Cool, Small Beauty Brands You Should Know About
Who says non-toxic beauty can’t be colorful and meaningful?
Hi friends!
It’s not even November, yet we’re inundated with ads for Christmas. What is going on? Is it too cranky to ask that we maintain the aura of each month’s holiday, instead of skipping ahead?
Old Navy’s website is filled with photos of children clutching wrapped gifts… Crate & Barrel in Union Square sells Christmas trees and ornaments? Don’t they know it’s still prime apple-picking, pumpkin pie-baking season!! The farmer’s market has been so colorful lately... December will come soon enough!
Anyway, I’d like to share some beauty brands that are doing interesting things. Not a gift guide, but not NOT a gift guide.
For decades, “natural” beauty in stores felt kinda one lane: beiges and browns, heavily scented, plastic packaging. Remember The Body Shop? But in the past ten years, a diverse crop of beauty brands have emerged, highlighting specific causes they care about.
Nowadays there’s something for everyone. Plastic-free containers, phthalate-free, paraben-free, cruelty-free, fragrance-free. I’ve met folks who are fine with phthalates but hate fragrance, or prefer plastic packaging but avoid animal-derived ingredients.
Still, “natural” beauty brands can face negative reviews as some consumers aren’t ready for the trade offs. One example: synthetic-free fragrances don’t last as long as the synthetic ones that people are used to. So some brands introduce a little synthetics to please their customers.
Below are small beauty brands worth having on your radar. By coincidence, all have female founders! How I see it, these brands are filling that gap between putting hormone-disrupting chemicals on our eyelids and a perfect ideal that doesn’t exist yet.
AXIOLOGY 💋
This balmie crayon is 100% plastic-free and made with natural ingredients. The founder started out by selling vegan makeup on Etsy!
Though I’ve long been loyal to Living Luminizer, I liked the concept and bought one balmie (champagne) to test out on my eyes. I like how light and small it is, and now I want the lip colors… Looks tiny, but actually the same amount (.12 oz) as an average tube of lipstick, minus the packaging. It comes in a paper box.
CARDON ◼️
A small Korean skincare brand for men, with everything from hair loss shampoo to intimate hygiene wipes and beard-friendly face masks. My guinea pig Nour loves their SPF moisturizer and clay face wash.
I used to be skeptical because he found it at some tech bro conference in 2019, but the moisturizer magically reduces redness upon application and is just easy for men who can’t be bothered with multiple lotions and potions.
The SPF is only 30, so not ideal for summertime, but perfect for these colder months.
NOPALERA 🌵
Nopalera is a Mexican brand that carries synthetic-free fragrances, lotions, and shower gel. They’re free of everything from phthalates and parabens to polycyclic musks and BHAs.
Their candles also stand out. Poured with a coconut-soy blend on organic cotton wicks, it’s as good as it gets. This Mexican chocolate one looks divine, with a clay vessel that can be re-purposed for drinking hot chocolate afterwards. Although I’m reducing how often I burn candles in the home, it’s so cozy this time of year!
RŌZ HAIR 🍄🟫
I make my own hair gel. Rahua makes a clean, synthetic-free hair spray everyone raves about. But I’ve been looking for a cleaner product that’s neither gel nor hairspray for that tousled vibe. Something I won’t feel icky about, if it gets on my scalp.
I’ve seen rave reviews for the shampoo and serum, but this air thickening spray is the hero item for me. They offered to send one item and I’m not disappointed with my pick. If you want some texture courtesy of radish roots, you won’t find anything better than this… for now.
Since the following are smaller brands that might sell out, paid readers get a chance to buy first. Unlocking the paywall next month! Thanks for reading 🥹
I don’t make a commission from the small brands featured below, which include:
Herbal balm made on protected Navajo land
A retrofuture, plastic-free eyeshadow palette
Biodegradable glitter
Plastic-free eyeliner applicator
Fragrance-free body serum
KIYANI BOTANICS 🏜️
Herbal Salve foraged and prepared by the Wild Ruins community of Navajo Nation. Dried sacred herbs to steep for a tea bath! I love that we get to support indigenous stewards of protected lands, and this stuff is good.
At $15 for 13g, it’s pricier than the Un-Petroleum Jelly I use in place of Vaseline, so I’m precious with it.
Goes on my lips before bed, on mosquito bites, a gnarly scratch on my wrist I got from bouldering. The juniper scent is mild and medicinal.
AORA 🌶️
This eyeshadow palette has a plastic-free, retro-future aesthetic that I adore with nine gorgeous shades. Ethically sourced mica, never tested on animals, etc etc.
I’ve never seen a plastic-free eyeshadow palette before that wasn’t vintage. And once you’re done, you can use the palette for mixing colors, holding little trinkets, etc…
Oh, and their spicy plumping lip serum with five Mexican chiles?! My flavor of glamor. Both are on my wishlist!
SKALLI ESSENTIALS 🫒
The quintessence of Silky Crunch beauty. Kohl eyeliner made from almonds and olives. A carved sheep bone applicator. Crunchy yet so chic, and not expensive! I’ve bought kohl in Morocco before but it came with a plastic applicator, and I only used it a few times. Skalli tests each batch for lead, and has so many positive reviews, which makes it worth the $30.
The aker fassi blush is made from poppy flower powder and pomegranate bark powder, and you can get it as a stain tint (Benetint vibes) or the traditional clay, where the powders are dried onto the clay and you lift the colors with a wet brush, like watercolor painting.
ANAM COSMETICS ✨
A new Irish brand that carries biodegradable glitter eyeshadow. Yes, their mica is ethically sourced! Three pretty shades and you can tell they put a lot of thought behind each ingredient.
In September, they donated 100% of their proceeds to the Palestine Red Crescent Society. Their tagline “áilleacht le hanam” translates to “beauty with soul.” Love to see it!
ABI AMÉ 💦
I wasn’t sure if this body serum belonged in this cut. On one hand, it comes in plastic packaging and contains some synthetics. On the other hand, it’s fragrance-free, made in France (which bans 1,300 chemicals allowed in the US) and is the only product that’s made a difference on my scaly legs.
Over the years I’ve tried allll the body lotions high and low—Cerave, Eminence, Gold Bond, Kayo, Nuxe, Soft Services, etc—and nothing compares.
Yes, I stalled at the $38 price, but that’s how much lipsticks are now? This serum covers much more square footage, like the existential dread I feel at my dry and wrinkly hands.
Have you shopped from any of these brands? I also wanna hear about the smaller beauty brands you love❣️
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A friend gifted me Nopalera soap and I had no idea it's history, love that (and now I really need to open it). The rest of these are new to me so I'm excited to come back to these for gifts. Thank you 💕
Omg as scaly leg weather approaches I have been revamping my moisturizer search. Will try your reco!!