I Never Thought I'd Love Organic Makeup—Until I Found These 10 Products

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(Image credit: @erin_jahns)

Confession: Even as someone who lives, works, sleeps, and writes about beauty practically 24/7, organic makeup (categorically) kind of feels like the twilight zone. A) There's a whole lot of murkiness when it comes to what's "clean," "natural," "nontoxic," "green," and yes, even truly "organic" within the beauty industry, and B) lots of said murkiness entails brands and products that fall very short in terms of their efficacy as makeup products. Blush turns into smudge city, mascara into flake city, foundation into puddle city… You get the idea. In all honesty, it's kind of a crapshoot, especially if you're ultra attached to the "organic" label.

"'Clean beauty' is a much better term for the consumer as the products are non-toxic and still effective," cosmetic chemist Ginger King told Allure. last year. "'Non-toxic' means free from undesirable ingredients listed by the Environmental Working Group. This is better than claiming 'natural' or 'organic' as they are products that perform without compromising safety."

My personal philosophy has always been as follows: If I'm choosing to wear makeup (which, honestly, I only wear 40% of the time), I'm wearing it for a reason. I apply a concealer to conceal, I apply mascara to bring more attention to my favorite features (my lashes), or I apply blush to put a little pep in my complexion. I'm not going to wear a "clean" or "organic" beauty product just because it's "clean" or "organic." It has to actually work, and again, just because of how the industry is right now (i.e., very little regulation), it's hard to ever really know what you're putting on your face. So I just want something that will do the dang job and not leave me with a rash or breakout. (FYI: Some makeup products that are too natural or harsh have done just that.) Food for thought.

However, after lots and lots of testing, I've discovered an intimate number of organic makeup products from amazing brands that not only look great, apply easily, and wear with stamina, but which I trust in terms of their ingredient transparency and dedication to quality. Now, as a quick reminder, certified organic products can be labeled "made with organic" or "contains organic" if they contain (at minimum) 70% organic ingredients, and these products must display the organic and non-organic ingredients on the label and the name of the organic certifier. (You'll usually find these certifications at the bottom of a brand's website, or in their mission statements.) That said, the FDA does not have a definition for the term "organic,” since it's not defined by either the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act or the Fair Packaging and Labeling Act, which it uses as guidelines. So you can see how this all gets a little hairy, am I right?

I recommend doing your research, deciding what your wants and needs are in terms of how clean or natural your product regimen is, and go from there. For the record, while most of the brands below are certified organic, some are not and only feature products with a handful of ingredients quoted as organic. You do you! I've done my best to get you started in the world of organic (or mostly organic) makeup brands that I've truly vetted, love, and would recommend. Keep scrolling! All of my current nontoxic favorites are below. 

1. Tata Harper Be Adored Lip Tint Treatment

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(Image credit: @erin_jahns)

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2. Kora Organics Rose Quartz Crystal Illuminizer

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3. W3ll People Expressionist Volumizing Mascara

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4. Ilia Super Serum Skin Tint SPF 40

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5. Cocokind Highlighter Stick

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6. Henné Organics Luxury Lip Tint

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7. Crop Natural Bio Metal Liquid Eyeshadow

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8. Jillian Dempsey Cheek Tint

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9. Beautycounter Brilliant Brow Gel 

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10. Kajer Weiss Lip Gloss

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Beauty Director

Erin has been writing a mix of beauty and wellness content for Who What Wear for over four years. Prior to that, she spent two and half years writing for Byrdie. She now calls Santa Monica home but grew up in Minnetonka, Minnesota, and studied writing, rhetoric, and communication at University of Wisconsin, La Crosse. She studied abroad in Galway, Ireland, and spent a summer in L.A. interning with the Byrdie and Who What Wear family. After graduating from UW, she spent one year in San Francisco, where she worked as a writer for Pottery Barn Kids and PBteen before moving down to L.A. to begin her career as a beauty editor. She considers her day-to-day beauty aesthetic very low-maintenance and relies on staples like clear brow serum (from Kimiko!), Lawless's Lip Plumping Mask in Cherry Vanilla, and an eyelash curler. For special occasions or days when she's taking more meetings or has an event, she'll wear anything and everything from Charlotte Tilbury (the foundations are game-changing), some shimmer on her lids (Stila and Róen do it best), and a few coats of the best mascara-type product on earth, Surratt's Noir Lash Tint.