Best Eco-Friendly Makeup (2020 Guide)
TerraCycle Include USA Ilia
Dab Herb Makeup found a way to take plastic out of the equation for every makeup product you can imagine! This indie makeup brand offers a huge variety of vegan makeup in zero-waste packaging, from primer in a glass pot to blush in a paper tube.
Probably their coolest offering? Organic herb mascara ($22), perfect for those who aren’t quite ready to take the leap to cake mascara. Dab Herb Makeup definitely has product line breadth (though they could do more in terms of depth, offering more shades for all skin types).
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River Organics is a vegan indie beauty brand based in Wilmington, NC. Inspired by her time living in France and the Middle East, Corinne Lefebvre wanted to create a makeup line with naturally-derived oils. And even better? It’s plastic-free! That means plant-based highlighter, blush, tinted lip balm, eyebrow wax, and concealer, all in zero-waste paper tubes.
In addition to their thoughtful packaging, they even have low-waste shipping: everything comes in recycled envelopes with sugarcane labels, and without any additional marketing material, which really adds up! It’s all part of what makes this brand uniquely beautiful.
Ilia Beauty is a gorgeous, minimalist brand that makes the list because of their revolutionary recycling program. Yes, that’s right!
To help close the loop on the beauty product lifecycle, ILIA accepts used makeup from U.S. customers. These empties then go to TerraCycle in a Zero Waste Box, which is an alternative recycling stream for hard-to-recycle items. To participate, simply print a prepaid shipping label from their website and attach it to your box or envelope. You can mail up to five products per month — and they can be from any brand.
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One of the biggest roadblocks to makeup being eco-friendly is all the extra stuff it comes with, like bulky packaging that can’t be recycled or reused. Ohio-based indie makeup brand Keeping It Natural offers stripped-down basics — lip color and mascara — all in zero-waste metal tins.
Their cake mascara ($16.99), which can double as eyeliner, comes in two shades. And their mineral lip color ($12.99) comes in a whopping 35 shades: 19 creamy options, 16 shimmer! Deeply moisturizing, these lipsticks have a gorgeous color payoff while still feeling comfortable on the lips. (They even have a Sheer Glitter. Take our money, please!)
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This eco-friendly beauty brand will look perfect on your vanity or bathroom counter! Elate Beauty, easily spotted with their bamboo detailing, aims to encourage more responsible consumption through what they call “conscious beauty,” even offering a quiz to help customers create their own capsule makeup collection. It’s all part of their strong code of ethics.
Something else amazing about this company is that they ship products in seed paper envelopes, which you can plant at home and grow into flowers, herbs or vegetables!
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