Clean Beauty Alternatives: Safer Skincare Brands to Try

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If you’re looking for clean beauty alternatives, here are several brands and products made with safer ingredients. worth exploring.

A woman with a towel on her head applies a gray face mask and holds a cucumber slice over one eye. Text bubble reads: "6 Top Brands for Clean Beauty & Beautycounter alternatives.

While I’ve been on my natural living journey for nearly two decades, it wasn’t until I was nearing my 40s that I went all in on cleaner, safer products with my personal care.

To be clear, I had dabbled in non-toxic makeup and skincare in my 30s.

But my natural beauty products were comprised of a piecemeal collection that, to be honest, never felt truly effective or high-performing.

Making my own products and/or buying makeup made with non-toxic ingredients from a variety of mom-and-pop shops fit my lifestyle and budget the best for a time.

Until it didn’t.

Mature woman applying face cream, with an alternative Beautycounter cream, while looking at her reflection in a bathroom mirror.

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Clean Skincare to Address My Aging Skin

As I neared 40, I noticed the appearance of fine lines creeping in around my eyes, on my forehead, and around my mouth.

While I’m a firm believer that beauty begins within our hearts, I still wanted to age gracefully. I didn’t want to just throw in the towel on taking care of myself just because I was aging. I wanted to use beauty products and develop a beauty routine that would work for my current life season.

I also didn’t want to absolutely obsess over all my skincare and makeup products either. I wanted to avoid vanity and avoid harmful ingredients. But the piecemeal system I had used in my 30s just wasn’t working for me anymore. In fact, it was stressing me out.

My favorite resource for looking up toxicity ratings for beauty brands is the EWG Skin Deep Database. I’ve found this an invaluable tool in my natural living journey!

A woman applies makeup with a brush, smiling at the camera, against a plain background, showcasing a Beautycounter alternative.

Clean Beauty Swaps: 5 Alternatives I’ve Personally Tried & Liked

The following are clean beauty brands I’ve tried, vetted, and–for some of them–have used on a regular basis. I’ve not tried every single product that these brands sell. I note beside each brand what products I’ve tried from them.

Related: DIY Mineral Makeup

1. Acure

Acure offers a variety of clean personal care products. I absolutely love the brightening facial scrub (it’s a scrub I’ve been using for years). I’ve been using Acure’s hair care products for a very long time. As I’ve been perusing different clean beauty alternatives from brands I already trust, I noticed that Acure also offers facial oil, I get my Acure products with my Amazon Prime account, which means I score free shipping too!

2. Ecco Bella

I’ve only used the Ecco Bella mascara, but I loved it! Their other makeup products look decent as well. I love that their mascara comes in both black and brown!

3. Made Makeup & Skincare from THM

I’ve been eating the Trim Healthy Mama way for years, but I’ve only tried their makeup and skincare line–Made Makeup & Skincare from THM–a few times. Note: I liked the mascara better than the foundation. The foundation was a little too thick for my preferences.

4. Native

I love Native deodorant. My family has been using Native for its clean deodorant and body wash for the kids for at least a year now. I love that the deodorant works great with the sensitive skin under my armpits. So many other “natural” deodorants have irritated my skin over the years, but my armpit skin does fine with Native.