The 10
Top Clean
Beauty Swaps
for 2019
This is the year to make the shift from conventional to clean beauty—the tech, the textures, the colors, the scents, and the performance are all there, so there are no compromises to be made. Since real change is often gradual, we’ve started with some site (and staffer) favorites. Spoiler alert: You’re going to want everything.
1
CLEAN EXFOLIANT
Instead of the consistency-altering chemicals and preservatives, fragrance, and other ingredients that do nothing for skin, GOOPGLOW Microderm Instant Glow Exfoliator contains glycolic acid plus a blend of four powerful skin-polishing minerals for the most thorough exfoliation of your life. There’s nothing harsh in this air-whipped formula, and the best part is you feel it sloughing away dirt and grime as it works its glowy-skin magic.
goop Beauty GOOPGLOW Microderm Instant
Glow Exfoliator
goop, $125/$112 with subscription
It’s a dual-action microdermabrasion exfoliator that delivers the benefits of both physical and chemical exfoliation, instantly polishing away roughness, smoothing uneven texture, and revealing a healthy-looking, glowing complexion. The air-whipped, almost marshmallow-like formula is densely packed with a blend of four powerful glow-inducing microexfoliating minerals (quartz, garnet, alumina, and silica) plus glycolic acid to help sweep away dry, dead skin cells and refine the appearance of pores for skin that is visibly softer, smoother, and more radiant.
2
CLEAN DEODORANT
The underarms are a particularly vulnerable spot on the body—close to lymph nodes and often subject to daily shaving, which makes the skin there more porous than it already would be—which makes the aluminum, known endocrine disruptors like parabens and phthalates, and synthetic fragrance (an ingredient that can legally hide hundreds of potentially toxic ingredients) in conventional antiperspirants and deodorants all the more concerning. The newest clean deodorants are as effective as the conventional ones, absorbing sweat and targeting odor with sophisticated blends of botanicals, plant-derived starches, clays, and essential oils. This one from Type A holds up against the most ass-kicking workouts and stressful office days and comes in a compact, chic tube that easily fits in any bag.
Type A The Minimalist (Unscented)
goop, $10We couldn’t believe how well this brilliantly smooth cream deodorant in an easy-to-use tube held up against hot yoga, cardio workouts, and stressful workdays. Organic vegetable-derived glycerin and arrowroot powder absorb sweat, aloe hydrates and soothes, while zeolite (a mineral compound) and baking soda help neutralize odor. We love the unscented version, The Minimalist, as much as the faintly citrusy flavor, The Visionary.
3
CLEAN MASCARA
Conventional mascara commonly uses a product of coal-tar combustion, along with preservatives, parabens, phthalates, and plastics in its formulas. The idea of putting those chemicals into our eyes, without even the barrier of skin that most other products are applied to, doesn’t sit well with us. This one uses chicory root extract, along with other natural ingredients, to leave lashes impossibly long, fluttery, and inky.
Westman Atelier Eye Love You Mascara
goop, $62It’s GP’s favorite—and you won’t believe this ultraluxe hydrating mascara is clean and free of sketchy chemicals. It leaves your lashes gorgeous, blackest black, sexy, and super defined in a single coat. It gives you the most voluminous, glossy, can’t-believe-your-eyes lashes you’ve ever had. Larch tree extracts hydrate and condition lashes, chicory root extract helps boost volume and thickness for fullness, and sunflower seed, carnauba, and beeswax keep the long-lasting inky-black mascara from clumping, smudging, or flaking. A unique light-blue nylon brush helps separate and evenly distribute mascara from the root.
4
CLEAN TINTED
LIP
(AND
CHEEK) BALM
A super moisturizing, faintly tinted balm that leaves lips gleamy (and also adds the perfect warm flush to cheeks) is a look we love every day, year-round. The petroleum, dyes, and plasticizers in conventional balms are concerning since you ingest anything you put on your lips. The balms from Olio E Osso are infused with organic olive oil, shea, essential oils, and natural pigment that soothe dryness and nourish lips as they leave behind the sexiest tint.
Olio E Osso Balm
goop, $28This citrusy, super moisturizing tinted lip and cheek balm delivers all the cushy hydration of the original No. 1 Balm, with the addition of the most flattering-to-all-skin-types sheer pigment out there, period. It’s the sort of your-lips-but-better color that brightens up your whole face yet doesn’t read as “lipstick” or even “gloss”—just all-natural prettiness, pure and simple. Bonus: The stick fits the shape of your lips perfectly, so it feels especially fantastic going on.
5
CLEAN
SHAMPOO AND CONDITIONER
Hair care is a particularly toxic category in conventional beauty. When you go clean with your hair products, beyond the benefits of dodging parabens, preservatives, and synthetic fragrance, you also get more of the natural oils, butters, and plant extracts that actually work to keep your hair healthy and shiny. (Many of the ingredients—like silicones and polymers—that conventional beauty brands commonly use to make hair look healthy do little to actually condition it.) We’re in love the pure, super luxurious line from Innersense—it leaves hair fantastically healthy and shiny.
Innersense Hydrating Cream Hair Bath
goop, $28This cream cleanser is perfectly formulated to wash, hydrate, and smooth hair all at once, leaving it bouncy and healthy-looking. Sage and tamanu essential oils nourish the scalp, and deeply moisturizing emollients soften and smooth hair to the ends. The lightweight formula is gentle, restoring moisture without weighing hair down.
Innersense Color Radiance Daily Conditioner
goop, $28Nourish and revitalize color-treated hair with this rich conditioning cream. Rice bran oil, aloe vera, avocado oil, and sunflower extract combine with shea butter to strengthen and smooth hair, reducing frizz and leaving hair shiny and bouncy.
6
CLEAN SELF-TANNER
If you love self-tanner, it’s hard to live without it, despite the usual laundry list of potential toxins in many conventional formulas (parabens, phthalates, and synthetic fragrances, to name a few). And if you love self-tanner, this one—a clear solution that turns into an easy-to-blend foam and leaves the best, most natural color and never transfers, not even the tiniest bit—is a full-on miracle.
Vita Liberata Invisi Foaming Tan Water
goop, $39This clear tanning water is an absolute dream to apply. It foams into a thick, hydrating mousse that sinks right into skin when applied with the Vita Liberata Tanning Mitt—and the clear solution means there’s absolutely no residue or transfer to clothing or sheets. The quick-dry formula is infused with organic botanicals and aloe leaf juice to moisturize skin while it works.
7
CLEAN SKIN TREATMENT
Conventional face products often contain irritating and potentially toxic chemicals (hello, preservatives!), but they also pack in many ingredients like thickeners and binders that make a product feel more moisturizing but don’t actually do anything for your skin. In contrast, clean, nontoxic moisturizers often have higher concentrations of…moisturizing ingredients. This cult-favorite one from Vintner’s Daughter gets raves from the breakout-prone and the more aging and dry skin types among us. Phytoceramides, twenty-two active organic botanicals, essential oils, and powerful phytonutrients are part of the magic that really shows up on your skin. The results never fail to blow us away.
Vintner’s Daughter Active Botanical Serum
goop, $185It’s not surprising that this oil has a cult following: It’s an infusion of twenty-two active organic botanicals mixed with powerful essential oils. Phytonutrients and minerals help balance skin; phytoceramides, nourishing fatty acids, and antioxidants stimulate and brighten dull complexions. The revolutionary formula beautifully sinks in, leaving skin smooth and glowy.
8
CLEAN BODY LOTION
Body lotion gets smoothed over considerably more of your body than say, face cream. And since a good deal of what you put on your skin is absorbed, clean and nontoxic makes enormous sense. Consider that the European Union has banned over 1,300 ingredients in beauty products, while the FDA has outlawed just 11. And also consider all the unadulterated goodness (nourishing oils and plant extracts as opposed to polymers and silicones that feel smoothing but do little to moisturize skin) you get when you choose a clean lotion. This one is made with a blend of essential oils, plant butters, antioxidants, and swirls of skin-rousing citrus.
Grown Alchemist Body Cream: Mandarin
& Rosemary Leaf
goop, $26
This ultraluxurious cream is made with bioactive, certified-organic ingredients to soothe and nourish even the driest skin. Pomegranate and shea butters mix with antioxidant almond, grape-seed, and rose hip oils, leaving skin firmer, softer, and utterly revitalized. Plus the tube itself is just plain gorgeous.
9
CLEAN BODY WASH
Conventional body wash can expose you to potential irritants, endocrine disruptors, and other toxic ingredients in two ways: Skin absorbs whatever you put on it much more readily if it’s wet, but you also breathe in the same potentially harmful ingredients through the shower steam. In place of drying surfactants like sodium lauryl sulfate (SLS), sodium laureth sulfate (SLES), and ammonium lauryl sulfate (ALS), goop’s incredible-smelling body wash relies on plant oils and adaptogenic extracts to cleanse the body and spirit. The dreamy lather releases an aromatherapeutic burst of energy—it’s brilliant in the morning for dusting off the cobwebs—along with a moment of calm when you inhale deeply. Close your eyes, luxuriate, and just be.
goop Beauty Ginger + Ashwagandha
Energy Body Wash
goop, $32
An invigorating plant-based body cleanser that leaves your skin feeling refreshed and helps clear your mind. The magic of botanicals—the fresh, organic roots of ginger and ashwagandha—combines with the subtly spicy aromatic power of Japanese shiso leaf, Indian black pepper oil, and pink peppercorn berries to awaken the senses and uplift the spirit, the emotions, and the whole body.
10
CLEAN SUN PROTECTION
Chemical sunscreen contains some of the most irritating, harmful substances in the beauty industry. Two commonly used ones are oxybenzone and octinoxate, both of which are potential endocrine disruptors and accelerate coral bleaching (both were recently banned in Hawaii for the latter reason alone). Mineral SPF formulas (make sure the active ingredient box on the back contains only zinc oxide and/or titanium dioxide) sit on top of skin to physically block UVA and UVB rays, as opposed to chemical sunscreen ingredients, which absorb the rays. Clean, coral-reef-friendly, and skin-soothing (zinc oxide is the calming ingredient in baby-bottom cream), mineral formulas take a touch more time to smooth into your skin, but they’re more than worth it. The cream-serum from Vive Sana is one of the most moisturizing, glow-inducing formulas we know.
Vive Sana Serum Crema SPF 20
goop, $75The love child of a super hydrating day cream, a serious SPF, and a potent serum, this nourishing moisturizer protects from UVA and UVB rays while rejuvenating skin. There are four hydrating oils—argan, apricot, avocado, and jojoba—plus glycerin to soften and further moisturize skin. Antioxidant astaxanthin, green tea, red raspberry, rosemary, and vitamin E soothe and even skin tone. It feels incredible, sinks in instantly, and leaves skin healthy, glowing, and protected.
BONUS: CLEAN PERFUME
We’re passionate about fragrance. And it remains one of the most under-regulated categories in an under-regulated industry: If you see the word “fragrance” on a label, know that it’s (legally) used to hide any ingredients a manufacturer doesn’t want you to know about. Master perfumer Douglas Little has almost single-handedly turned clean, skin-friendly perfume into the luxurious, magical, beautiful thing it is today. He creates scents not only for goop but also for his own line, Heretic. His latest, Florgasm, is an epic, erotic mix of tuberose, jasmine, ylang-ylang, and more.
Heretic Florgasm
goop, $165Five fresh, full-bloom flowers—orange blossom, French tuberose, Jasmine grandiflorum, ylang-ylang, and linden—mix with spicy pink pepper and leathery ambrette to create an irresistible, full-on sexy floral. New from natural perfume star Douglas Little (along with Heretic, he cocreates the goop fragrances with GP), Florgasm is one of the sexiest florals we’ve ever tried—and it’s definitely one of the best names we’ve ever heard, too. The gorgeous glass bottle is travel size, brilliant for the makeup bag or suitcase.
