Switch to an All-Natural Beauty Routine With These Five Clean Brands
Want to make a clean break from toxic chemicals and dyes? These locally based natural beauty lines promise to have you glowing from head to toe.
Illustration by Jeannie Phan
For the face
Thesis Beauty
Based right here in Boston, this family-owned company is on a mission to bring “radical purity” to the beauty industry. Most of the organic ingredients used in its facial cleansers and masks are so pure, in fact, that they’re food grade, meaning you could technically eat them (though we don’t recommend drinking your facial oil). If you’re looking to really indulge dry, flaky winter skin, try the brand’s recovery serum, with hydrating rosehip, jojoba, and Moroccan oils and soothing rosemary extract.
For hands and feet
365 Nail Lacquer
Have you ever opened a bottle of nail polish and wondered if it was safe to breathe the air? Thanks to companies like 365, expressing your style through your fingernails doesn’t have to feel hazardous to your health. Handcrafted in Somerville, the brand’s all-natural vegan polishes are free of harmful chemicals such as formaldehyde and toluene. From iridescent glitter to bright bubblegum, there are plenty of color options, but if you can’t find one to suit your fancy, you can make your own customized bottle.
For the body
Organic Bath Company
When Jay Weeks’s wife, Gianne Doherty, developed skin irritation after using conventional moisturizers, he decided to take matters into his own hands—literally—and whip one up himself. Now Weeks’s body butter, inspired by the Belizean ingredients Doherty’s mother used in home remedies, is the signature offering of the couple’s Charlestown-based Organic Bath Company. For the ultimate self-care Sunday, pair the “PeaceFull” body butter, scented with lavender essential oils, with one of the brand’s exfoliating sugar scrubs.
For hair
Living Proof
If anyone can figure out how to remedy dirty, greasy hair in a pinch, it’s the scientists at MIT. From a lab on campus, they’ve set out to create hair products that are both silicone- and paraben-free—and actually work. Need to freshen your locks after a midday sweat sesh? Look to the “Perfect Hair Day” dry shampoo, which absorbs perspiration, oil, and odor while adding texture and volume to fine hair, making beachy waves attainable—even in the dead of winter.
For cheeks and lips
One Over One
If you’re making a concerted effort to eat a plant-based diet, it makes sense for your makeup to come straight from the Earth, too—right from the Green Mountains of Vermont, to be exact. One Over One uses ingredients you might find in your pantry or garden, including sunflower oil, sesame oil, and sage leaf, to make cream blush, lip gloss, and highlighter designed to accent your best features—not mask them.
