a Fitness Beauty Award Winner in 2014.
Milk Makeup - Animals
Milk caters to the spunky, on-trend gal. Want to rock holographic highlighter or bold eyeshadow (or both)? Their multipurpose products may be your new go-tos. They’re made with carefully selected ingredients: hydrating jojoba, coconut, orange peel, and grape seed oils; fruit and vegetable butters like mango and shea. Plus, they’re cruelty-free, and over 60% of their line is vegan.
Their vegan products include their best-selling Blur Stick and CoolingWater, which make your skin feel and look smooth and hydrated. Milk Makeup can be purchased at Sephora.
BeautyCounter - People
Beauty Counter's goal is to get safer products into the hands of everyone. Over the past two decades, the European Union has banned more than 1,300 chemicals in personal care products, while the United States has only partially banned 30. Beautycounter is committed to banning the use of more than 1,500 questionable or harmful chemicals through their "Never List" —all while ensuring their products are as indulgent as any other luxe shampoo, lipstick, or oil you can find elsewhere.
Their best-selling products are the Charcoal Cleansing Bar and their No. 1 Brightening Facial Oil, which won Best of Allure Beauty for 2017.
The Lip Bar- Animals
Melissa Butler created the vegan, cruelty-free makeup brand Lip Bar because she found that the lipsticks available on the market were full of chemicals and required spending a lot of money if you wanted to get your hands on a long-lasting product. The Lip Bar began with a line of lipsticks that are made with ingredients such as avocado oil, shea butter, and vitamin E and formulated to look gorgeous on every skin tone.
Since its launch in 2012, the brand has expanded to a full line of cosmetics and continues to expand. We love their Fast Face Kits, which combines 7 products to give you a full face of makeup in 6 minutes!
Want more of our favorite ethical brands? Read our blog posts on swimwear and shoes.