Our Top Picks for Plant-Based Skincare

If you're hoping to incorporate a few clean skincare options into your routine or explore plant-based body care, you've landed in the right place! In this blog, we'll explore some of our most popular clean and plant-based skincare brands and talk about the inspiration behind the products.

Alissa Bayer launched Milk + Honey as a spa in 2006 with clear founding principles: to create an exceptional spa experience, commit to hyper-clean ingredients, and give back to the community. Since then, the brand has grown to include a collection of six spa locations, as well as a hyper-clean line of bath, body, and skincare products. When it came to developing the products, Alissa and her team of talented estheticians, massage therapists and stylists chose premium, non-toxic ingredients that are effective and a delight to use.

While their list of "no" ingredients includes thousands of ingredients, here are the heavy hitters: aluminum, animal testing, artificial dyes, dimethicone, filler ingredients - e.g. water, formaldehyde and formaldehyde-releasing agents, hydroquinone, mineral oil. oxybenzone, parabens, PEGs, petroleum, phthalates, polyethylene glycols (PEGs), polyunsaturated oils (PUFAs),retinyl palmitate, silicones, SLES, SLS, sulfates, synthetic fragrance, triclocarban, triclosan.

If you're looking for a hyper-clean way to remove makeup, we recommend their Cleansing Balm. It's rich in texture but melts in the palm of your hand into a milky cleanser with organic coconut and grapeseed oils to remove even the most stubborn makeup without stripping the skin and Kakadu Plum fruit extract , a rich source of Vitamin C, which helps to brighten and nourish.

Founder Suzanne LeRoux was raised on a farm in Georgia and learned the importance of clean, plant-based ingredients at an early age. Her father was a pharmacist and instilled the love of science in her, but her analytical mind led her to become a lawyer. The busy schedule and rigorous work encouraged her to seek out cleaner skincare options to soothe her skin, and she began to study aromatherapy, herbology, and cosmetic chemistry at night. After having her sons, she decided to focus her energy on creating a clean line of products to restore health and wellness, and One Love Organics was started.

Since 2010, One Love Organics has been striving to create plant-based skincare products that are luxurious, easy to use, and effective while staying true to their roots of being a holistic brand that creates their products in small micro-batches at their manufacturing facility in Georgia to ensure unmatched freshness and quality for truly transformative results. Their mission is simple but powerful; they strive to provide luxurious, filler-free, clean, and plant-based products that are environmentally sustainable and kind to animals.

Their products are formulated without GMOs, parabens, phenoxyethanol, nanoparticles, silicon, PEG, synthetic perfumes nor dyes, and animal-derived products (unless it's naturally produced by them like honey, milk, or beeswax).

If we had to pick one product to recommend, we'd suggest the Botanical B Eye Balm. Byrdie recently named it the "Best Eye Balm" in an article dedicated to the best eye creams for sensitive skin.

Founded in 2000, REN Clean Skincare is one of the clean skincare pioneers. Founders Rob Calcraft and Antony Buck created their products after Buck's wife became pregnant and had negative reactions to her usual beauty products. They sought out clean products to replace those in her usual routine, but they found a lack of clean options. From there, REN Clean Skincare was born. Since then, they've created a line of skincare products that are formulated with sustainably sourced ingredients that are pH balanced to be gentle yet effective for all skin types. They also take pride in creating sustainable packaging with bottles made from ocean plastic and tubes created from recycled-plastic.

In an interview with Business Insider, David Delport, REN's Global Ambassador, said, "clean beauty is so much more than just using skin-friendly ingredients and actives — or simply not using known irritants. It must also proactively support the natural function of the skin and never force a short-term result at the cost of the skin's equilibrium, sensitivity, or barrier health. Our bio-active ingredients are essentially well-recognized by your skin. They speak the same language, but from product to skin, it must be a collaborative conversation — never a command."

According to their website, REN products are free from synthetic fragrance, pore-blocking petrochemicals, sulphate detergents, silicones, synthetic colours, animal ingredients and parabens. In addition, REN products do not contain potential irritants including: glycols and diglycols (such as propylene glycol), PEG's, PPGs, urea, D.E.A, T.E.A, PABA and other synthetic sunscreens, aliphatic alcohols/hydrocarbons, phthalates, fumarates, amines, alkanolamines, synthetic AHAs/BHAs, polyacrylamide, metacrylate, elastomer, poloxamer, styrene, vinyl, polyquaternium, synthetic chelating agents, nylon, nitriles, nitrates, nitrosamine releasers, bromates, fluor, aluminum and alumina.

While their line boasts many top selling products, our top pick is the Ready Steady Glow Daily AHA Tonic. It includes Lactic Acid (AHA) from yeast to gently exfoliate, Salicin (BHA) from Willow Bark Extract to reduce the size of pores, and Azelaic Acid Precursors from Grains to boost radiance. If you're looking for a product to help boost overall wellness, consider the Now to Sleep Spray,  a light pillow mist featuring a relaxing blend of natural oils including Frankincense, hops, and lavender to relax the mind & body, improving the quality of sleep.

Although they're best known for their makeup, clean brand True + Luscious offers several skincare items that have caught the attention of makeup lovers and pros. Their approach to clean beauty and skincare means never having to worry about harmful chemicals or irritants within their products. Their formulas include pure pigments and plant-based ingredients that are both high-performing and safe. In addition, they're 100% vegan, cruelty-free, and Leaping Bunny certified.

Their mission? GOOD. CLEAN. GLAM. That's a mantra we can get behind! Their products are formulated without parabens, sulfates, phthalates, mineral oil, formaldehydes, formaldehyde-releasing agents, retinyl palmitate, oxybenzone, coal tar, hydroquinone, trilosan, triclocarban, synthetic fragrances, acrylates, and steyrene.

Our top skincare pick is their Flowerdose Plumping Eye and Lip Serum, a multi-purpose product with Hyaluronic Acid to boost hydration, and a flower power blend of rejuvenating, soothing and anti-oxidant botanicals including Orchid Stem Cells, Rose, Plumeria, and Passion Fruit extracts that help visibly reduce fine lines and improve elasticity. If you're looking for the perfect setting spray that also has aromatherapeutic qualities, check out the Spellbinder Setting Mist. It contains a proprietary blend of organic pineapple juice and exotic botanicals like rosewater and honeysuckle extract gives your skin a bevy of healthy nutrients and helps lock in makeup for all-day extended wear.

Photos and brand story courtesy of Esker

Esker was launched in 2018 by Shannon Davenport. After a decade of working in New York City as a trend forecaster, where she helped major corporate brands shape their identities based on her research across beauty, design, art, and consumer trends, she decided to launch Esker as a way to act on her own ideas and build the brand she wanted to see in the world. She knew she wanted to create a brand with integrity and honesty as its cornerstones, and to make clean, safe products that nourish the body and elevate the way we care for it.

As she discovered the benefits of plant-based beauty and body care, she fell in love. She enrolled at the New York Institute of Aromatherapy where she received her certification in aromatherapy and became a NAHA Aromatherapy Advocate. She soon realized that the beauty industry didn’t seem to be taking the clean movement seriously, and that body care was consistently an afterthought. Around the same time, she became pregnant with her first child and became even more aware of her body and its need for a product that was safe to use while pregnant, filler-free, non-greasy, and--most importantly-- relied on the power of plants to nourish skin. Esker aims to transform simple body care routines into meditative rituals that heal, restore, and hydrate skin through the use of high quality essential oils and a simplistic

Want to explore more of the clean and plant-based beauty products we offer? Click here, or click below to view our wide range of self care products.

Camera Ready Cosmetics was founded in 2003 by Makeup Artist Mary Erickson. She dreamed of having a pro makeup showroom where artists could play with professional products without the typical makeup store attitude.

Today, our team of beauty industry veterans work together to curate the best quality products on the market. We partner with brands who respect the industry and formulate products for true working artists. You won’t find CRC in high-end malls, and we don't wear matching brush belts.

If you want to play with products for a few hours and buy nothing, that's okay ... come in and play! Our store is your playground.