Beauty & Wellness

Pucker Up This Valentine’s Day: Best Clean Beauty Lipsticks and Glosses

As you get ready for Valentine’s Day next week have you thought about your lipstick and lipgloss you’ll be wearing?  While it’s pretty, how safe is it for you?  I honestly think that with all of the great clean beauty brands out there this is one of the easiest clean beauty swaps that you can make!  And just in time to pucker up next week!

First off why you should make the switch!

Did you know that the average woman will consume (that’s right, eat!) up to 4 lbs. of lipstick in her lifetime?  It isn’t something that will just absorb into your body by sitting on your lips, it’s something you are actually eating, consuming and ingesting!  Many conventional brands of lipsticks and glosses have been found to contain very high levels of lead and other heavy metals (like arsenic) that may lead to or contribute to neurotoxicity, thyroid dysfunction, reproductive issues, act as hormone disruptors and even cause cancer.

Now I know lipstick is personal and we all have that one that we love and always stock up on. Mine was Dior Cherie! And I often hear it’s too hard to find safer beauty options or that they just don’t stack up in terms of performance to their dirty counterparts.  Based on all this scary stuff though do you want to be using toxic lipstick, especially if I can tell you there are amazing safer options out there that work just as well or can I say even better?  I can tell you that after doing some research and trial and error I have discovered there are so many really great non-toxic alternatives out there that are actually high performing too.  My criteria of course was that they would work well, had a variety of colours to pick from, and that they were made from clean ingredients, according to the trustworthy Environmental Working Group Skin Deep database and my trusty Think Dirty app.  Plus now that my daughter is obsessed with make-up too, it has to be safe enough for her to wear it!

Pucker up and kiss toxic goodbye! Let’s talk clean beauty lipsticks and glosses!  Here’s my roundup of some of my favourite cleaner, safer, non-toxic lipsticks and glosses out there!  And I’ve got picks that are accessible (you can even find some of these at the drug store, Walmart and Amazon!) and at all price points too!

 

Beautycounter

I was introduced to Beautycounter a couple years ago as I was starting to explore the world of safer beauty products.  I had tried a few other brands and hadn’t found anything that was also high performing so I had started to lose hope.  Until I tried this line that is!  I found that I really like a lot of their products and they are just as good as the conventional ones I had been using, minus the toxins of course!  I loved their stuff so much that I actually decided to become a consultant myself earlier this year.  I’m not being biased when I say that the Beautycounter lipsticks and glosses are probably my favourite ones out there!  My ultimate favourite is the Sheer Lipstick which is the perfect everyday lipstick. It’s super moisturizing and comes in a great range of shades – my favourites right now have to be Lily a nice neutral pink and Petal a really sheer light pink..  As is their Colour Intense Lipstick which I can vouch for lasting through hours of wear, through dinner and even an evening of drinks!  I love the “First Date”shade in this one! So let’s move on to lipgloss.  While I’ve never been a huge fan of lipgloss, the Beautycounter Lipglosses are great because they are lightweight and not tacky at all.

 

Ilia

I really love Ilia products and the lipsticks are amazing too. Again, a great shade range and you can easily find these online at Sephora or on the Detox Market!  I really love the Tinted Lip Conditioners for a nice sheer wash of colour, that’s just a bit more than a balm though.  I have Nobody’s Baby and love it (very pretty everyday pink).  The Color Block High Impact lipsticks are great if you want more pigment and something longer lasting.  And then there’s their regular Lipstick which is moisturizing and provides great colour, though I find there’s not as many shades available.

 

Burt’s Bees

For years I’ve been using the lip balms but just last year they came out with a new make-up line that also included lipsticks and glosses.  The colour range is pretty good and they do go on well! And I love that I can find these at pretty great prices (about $10 or less) at my local drug store and even on Amazon!  The colour range is ok and at this price these are especially great if you are looking for alternatives for the little girls in your life!

 

 

Clove + Hallow

I really like that these are fairly clean in terms of their ingredients.  I had tried some of their other eye products so had to check these out.  I like that the Lip glazes go on really well and their consistency and even packaging really remind me of the the Stila Lip Glazes I used to wear years ago!  I personally like Bubbly.  The Lip Creme lipsticks are great, very moisturizing and there’s a pretty decent (but not extensive) colour range.  I think my favourite is definitely Ballerina Slipper. They are pretty affordable and you can buy them online at the Detox Market and other Clean Beauty boutiques.

 

Bite Beauty

I received a Bite Beauty Agave Lip Mask as a Christmas gift from a friend last year just as I was starting to explore safer beauty alternatives, so you can say it was perfect timing!  It’s more of an intensive lip balm with a hint of colour so it definitely is great to renew and moisturize your lips, especially over the winter months.  My only complaint though is that I do find it a bit tacky so that’s probably one of the reasons I don’t reach for it as much.  From there I tried out the Amuse Bouche too!  It’s ok but again I don’t love them enough to buy again or pick over my other choices.  Of all the brands though I would say Bite Beauty has the most extensive colour range.  I counted 46 different shades just for the Amuse Bouche lipstick on the Bite Beauty site ! Another plus is you can find them online and even in stores at Sephora if you need to get your lipstick fix quick.

 

Juice Beauty

I discovered Juice Beauty one day while we were shopping at our local Murale Beauty Boutique which has started carrying more and more clean beauty brands.  I really liked the colour range available and had heard great things about them – and it turns out it was all true!  I tried out the Phyto-Pigments Satin Lip Cream which is a bit more pigmented and also the Phyto-Pigments Luminous Lip Crayon which although is a bit sheerer still packs quite a bit of colour.

 

100% Pure

Another cult favourite out there that I tried and recommend is 100% Pure.  I checked out the 100% Pure Fruit Pigmented Lip Glaze.  I liked that it was super moisturizing and gave my lips a nice wash of colour.  Plus the colour selection was pretty vast too!  Another one that I really like is the Fruit Pigmented Pomegranate Oil Anti-Aging Lipstick which is a lipstick with benefits!  I like that!  I’m not sure how anti-aging it is, but it definitely is super moisturizing!

 

RMS

If you’re looking for a lipstick that’s more of a semi-matte formula that’s highly pigmented, definitely check out RMS Wild with Desire,  There’s a pretty big colour range and you can pick it up online at Sephora, Detox Market, online beauty boutiques and Murale.  I guess I’m not the best to review this one because I’m not a huge fan of matte lipsticks and found this to be a bit too dry for me.

 

Pacifica

I heard of this brand while I was shopping at my local Healthy Planet and decided to give it a try.  It’s definitely on the lower end in terms of price which is nice.  I really liked the Colour Quench Lip Tint for every day moisturizing.  It goes on light and sheer with just a hint of colour.  Plus it smells so good!  And you can’t go wrong with the price at around $7.00!

 

Lastly don’t forget to exfoliate and moisturize your lips because that’s where it all starts!  Beautycounter has a great lip scrub/polish that’s part of the Pout Perfecter Lip Care Set.  Another alternative is this Lip Scrub by Burt Bees.  Works great but warning it is small!  Another option is to just DIY a lip scrub at home – hmmm, I might have to try this one day!

 

I know there’s so many more out there to try!  I still want to try W3LL People, Kjaer Weiss and the Fitglow Colour Lip Serum that has a bit of a cult following amongst the clean beauty bloggers.  Just not sure I want to spend that much on Fitglow when I already have some great finds!  That’s the thing there really are so many great options that trust me you will find a replacement for that favourite lipstick of yours!

If you are looking to make the switch one of the things that you can do for yourself is to get the information you need to make safer decisions.  Check the ingredients on the labels.  To make it easier check out the Think Dirty app or the EWG Skin Deep site and you can actually search products to see how they’ve been rated.

I hope this has been helpful and that you’ll make the switch to a safer non-toxic lipstick or two!  And don’t forget the gloss too!  I’d love to hear your thoughts and reviews too!  Please share in the comments section below!  Until next time, stay pretty, choose safe and get ready to pucker up for Valentine’s Day next week!

 

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