With Christmas fast approaching, Sjaniël Turrell shares her recommendations for clean beauty basics to suit every budget.
Delving into the world of clean beauty can be a fun exercise in discovering new products that you never knew were even out there. But this can also become a very expensive exercise if you are over enthusiastic or are going on a trial and error basis. Clean makeup products are generally more expensive than your average high street makeup brand – with good reason, you’re paying for 100% quality ingredients rather than for just the pretty packaging or a brand name. In our current shopping climate, if we want to be genuinely more sustainable with our buying choices the biggest step we can take is to buy less with more purpose. So here follows an easy guide of your basic starter kit essentials for the budget you have, also a very handy gift guide if you’re wanting to spoil someone with more than just your average beauty products.
UNDER £30
- Lily Lolo BB Cream – £13.50
A sheer overall finish with even-out coverage.
- Benecos Natural Eyeliner – £2.50
With eight colours to choose from you can accentuate your lash line or smudge on the eyelid for eyeshadow effect
- AVRIL Volume Mascara – £ 6.30
A brilliantly effective and volumizing mascara for the price. Curl your lashes before applying for extra effect.
- Lavera Trend Sensitive Natural Mousse Blush – £7.60
Choose a pink or coral tone to suit your personality – this cream-based blush can be dabbed onto both cheeks and lips to finish off your look.
UNDER £50
- Borlind Natural Brow Pencil – £9.50
Choose one of four colours – this handy pencil comes with a brush attached to keep those brows boyish and bushy (but on purpose).
- Green People Volumising Mascara – £16.50
Lashes that speak volumes once you’ve given them a layer or 3 of this brilliant mascara.
- Burt’s Bees Natural Satin Lipstick – from £7
With a great selection of colours, these are not only moisturising but very pigmented – don’t forget that you can always use your fingers to dab a bit on your cheeks too.
- Lily Lolo Sculpt and Glow Contour Duo – £16
Use for bronzy cheeks and glowy arches and cheekbones – this contour set is subtle enough to double up as a great eyeshadow palette.
UNDER £100
- RMS Beauty Uncover up – £34
Highly pigmented – a tiny amount goes a long way – apply with a foundation brush on the face for an even-tone, glowy finish and with the fingertips to double up as a concealer – there are now 16 colours in this range which makes it suitable for almost everyone.
- Ere Perez Vanilla Highlighter – £23
The subtle sheen of this cream highlighter can be used on cheekbones, lips, brow bones and don’t forget a dap on the inner corner of the eye brightens up the whole face.
- INIKA Organic Liquid Eyeliner Black – £19
A black flick or liquid lash line goes a long way in creating a look with minimal effort.
- Ere Perez Carrot Colour Pot – £21
Create a beautifully stained lip and cheek effect with these handy multi use pots.
UNDER £150
- Ere Perez Oat Milk Foundation – £29
Great coverage with a lightweight feel and a satin matte finish, this is a great foundation for many skin types where you can forgo the powder. 6 colours to choose from. - Absolution Cosmetics Concealer – £24
This liquid-based concealer gives great coverage without being too thick or creamy – dab around the under-eye area and on any red spots or areas – 3 colours + a handy peach colour (#10) for blue or dark circles. - Ere Perez Chamomile Eye Palette – 26.50
Four palettes – Pretty, Gorgeous, Lovely & Beautiful – each with 6 shadows of varying nudes, browns and copper or shimmer tones – one palette will cover you for any look you love. - INIKA Organic Eyeliner – £17
This eyeliner is perfect for lining your lash line with a colour that makes your eyes pop – 8 colours to choose from – for a stronger makeup look add more liner on the outer corners of the eye and forgo using more than one eyeshadow colour. - ILIA Beauty Essential Brow Gel – £24
This handy brow gel makes doing brows easy and leaves them looking filled in with a bit of conditioning sheen. - Absolution Cosmetics Sweet Safe Kiss – £24
Choose one of these super strong and pigmented lipsticks for a look with a statement lip.
£200 PLUS
- RMS Beauty Signature Set – £42
These brilliant palettes come in two options – MOD for yellow/coral undertones and POP for blue/pink undertones – contains 2 amazing highlighters, 2 lip2cheek colours and a moisturising lip balm
- Gressa Corrective Serum Foundation – £62
This revolutionary serum foundation goes on smooth as silk with a soft powdery finish whilst giving your skin maximum nourishment in the process – 8 shades to choose from.
- Ere Perez Avocado Waterproof Mascara – £21
For a natural mascara with more staying power and less smudging this is the mascara for the party season.
- (M)ANASI 7 Custom Eye and Brow Quad – £58
An elegant mix of 4 essential nude tones that work for both brows and eyes. Use a light shade over the whole eyelid and then add definition with a dark shade using an angle brush on the lash line
- Kjaer Weis Eye Pencil – £24
Four luxury eye pencil colours that can create a clean, defining line or smudge out with your fingers or blending brush to create a more subtle shaded effect.
- (M)ANASI 7 All Over Colour – £39
These multi-use pots are perfect for lips and cheeks – with strong pigments you can create a full lipstick effect or just lightly dab with finger tips to create a stained effect – 8 different colour options so you can collect your favourites.
Best clean beauty shopping resources:
CONTENT BEAUTY
NATURISIMO
ALYAKA
LOVE LULA
ECCO-VERDE
Read Sjaniel’s guide for where to start with ethical beauty.