I have eczema, so clean beauty is essential to me. Having eczema means that my skin is uber sensitive. I regularly struggle with itchy dry spots on my face and am prone to allergic reactions if I use a product with harsh chemicals, dyes, or fragrances. This is a problem because I adore makeup, and most brands include those icky ingredients.
Since learning that I have eczema, my options on what I can and can’t put on my face have become extremely limited, so I am constantly searching for makeup brands that have a broad range of options and won’t irritate my skin. When I first searched for suitable makeup brands that wouldn’t trigger my eczema, I found that most of them weren’t high quality. They were lacking in range, under-pigmented, and smudged easily. Luckily, I’ve recently found some reputable and popular brands that have hopped on the clean beauty trend.
I have composed a list of my favorite makeup brands that don’t cause my skin any harm. These brands formulate their products without nasty chemicals like phthalates, sulfates, and parabens, and offer some vegan products too. Of course, I must disclaim that what works for me might not work for everyone else. It took a lot of trial and error to find these brands that work for me, so always do your own research.
Before I share my list, here are a couple of quick tips I found to be useful in conjunction with using clean beauty products:
- I cannot stress how important it is to moisturize your skin day and night! To treat my eczema, I first use a colloidal oatmeal cream, then PONDS Dry Skin Cream, and finish by rubbing some shea butter on my dry spots. Obviously, this is excessive for people with normal skin, but the point is: MOISTURIZE!
- Using clean beauty products is great and all, but you need to make sure the products and tools you’re using are clean themselves. This means washing your makeup brushes at least once a week and not using expired makeup, no matter how tempting it is (speaking from experience—you will regret it)!
Now that that’s settled, here is my preferred list of clean makeup brands:
1. Milk Makeup – Milk Makeup is 100% vegan and has a list of blacklisted ingredients it vows never to use.
2. Tarte – Tarte avoids harsh chemicals and uses natural ingredients that nourish the skin.
3. bareMinerals – This brand’s name says it all. bareMinerals uses fewer ingredients and sticks to the natural stuff.
4. BITE Beauty – With its bold and beautiful products, BITE Beauty commits to a list of ingredients they do and do not use.
Honorable Mention:
5. Urban Decay – While Urban Decay is not considered a clean makeup brand, it has a vegan selection and some products without sulfates and phthalates that I love to use, such as the Moondust Eyeshadow.
