When it comes to our skin, taking care of it should be a priority. It is not a matter of vanity, but health. Whatever you put on your skin is going to seep into your system. The chemicals in most mainstream beauty brands can end up being harmful to your body; luckily brands like Beauty Counter, Tarte, and 100% PURE are working hard to eradicate all the harmful chemicals in their beauty products and stick to natural additives. In the last decade, natural makeup lines have been on the rise.
Out of the three listed, Tarte is the most popular. Tarte was started by Maureen Kelly in 1999 when she couldn’t find a line of beauty products that was truly pure. According to the brand’s site, Tarte is a cruelty-free product with “superfruit and plant extracts, vitamins, minerals, essential oils and other naturally-derived ingredients,” that are made without, “parabens, mineral oil, phthalates, sodium lauryl sulfate, triclosan, synthetic fragrances, and gluten.” Having been an avid user of the company for several years myself, I have a few favorite products. Tarte’s blushes are all exceptional quality that are offered in a wide variety of colors. The beauty titan has many different types of lipsticks (liquid, matte, satin, etc.) but the cutest ones are the butter lipsticks. They come in precious floral tubes and are easy for on the go. The brand’s best products, though, are the eyeshadow palettes. It offers up new ones so often that it’s difficult to keep up—not that we’re complaining. The eyeshadow is the perfect amount of pigmented and goes on the eyelid very smoothly.
The cosmetics brand 100% PURE is a company started by Susie Wang with the express purpose of making the cleanest products possible. The brand uses fruit dyes to color its makeup, instead of the destructive synthetic dyes with which most makeup is made. What sets this beauty company apart from others is how incredibly pure its makeup is—it’s made with food loaded with antioxidants and then the ingredients in them are extracted and put into the makeup-making process. The brand’s most popular product is its mascara, which is colored using black tea leaves.
“All products are completely, 100-percent free of artificial colors, artificial fragrances, synthetic chemical preservatives, and all other toxins. We always list 100 percent of the ingredients on our products,” a 100% PURE PR consultant says.
The company Beauty Counter is on the up-and-up in the natural beauty world. On the brand’s site, you can find a list, called “The Never List,” of toxic ingredients that will never be used in its products. Beauty Counter offers everything from a nourishing rosewater face mist to a peppermint lip conditioner to the smoothest lipsticks I’ve ever used. The company’s sheer lipsticks alone come in ten shades. And when it comes to covering up pimples and red spots, their concealer pen can’t be beat—it’s the best $32 I ever spent.
All high-quality beauty brands can be a bit of a budget bender, especially if the brand are all-natural. But it’s totally worth it. When your skin is still gleaming after you’ve removed your makeup, and you’re not crying from the caked-on foundation you’ve just scooped off, you’ll be thankful.
