While skin care is the epicenter of the natural beauty movement, prestige beauty is being boosted by millennials and Gen Z seeking clean cosmetics brands, specifically those that combine harmless synthetics with natural ingredients, and eliminate specific harmful elements, to create a luxurious aesthetic. Indeed, the global vegan cosmetics market is expected to grow at a compound annual rate of 7.1 percent through to 2023. CEW’s

Beauty Insider spotlights standout brands in this burgeoning category.

Joséphine


Tag line: Untamed. Couture. Rogue. Decadence.

Brand story: Joséphine is an organic beauty color and skin care line that positions itself to be as exquisite as couture, with unique, high-performance formulas. The brand, founded by Sholayide, a beauty aficionada, translates runway trends into beauty colors and organic formulations, blending vintage French elegance with New York City downtown cool. The brand also produces luxurious, organic skin care.

Clean factor: Joséphine cosmetics feature organic essentials oils and 100 percent minerals. Every product includes what the brand calls Haute Naturals, namely organic ingredients that are vegan, sustainably harvested and wildcrafted, delivering maximum effectiveness to the brand’s products.

Notable products: La Laque, the Liquid Lipstick, is a velvety matte organic liquid lip color enriched with olive oil and vitamin E. L’Ouvreur, the Eye Opener, is a luxe organic eye shadow enriched with cocoa and mango seed butters.

Clove + Hallow


Tag line: Safety meet swagger.

Brand story: Clove + Hallow is a clean, cruelty-free and vegan cosmetics brand founded by a professional makeup artist. The brand prides itself on creating vegan cosmetics that perform like conventional classics, in line with its mission to deliver beauty without sacrificing a pleasurable product experience.

Clean factor: Clove + Hallow’s Clean15 Guarantee means 15 or fewer ingredients per base formula, minus more than 1,500 ingredients, including parabens, phthalates, synthetic fragrances and flavors. Clove + Hallow only uses Eco-cert approved preservatives.

Notable products: The brand’s award-winning Lip Glaze is formulated with natural olive oil, jojoba oil, and shea butter.

Inika Organic


Tag line: Pure. Natural. Flawless. Brand story: Inika is a certified organic make-up brand, Australian-owned, 100 percent vegan and cruelty-free. The brand features botanical formulas that are free from synthetic chemicals.

Clean factor: Inika uses Australian botanicals and pure minerals to produce makeup that cares for skin. All products in the natural cosmetics range are certified organic or vegan, certified Halal and certified cruelty-free. Inika does not use harsh or harmful chemicals, additives or fillers. The brand has been awarded one of the highest safety ratings in the world by the EWG (Environmental Working Group), and the Skin Deep Cosmetic Safety Database. Key ingredients include certified organic aloe vera, calendula, tamanu oil, macadamia nut oil, evening primrose oil and rosehip oil.

Notable products: Inika’s award-winning Long Lash Vegan Mascara uses 100 percent plant-derived, natural ingredients including magnolia bark extract and sunflower oil.

Half Caked


Tag line:

We don’t test on animals, only boys. Brand story: Half Caked is a Florida-based company founded by two sisters featuring on-trend, wearable and fun beauty products. All products are 100 percent certified cruelty-free.

Clean factor: None of Half Caked ingredients are animal derived or contain animal by-products. The brand’s labs verify that manufactured products and sourced materials are not tested on animals. Before each production run, Half Caked asks its manufacturers to supply an updated Animal Non-Testing Declaration. Half Caked is PETA certified and vegan.

Notable products: The brand’s Lip Fondants go on with a mousse-like texture and dry completely matte. The Suga Suga Scrub gently exfoliates lips, and is made with natural oils.

Vegamour
Tag line: Beauty beyond the surface. Brand story: Vegamour’s mission is to find a safer way to battle hair loss, from the loss of lashes and brows to thinning hair on the scalp. The brand said that in clinical studies, its natural and vegan products outperform those produced by big pharma. Vegamour stands for inner beauty, inner strength, tenacity and community, partnering with suppliers and non-profit organizations that hold similar values.

Clean factor: Southern Botanica, Vegamour’s sister company, produces the marula oil used in its products, providing Fair Trade jobs to more than 5,000 women in northern Namibia each year. Vegamour’s goal, with Southern Botanica, is to expand the number of job opportunities to 20,000 by 2020.

Notable products: Vegalash Volumizing Serum is a completely natural, 100 percent vegan eyelash serum. Vegamour Volumizing Hair Serum is a proprietary, plant-based formula with phyto-actives that extend the hair’s growth phase.

Lawless


Tag line: clean AF

Brand story: Lawless Beauty states that women absorb up to five pounds of cosmetic chemicals annually. With the growing information about the harmful effects cosmetic chemicals have on our health, Lawless said that many companies are marketing their products as ‘clean’ by replacing ingredients with ones that are better, but still toxic.

Clean factor: AF means Always Free, such as always free of carcinogenic, toxic, hormone and endocrine disrupting ingredients, as well as ingredients that have been linked to the formation of certain cancers. Lawless Beauty features a list of Always Free of This BS ingredients including phthalates, mineral oil, sulfates, parabens, silicones, fragrance, talc and formaldehydes.
Notable products: Lawless’ Pristine Flawless Finish Foundation features a non-comedogenic, skin-nourishing formula with antioxidant-rich balancing oils. Instead of talc, the Brightening Translucent Talc-Free Loose Setting Powder uses mica as its base.