Best Non-Toxic Makeup: Every Product You Need

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If you’re interested in reducing your toxic load and trying to live more naturally, you may be looking at changing up your beauty products. I’ve talked before about how evaluating the products you put on your skin is a key step to the natural, non-toxic journey.

Today, maybe you’re particularly interested in discovering the best non-toxic makeup. If you’re interested in non-toxic makeup, read on for a very simple outline of what I have researched and tested myself to determine are the BEST non-toxic makeup products. 

To keep this post simple, I’m basically sharing my non-toxic makeup routine. These are the products I use on a daily basis, though a lot of days I don’t wear much makeup so, admittedly, some of them are more like… weekly or monthly… But nonetheless! These are my tried and true make up products that are not only natural and non-toxic, but work well. I’ve limited this to products I have used and liked. There are other brands that are clean and people love, but I have not tried them, so in this post I will not be mentioning them, even if I generally like the brand.

Cause I don’t know about you, but I don’t really care if a mascara is “non-toxic” if it’s going to run off my eyelashes or look goopy. Performance is key to me, so all of these products are safe for your skin while doing what you want them to do. 

Now, naturally everybody is going to have different preferences. What works for me may not work for you. So do with that what you will. I have pretty “normal,” non-issue skin. I get the occasional pimple and have some natural redness, but pretty middle of the road for skin quality. I’d say if anything I’ve got combination skin and maybe tend toward dryness. I’m also in my late 20’s, so my skin is still relatively young. Keep all of that in mind when considering these recommendations.

A few of my favorite non-toxic makeup products you’ll find mentioned below.

Tinted moisturizer

Now, this product should probably go more under a post for natural skin care, because we all know sun protection is crucial to taking care of your skin. However, most days I don’t wear foundation, I just let tinted moisturizer provide that little bit of coverage that makes me feel good about my skin. 

I’m going to share my two favorite options for this. The first is for those who want the protection and maybe the slightest bit of coverage but really aren’t interested in the coverage. The second is for those who are interested in that little bit of noticeable coverage. 

Minimal coverage

ILIA Super Serum Skin Tint

I love this product from ILIA. It provides minimal coverage but definitely evens out my skin tone some and is SPF40. It is very moisturizing and leaves you with that dewy look without really leaving a layer of product on your face. I will say they recommend applying this to clean, bare skin, but I just can’t do that. It’s a mental thing for me and I haven’t ever tried to use it in that way. I have such an ingrained habit of my skin care routine with serums and moisturizer and applying anything with any kind of makeup to my bare skin feels… wrong. I know people use it that way and love it, but if you are at all like me, know that I put it on top of my moisturizer and it works fine. If you have oily skin, I’m not sure if that would change that. I don’t.

Light coverage

Earth Mama Lady Face Tinted Mineral Sunscreen Face Stick

I used to use this every day when I went to work in a setting where I saw people. It is 40SPF but also provides that light coverage you want to even out the redness and variations in your skin tone without really looking like you’re wearing anything. 

I love that I can accomplish both with one product. This is also a very clean product. Honestly, any product from Earth Mama is going to be really solid in terms of ingredients.

I use this less now that I am a stay-at-home mom and any work I do is really from home, but I still use it for church or when I’m going to see family or friends. Some days even when it’s just me, I will still use this under my eyes to cover some of that darkness if I’m feeling like it’s necessary.

One thing I will say about this product is that it’s a little bit more like foundation than moisturizer in the sense that if you scratch or rub your face, you’ll get a little bit of the color off your face. It’s minimal, but I think that’s pretty unavoidable when we’re talking about any kind of coverage. 

I’ll also add that this coverage lasts all day for me.

Foundation

The 50 or so days a year I do wear foundation… these are my two favorites. 

Toups & Co. Liquid Foundation

I love this company mostly for their skin care, but have recently delved into their makeup a little and am pretty impressed. This foundation has become my favorite for whenever I actually want to put makeup on. It goes on easy and works really well with my skin, though my skin is pretty easy. I find it lasts great throughout the day as well. As with most foundations, you can put it on thin or build it up. Not sure how far you can go with that because I’m not a heavy foundation girl.

ILIA True Skin Serum Foundation

Coming second to the Toups and Co. product is this ILIA option. You’ll notice throughout this list that I’m an ILIA fan. This product also has more shade options than the Toups & Co. and is available on Amazon so I wanted to include it.

This foundation provides great coverage that is buildable. I’ll use this over a tinted moisturizer if I’m looking for a little more of a makeup look on a specific day. I don’t like the finish and durability as much as the Toups and Co., but it works great for my purposes. Also, as someone who does not have oily skin, I can’t speak to how this would do with that. I know based on reviews it’s not perfect for everyone, but a lot of people seem to love it.

Contour

This is one area where there aren’t technically a lot of non-toxic/natural swaps that are specifically called “contour,” but there are plenty of stick complexion options that work great for this purpose. I’m not going to lie I LOVED my Anastasia Beverly Hills contour stick, and I’m not necessarily opposed to using that still, but this clean option works for me. There’s a couple others I’m interested in trying and if I do, this list may get updated. This is the only “clean” contour product I’ve used since I don’t go through it fast.

ILIA Skin Rewind Complexion Stick

This complexion stick works similarly to ILIA’s other foundation products but to me goes on a bit more… solidly? It’s obviously less of a liquid product, since it’s a solid stick, so I like that for the purpose of contour. I also prefer a contour that isn’t glittery, so this works for me well because of that.

Blush

ILIA ILIA ILIA I’m sorry! I really do like their makeup products so much! Over time as I try more, hopefully I can update this for some variety, but at the same time, you can get all the products you need from one place, which is a win!

ILIA Multi Stick for Lips and Cheeks

This may be my favorite makeup product of all time. I have used this for years and LOVE it. I particularly love that you can match the lip and cheek color by just using this one product. The pigmentation is the perfect amount and it goes on so smooth and somewhat dewy. This product lasts well, but a midday application is usually a good idea. Or if you rub your face at all or take a nap, a reapplication is probably in order. 

I will also say that they have a shade that works perfect as a highlighter, if that’s something you’re into.

Powder

Well People Bio Powder Foundation

I don’t wear powder so I actually can’t make a personal recommendation on this. However, this powder from Well People has amazing reviews and great ingredients. They are limited on darker shades, which is a shame.

Eye shadow

I am not terribly picky about eyeshadow as long as the ingredients are clean and the colors go on well and stay on. I do not have very greasy eyelids so I don’t have issues with creasing typically. I’m just including a list of products I have used and really liked here. I think any of these are really great options. Some are more easily accessible or more affordable. There’s a good option for everyone here.

100% Pure Fruit Pigmented Eye Shadow

ILIA The Necessary Eye Shadow Palette

Well People Power Palette Eyeshadow

Honest Beauty Talc-Free Eyeshadow

Toups & Co. Natural Eye Makeup Palette

Eye liner

Toups & Co. Natural Eyeliner

I. Love. This. Eyeliner. This is a pencil that goes on very well and stays put for me. Again, not a greasy person so can’t make any promises but haven’t had an issue with this. I tend to use it right around the eye but have done a cat eye with it before and short of rubbing it haven’t messed it up. The level of pigmentation is perfect for me and it performs so well. If you want like a stark black line, this may not be the right product for you, since it’s a pencil not a liquid. 

Mascara

ILIA Limitless Lash Mascara

Of course it’s ILIA. One of my earlier makeup swaps was to this mascara and I’ve never been able to go back. I wouldn’t even want to. Even if the formulation wasn’t clean I would still use it because it is so freaking beautiful. I like it better than any mascara I’ve ever tried in my entire life. This mascara provides length and volume without clumping and looks so flawless. You can do one light layer for everyday or build it up a little for events. I have been using this issue for years and have never had it flake on me. This is not waterproof and it washes off perfectly with water or a little face wash. I have actually tried a lot of non toxic mascaras and they mostly SUCK compared to this one.

I could go on and on about this mascara. It’s my favorite thing. I don’t love the volumizing version in the brown tube as much. This is definitely the version I recommend. The wand is better in my opinion. 

Brows

I use two different products depending on what’s going on, one for every day and one for events or occasions where I’m generally wearing more makeup. Everybody does brows differently and really either of these can be used for either. This is just how I do it.

Brow gel

Well People Expressionist Brow Gel

I really like this product because you can kind of manipulate it for the amount of coverage you want. I do find at the very beginning of a tube I have to use a light hand. I will just splash a couple strokes of this on my brows and then use a different, clean wand (I just use an old want from a brow pencil I used to use) and spread it around. This way I avoid using too much product. If you like big bold brows, you could probably just do all that with this wand. 

Brow pencil

Well People Expressionist Brow Pencil

Also from Well People, this is a similar product but I like it better if I’m wanting a fuller, cleaner brow look, like for an occasion. You can be more precise with this and kind of fill in all of the spaces of your brows. It also has a wand opposite the pencil so you could use that with your brow gel once you’re done with this!

Lips

Okay, I’m just realizing how many dang products there are for lips! And I actually do use lip products more than most others so I actually feel like these all need to be included.

Everyday color

ILIA Multi Stick for Lips and Cheeks

Like I said with blush, this multi stick is great for the lips as well. It doesn’t dry out my lips, provides a great level of pigmentation that still looks decently subtle but is definitely noticeable. This isn’t an all day product and does need to be reapplied every few hours or after meals. Luckily, this convenient little stick travels well. I often put a chapstick that’s not too wet under this but you don’t need to do that. I just have dry skin and lips, so I always put moisturizing products on my lips.

Fuller coverage lipstick

100% Pure Fruit Pigmented Cocoa Butter Matte Lipstick

I love this lipstick a lot. It stays on well for me and doesn’t dry out my lips. It’s not as moisturizing as the ILIA multi stick, but it doesn’t cause me problems. The level of pigmentation is great and they have an amazing amount of colors. At the time of this writing they are currently sold out and apparently having manufacturing issues, but I’m keeping this here because I’m so hopeful the issue will be resolved soon. I have not been able to find another lipstick that stacks up for me and is this clean.

(But I also do really love the ILIA Lipstick, let’s be honest!

Lip liner

Zuzu Luxe Lip Pencil

My daily lip if I am actually going to do something is just a little bit of this lip pencil to outline my lips with a lip mask on the rest and blend it all in. It adds that little bit of definition and fullness while still looking quite natural. I actually do this more often than the ILIA multi stick these days. This pencil stays on pretty well but will fade throughout the day as you eat, kiss your baby, and so on. I don’t typically need to reapply more than once a day I’d say, but it depends.

”Lip gloss”

I put this in quotes because I don’t actually use lip gloss for this purpose, I use a moisturizing lip mask. I hate the stickiness of lip gloss and it achieves a similar look. I don’t need my lips to look laminated so I prefer the more subtle shine of a lip mask. 

LANEIGE Lip Sleeping Mask

This product needs a caveat. I would not truly call this a “clean” product so much as some of the other ones on this list, largely because it has fragrance in it. However, aside from one or two other ingredients that can be considered toxic but aren’t in this application, this product is honestly decently clean and high quality. If they would just get rid of the fragrance in the product (which they could totally make a fragrance-free version, the fragrance is so unnecessary), I’d have no qualms with this product. 

(Other “cleaner” options for a product like this that have good reviews and look like they achieve a similar purpose are the ILIA Lip Wrap Reviving Balm and the Alpyn Beauty Plumping Lip Mask. The next time I run out of LANEIGE, I’ll be trying one of these so maybe I can update this then.)

That’s it! My full makeup line up of recommendations for you to achieve the look you want while minimizing chemicals.

I hope you found this list helpful and found some new clean makeup options to try. I’m confident you’ll love them. If you enjoyed this and want to see what else we have to offer, consider subscribing to our newsletter and browsing our other articles. A lot of our stuff is more educational, but I do try to provide product recommendations where I feel somewhat qualified to do so.