7 Sustainable Makeup Brands That Benefit Your Skin and the Planet

Finding the right foundation shade, volumizing mascara, and pigmented lipstick that each work for your skin and your needs can be difficult—especially when you're shopping with the planet in mind. Many makeup brands aren't sustainable, meaning they generate a lot of waste, test on animals, and use harsh chemicals.

Now, you won't have to choose between the environment and your beauty routine. Between zero-waste makeup products and a boom in clean beauty, there are plenty of sustainable makeup brands to choose from. Here are some of our picks to add to your list!

7 Sustainable Makeup Brands to Try

1. Beautycounter

Beautycounter has all your makeup essentials, including all-inclusive foundation shades, tinted moisturizers, and conditioning lipstick.

This brand offers safer, cleaner beauty products without using harmful ingredients. Plus, it's operating with the planet in mind—it has plans to achieve carbon neutrality by 2030 and to use 100% recyclable, refillable, or compostable packaging by 2025.

2. Wander Beauty

To Wander Beauty, clean beauty means using ingredients that aren't harmful to your skin or the environment.

Products are cruelty-free and free of parabens, phthalates, sodium lauryl sulfate (SLS), sodium laureth sulfate (SLES), mineral oil, and synthetic fragrances. It's even available at Sephora, so you can also shop locally for your makeup needs.

3. ILIA Beauty

ILIA Beauty's mission is to not only create clean beauty products, but also to be transparent about the process. So aside from the products being made with mindful ingredients, the packaging is also more sustainable.

Most of ILIA Beauty's packaging is made of recycled aluminum, glass components, and responsibly sourced paper. And that's not all: ILIA has a recycling program for you to send back your empty containers and keep waste out of landfills.

4. Elate

Elate has five conscious beauty principles you can explore on its site. The brand is ethical, Fair Trade, and even a certified B Corp company, meaning it meets the highest standards of social and environmental performance and transparency.

Packaging is predominantly refillable, decreasing waste. Plus, more than 157,000 gardens have been planted from Elate's seed paper packaging. As a brand, Elate has planted over 15,000 trees.

5. Pacifica

Pacifica is 100% vegan and cruelty-free with a stock of makeup, skincare, and suncare products. Products are also paraben-free without toxins.

Stay tuned for Pacifica's up-and-coming recycling program. Soon, you'll be able to close the loop and send containers back to Pacifica.

6. Izzy

Izzy isn't joking when it says its mascara is zero-waste. This brand is the world's first zero-waste beauty line, and it's expanding beyond mascara!

Not only can you get clean and cruelty-free mascara in reusable and recyclable packaging, but you can also try Izzy's new glossy lip butter. This brand is carbon neutral, and the packaging can be refilled over 10,000 times—no more waste from pesky containers.

7. Axiology

Axiology is another sustainable makeup brand that specializes in lipsticks, blushes, and highlighters. Packaging is plastic-free, and products are wrapped in recycled paper. And it's all compostable!

The brand even has a recycling program, so you can send in those hard-to-recycle containers. Plus, products are vegan and cruelty-free. What's not to love?