We're Two Editors Who Love Natural-Looking Makeup—This Swedish Brand Is Our Go-To
It's slowly taking over our makeup bags.
When a Who What Wear editor waxes poetic about a certain beauty brand, you know it's good. When multiple Who What Wear editors wax poetic about the same beauty brand and even swap product recommendations with one another, you know it's *really* good. That's the case with Sweed, a Swedish brand known for its high-quality, vegan products that offer professional performance.
Makeup artist Gabriella Elio is the founder of Sweed. She was born in Lebanon and raised in Sweden. Her cross-cultural influence taught her the power of "simplicity" and being "comfortable in [her] own skin." Each one of Sweed's products took years of research and development and is produced by trusted labs and facilities all around the world, or as the brand puts it, "specialists in their niche." They're also designed to give back to a charitable cause (Sweed collaborates with the organization Billion Baby Turtles, and rescues one sea turtle for every mascara sold).
Perhaps it's obvious at this point, but I'm one of the Who What Wear editors who loves Sweed. As a beauty editor, I test a lot of products every year (and I mean a lot), but I certainly have my fair share of Sweed favorites. The same can be said of my friend and colleague, Emma Hughes, who is Who What Wear's Associate Social Media Editor. So, together, we created a list of our favorite Sweed beauty products. These are the ones we're most impressed by. (If you could only see our Slack messages, you'd know how passionate we are about these products.)
I wore this while covering the Golden Globes IRL, and despite blazing hot lights and red-carpet chaos, someone stopped me to say, "Wow, your makeup looks flawless." I fully credit this foundation. It’s event-ready, yet light enough for natural daytime wear.
I’ve recommended this mascara to at least three people, and every single one has declared it their new favorite. On a recent trip with Sweed, a friend even texted me to ask if I could bring one home for her. The formula is flawless—no flaking, no clumping, no smudging—and as a bonus, one baby sea turtle is saved for every mascara sold.
As someone who’s tried almost every brow product on the market, I don’t say this lightly: this pencil is next level. Developed in Korea, the formula is seamless—but it’s the 1.4mm ultra-fine tip that really sets it apart. The strokes look genuinely microbladed.
If you’re constantly torn between cream and powder blush, consider this your solution. This cream-to-powder formula (also made in Korea) is genuinely unique. I swipe the shade Lucky—a vibrant coral pink—across my cheekbones, temples, nose, and chin for a convincing "I just got back from Mexico" glow.
If you want to unlock that blurred, just-bitten Hailey Bieber lip, this is my perfect combo. I lightly overline with Dream Bigger, a warm nude pink, diffusing the edges with my fingertip for softness. Then I blend Cindy—a warm beige inspired by Cindy Crawford’s iconic ’90s lip—just beneath the center of my top and bottom lips to create a subtle, shadowed dimension. The formula is incredibly creamy, yet it lasts for hours.
Like Emma, I also love Sweed's Air Blush. The hybrid texture is the perfect "creamy powder," as I call it, and delivers a natural-looking flush with a velvety finish. Think the trendy "cloud-skin" effect. My shade of choice is Suntouch—a true peach that looks so pretty and springy on my skin.
After taking a long break from powder highlighters, I'm slowly but surely coming back to them. I know, I know. I never thought I would say that after I moved on from certain 2016 makeup trends, but I've been loving the way they make my skin look plump and juicy when placed subtly and precisely on the top of my cheekbones, nose, and inner corners.
Unlike the cakey, strobe-like highlighters of yesteryear, this one is soft, sheer, and utterly sophisticated. It makes my skin gleam in the most natural-looking way. (I know because multiple people have complimented my skin and makeup since I started using it.) I've even started using it as eye shadow. The frosty-champagne shade makes my blue eyes pop.
Creamy! Highly-pigmented! Long-lasting! I knew Emma loved Sweed's Lip Liners, but I didn't realize just how good they were until I tested them out myself. The waterproof formula lasts for a good 2-3 hours on me without the need for a touchup (whereas other lip liners fade almost instantly). I love the shade Barely There, which is a neutral pink that complements my natural lip color.
Trust me when I say I'm not a false-lash person. In fact, I'm rarely even a mascara person. Most days, I go for the no-mascara look. However, I decided to test these false lash clusters because they looked so soft and fluttery. I was right. True to their name, these lashes look so natural, they either look like A) my actual eyelashes, or B) incredibly well-placed extensions. While I still don't think I'd wear them on a daily basis, I'm keeping them close by for the next date night, wedding invite, or work event.
I know, a mascara too? While I can also vouch for Emma's favorite volumizing formula—the Cloud Mascara—I prefer using the Lash Lift Mascara more often. That's because I prefer lengthening mascaras over volumizing ones (at least lately). This one has a skinny, comb-like wand that grabs every lash and lifts it up and out for fluttery separation with no flaking, falling, or smudging. I'm obsessed.
Sweed's eyeliners are as smooth, creamy, and long-lasting as its lip liners. They literally glide across the skin, depositing high-impact color with zero pulling, skipping, or tugging. There are five stunning shades to choose from, but I love Diana Blue the most. The cobalt color will be a refreshing break from basic black eyeliner come spring and summer.
I've only recently started using Sweed's Eyelash Growth Serum, but I have it on good authority that it works. And by that I mean Emma, who said, "I used it consistently early last year and the photos of my lashes during that time are wild." The brand's before-and-after photos back her up. Apparently, the clean, prostaglandin-free formula promotes longer, fuller-looking lashes in as few as four weeks. It's all thanks to a nutrient-rich mix of vitamins and peptides.
Don't forget the matching brow serum. Like the aforementioned eyelash serum, it's prostaglandin-free and promotes fuller, fluffier eyebrows in 4-6 weeks. It's effective for thinning, over-plucked, and sparse brows.
