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The world of clean beauty can be a confusing — and even misleading — one to wade into. Long before Allure created the Clean Beauty seal as part of our annual Allure Best of Beauty Awards, we'd already witnessed countless marketing ploys, greenwashing attempts, and unscientific myths that proliferated through social media. Contrary to popular opinion, not every "natural" ingredient is beneficial to skin (think of poison ivy), and not every "chemical" is harmful or synthetic (even water is the product of a chemical reaction). To make matters muddier, there's no recognized standard for what constitutes a clean beauty product, allowing the entire market to devolve into a sort of beauty Wild West, where pseudoscience, gimmicks, and good intentions vie for relevance and our dollars.
That's why we took it upon ourselves to develop our own standard for what Allure means when Allure says "clean." Just like every clean product recommended by Allure, the superlative winners on this page are entirely free of the following: parabens, phthalates, cyclic silicones, sodium lauryl sulfate and sodium laureth sulfate, polyethylene and polypropylene (microbeads), triclosan, talc, aluminum salts, mineral oil, petrolatum, hydroquinone, formaldehyde, toluene, and chemical sunscreens.
Scroll below to see all the best clean beauty products of the year, then see our full list of 2023 Best of Beauty winners, or pick a category and run with it. Not sure where to start? We recommend kicking off your beauty journey with our Skin Care, Eye Makeup, and Splurges categories.
Best of Beauty Awards 2023: Clean Beauty
Jump ahead to a specific product or keep reading to see all our editors' favorite serums, SPFs, shampoos, and more products that lived up to our Clean Beauty seal's standard in 2023:
- Best Clean Makeup Products
- Best Clean Skin-Care Products
- Best Clean Hair-Care Products
- Best Clean Body Products
Best Clean Makeup Products
Why it won: Spiked with fermented arnica, a natural anti-inflammatory, the serum-thin Haus Labs by Lady Gaga Triclone Skin Tech Foundation extinguishes redness, evens out splotchiness, and feels so weightless, you can't tell where the pigment ends and your skin begins.
Why it won: Packed with peptides, hyaluronic acid, and avocado oil, one swipe of the tinted Kosas Wet Lip Oil Gloss — available in 11 different pinks, mauves, and neutrals — delivers sheer color and potent hydration, making your lips appear extravagantly moist and full. "I get so many compliments when I wear these — especially the soft pink Revealed — which is probably why I have at least three tubes in my bag at all times," says associate beauty director Sarah Kinonen.
Why it won: We'd happily wear our lashes the way nature intended if nature had given us more in the volume department. The Lip Bar Big Timer Volumizing Mascara uses synthetic beeswax to bulk up every lash.
Why it won: Leave it to Victoria Beckham — she of the oversize sunglasses and discreetly arched brow — to develop the most elegantly understated eyebrow pencil, the Victoria Beckham Beauty Baby Blade Microfine Brow Pencil. The minuscule nib has a teardrop shape for artful sculpting and stealthy shading.
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Why it won: So, this is what it feels like to have naturally pillowy lips? The remarkably sleek (not slick) Abature Blackberry Lip Butter seems to hydrate from the inside out — thanks to avocado and sweet almond oils — giving your mouth a velvety finish that won't kiss off.
Why it won: The opaque Tower 28 Sculptino Soft Cream Contour goes on seamlessly, blends without streaks, and defines without shimmer, giving us a clean, sculpted look. "I use my fingers to paint this onto the tops of my cheekbones, around my forehead, and down my jawline for the most subtle contoured look," says site director Sam Escobar.
Why it won: Blush doesn't get more beautiful (or versatile) than this. Infused with water lily extract, hyaluronic acid, and sunflower seed oil, the hydrating pigments in Saie Glow Sculpt Multi-Use Cream Highlighting Blush deposit a dewy flush on cheeks, lids, and (in a pinch) lips.
Best Clean Skin-Care Products
Why it won: Straight from the mountains of Wyoming, the exfoliating Alpyn Beauty Pore Perfecting Liquid With 2% BHA + Borage allows you to reach peak glow. The blend of salicylic acid and hydrating snow mushroom (to reduce redness) makes skin appear luminous and practically poreless.
Why it won: Like a wellness retreat for your skin, the antioxidant-rich Honest Beauty Daily Green Juice Antioxidant Super Serum calms inflammation and boosts hydration with a healthy dose of fruit and veggie extracts (like carrot, kale, and apple), plus two forms of hyaluronic acid.
Why it won: For all its superlative brightening power, vitamin C is a notoriously fickle ingredient, often degrading inside the bottle. Kinship Brightwave 10% Vitamin C + Peptide Serum contains tetrahexyldecyl ascorbate, a super-stable (and super-potent) concentration of ascorbic acid, giving your skin a radiant glow that just won't quit.
Why it won: Like the world's fanciest cappuccino, the invigorating Good Weird Cold Brew Undereye wakes up tired eyes with a shot of caffeine and obscures dark circles with a fine dusting of diamond powder.
Why it won: With its cloudlike texture and delicious scent, the fluffy Strip Makeup Whipped Coconut Makeup Remover is the definition of good, clean fun. The moisture-rich, coconut oil-packed formula melts away makeup and transforms your skin into a bouncy canvas.
Why it won: The weightless Muri Lelu Mauvaise Herbe Indica Oil calms skin and dissolves stress with an aromatic blend of botanical extracts (hemp, licorice) and essential oils (marula, baobab). The results are so soothing that we're crossing our fingers for a full-body version (Muri Lelu, are you listening?).
Why it won: The silky texture and skin-adapting tint means you can put on Lightsaver Activated Mineral Sunscreen SPF 33 without a mirror (not that you'd want to miss seeing the dewy glow). "This has a super-elegant, silky application," says commerce editor Sarah Han. "It leaves a tinted finish with a subtle sheen."
Why it won: We'll always have a thing for the color pink (thanks, Barbie, Marilyn, Billy Porter), but the sophisticated Biossance Squalane + Vitamin C Rose Moisturizer brings more to the table than a rosy tint. With hydrating squalane and brightening vitamin C, it plumps and brightens like a dream come true.
Why it won: The vitamin-rich Mara Flower Acid Algae Sérum combines flower extracts (hibiscus and sunflower), lactic acid, and marine algae to gently exfoliate and bring brighter skin to the surface.
Best Clean Hair-Care Products
Why it won: Red-carpet-hair whisperer Mara Roszak (see: Emma Stone and Zoe Saldaña) says the glossy, bouncy magic really starts in the shower. So she created the volumizing — and, dare we say, glamorous — RŌZ Foundation Shampoo & Conditioner without silicones, sulfates, or parabens. What do they contain? Peptides and ceramides to strengthen and smooth.
Why it won: Applying a few drops of the delicate Squigs Gooseberry Delight Hair Oil feels like a halo of light. The silicone-free formula is that good at quieting flyaways and coddling sensitive scalps. "I use this as a conditioning treatment at night and smoothing oil in the morning," says senior editor Jesa Marie Calaor. "It makes my hair so shiny and has a pleasant citrus scent."
Why it won: You could buy only one or two of the products in this comprehensive system, but why break up the band? Whether used individually or together, every single formula in the Fekkai Super Strength+ Collection — shampoo, conditioner, mask, oil, and mist — got top (gushing, really) marks from our testers.
Why it won: Not to burst any bubbles, but blonde hair is extra-susceptible to dullness and fading (the result of UV rays, product buildup, and minerals in your tap water). Dae Violet Hour Purple Shampoo neutralizes those brassy tones with purple pigments, while cactus flower extract (a powerful humectant) locks in moisture and shine.
Why it won: By the time you're done reading this, one more bottle of the near-magic Mielle Rosemary Mint Scalp & Hair Strengthening Oil will have been sold. And we get it. The shine-inducing cocktail contains over 30 essential oils (peppermint, tea tree, and lavender, to name a few) to strengthen hair, soften ends, and — oh, wait. There goes another one.
Best Clean Body Products
Why it won: The fragrance equivalent of a freshly cut bouquet, this cheerful arrangement of creamy white flowers (tuberose, jasmine, honeysuckle) and crisp pear in Ellis Brooklyn Florist Eau de Parfum captures the sparkle and softness of a dew-soaked bloom.
Why it won: With its fluffy texture and plant-derived hydrators (like shea and murumuru butters), the weightless Superegg This Moment Hand Care whisks away roughness and dryness without leaving the greasy finish of traditional hand cream.
Why it won: This mineral formula has got your back (and front). The lightweight Alba Botanica Sheer Mineral Fragrance Free Sunscreen Lotion SPF 50 goes on white before it fully absorbs, ensuring you never miss a spot.
Why it won: You know that dainty, lit-from-within look that beauty products are always promising us? This isn't it. The gold-tinted Deon Libra Big Up Body Glaze — bursting with ceramides, botanical oils (castor, jojoba, sesame), and anti-inflammatories (amla and ashwagandha) — gives us the alloyed gleam of polished bronze. Big improvement.
Why it won: When Nécessaire The Body Exfoliant Bar is gone, it's gone for good — there's no bottle to throw away. The silky results keep going strong, though, thanks to a cocktail of ceramides that mends your moisture barrier.
Why it won: The gentle, fragrance-free Iota Supervitamin Body Wash+, Soothing doesn't deplete your natural moisture. Instead, it protects the skin's barrier from dryness and dullness with aloe (to soothe) and glycerin (to smooth).
Why it won: Packed with antioxidant-rich plant oils (buriti, camu camu, passionfruit seed), Eminence Organic Skin Care Yuzu Solid Body Oil melts into a silky emulsion as you massage it into your skin, leaving behind a nongreasy sheen and delicious citrus scent.
Why it won: The silkiest, loveliest, opposite-of-heaviest moisturizer we've ever encountered, Henry Rose Sheep's Clothing Body Cream leaves your skin feeling softer than cashmere (the faux kind) and smelling faintly of roses (the fresh kind).
Why it won: A touch of wood and a dash of musk temper rich notes of vanilla and chocolate in By/Rosie Jane Dulce Eau de Parfum for a scent that's perfectly sweet but not even a little bit cloying.
