Clean products may earn praise for what they leave out of their ingredient lists, but these winning skin, hair, and makeup products also deserve to be celebrated for everything they include: conscientious ingredients that don’t compromise on effectiveness and environmental awareness.
Sure, there’s been some backlash against clean beauty, and we totally get that—some of the marketing out there has gone way overboard when it comes to fear-mongering and pseudoscience. But when you filter out the B.S. and take into consideration the very valid concerns of millions of beauty shoppers, you’re left with a select group of trusted products that not only check all the boxes on our strict list of clean beauty standards but also please both the pickiest clean-beauty shopper and those who couldn’t care less about sulfates and cyclic silicones.
Be sure to check out our other 2024 Readers’ Choice categories, like skin care and makeup, to see if your favorite products made the cut.
All the Winning Products:
- Favorite Moisturizer: Drunk Elephant Lala Retro Whipped Cream, $64
- Favorite Sunscreen: Supergoop Play 100% Mineral Lotion SPF 30, $38
- Favorite Shampoo and Conditioner: SheaMoisture Jamaican Black Castor Oil Strengthen & Restore Shampoo and Conditioner, $12 each
- Favorite Styling Product: SheaMoisture Coconut & Hibiscus Curl Enhancing Smoothie, $14
- Favorite Facial Cleanser: Youth to the People Superfood Cleanser, $39
- Favorite Body Wash: Native Body Wash, $10
- Favorite Body Lotion: Glow Recipe Watermelon Glow Pink Dream Body Cream, $26
- Favorite Deodorant: Dove 0% Aluminum Deodorant Stick, $11
- Favorite Foundation: BareMinerals Original Loose Powder Foundation SPF 15, $39
- Favorite Concealer: Ilia Beauty True Skin Serum Concealer, $30
- Favorite Blush/Bronzer: Ilia Beauty Multi-Stick, $36
- Favorite Mascara: Ilia Beauty Limitless Lash Mascara, $28
- Favorite Eye Makeup: Tower 28 OneLiner Lip Liner, $15
- Favorite Lip Gloss/Lipstick: Tower 28 ShineOn Lip Jelly, $16
Readers’ Choice Awards: Clean
FACIAL MOISTURIZER: Drunk Elephant Lala Retro Whipped Cream
Intense enough to work as a night cream yet light enough to be applied as a day cream, Drunk Elephant Lala Retro Whipped Cream has become a go-to for folks who prioritize their skin barrier above all else. A ceramide trio locks in hydration and moisture from a sodium hyaluronate crosspolymer and an impressive blend of oils including marula, baobab, and Kalahari melon; fermented green tea seed extract oil provides antioxidant-rich goodness. In other words: Dry skin? What dry skin?
SUNSCREEN: Supergoop Play 100% Mineral Lotion SPF 30
Have you ever loved your facial sunscreen so much that you want to slather it all over your body? If not, it sounds like you haven’t yet tried Supergoop Play 100% Mineral Lotion SPF 30. This mineral sunscreen offers broad-spectrum protection in a formula that’s more than friendly to facial and body skin, nourishing it while ensuring sweat-resistant sun defense wherever it’s applied.
SHAMPOO & CONDITIONER: SheaMoisture Jamaican Black Castor Oil Strengthen & Restore Shampoo and Conditioner
What’s your damage? No matter how you’ve chemically compromised your hair, SheaMoisture’s Jamaican Black Castor Oil Strengthen & Restore Shampoo and Conditioner can put you on the path to stronger, more hydrated hair with ingredients such as shea butter, peppermint, apple cider vinegar, and, of course, castor seed oil. The shampoo clarifies to make room for all of the strengthening and moisturizing benefits in its conditioning sister, leaving you with noticeably healthier-looking hair.
STYLING PRODUCT: SheaMoisture Coconut & Hibiscus Curl Enhancing Smoothie
As delicious as it may sound, SheaMoisture Coconut & Hibiscus Curl Enhancing Smoothie is not made to be sipped, and if you tried (but please don’t), it would be virtually impossible given how thick this hair mask is. To really reap the curl-defining, frizz-reducing rewards of its title ingredients (as well as neem oil and silk protein), your best bet is to apply a small amount after conditioning and leave it in to work its magic.
FACIAL CLEANSER: Youth to the People Superfood Cleanser
This isn’t the first rodeo for Youth to the People’s Superfood Cleanser. Allure readers have previously declared their love for this vitamin C- and E-packed gel cleanser, and that love is still going strong, thanks to this cleanser’s ability to gently yet effectively remove makeup and pore-clogging dirt while depositing the free-radical-fighting benefits of kale, green tea, and spinach.
BODY WASH: Native Body Wash
Native’s deodorants may have put the brand on the map, but its hydrating body washes are definitely keeping it there. Famous for offering an awesome array of scents—some of our favorites are Key Lime & Sugar and every one of the limited-edition Girl Scout cookie aromas—this cleansing gel is made without sulfated surfactants, parabens, phthalates, or dyes. If you’d prefer it without a scent, Native’s got you covered there too.
BODY MOISTURIZER: Glow Recipe Watermelon Glow Pink Dream Body Cream
Is it really too much to ask your body lotion for more than just moisture? Glow Recipe says no. Its Watermelon Glow Pink Dream Body Cream, which is also an Allure Best of Beauty winner, fights dryness with moisturizing ingredients such as watermelon seed and bacuri butters, and gives skin an extra-smoothing surge with an exfoliating alpha hydroxy acid derived from hibiscus. It also absorbs quickly and fully, so you never have to worry about moisturizing your clothing by accident.
DEODORANT: Dove 0% Aluminum Deodorant Spray
It’s truly remarkable how many non-antiperspirant deodorants have hit shelves in recent years—a sign that brands are really listening to consumer concerns. In this aluminum-free sea of options, one product floats to the top as a clear fan favorite: Dove 0% Aluminum Deodorant Stick. Its gentle, moisturizing formula helps underarm skin feel soft and smooth, all while ensuring hours upon hours of odor protection.
FOUNDATION: BareMinerals Original Loose Powder Foundation SPF 15
Fans of BareMinerals Original Loose Powder Foundation SPF 15 have been known to say “I’m never going back to liquid foundation” after using it just once, which may explain why it has won a Readers’ Choice Award way more than once (three times more). Truly buildable—go sheer or apply full coverage with ridiculous ease—this lightweight, mineral-based powder gives skin a luminous look without a dry feel.
CONCEALER: Ilia Beauty True Skin Serum Concealer
Ilia Beauty True Skin Serum Concealer may be medium coverage, but it’s lighter than lightweight. That barely there texture is a big part of why it blends flawlessly into foundation or bare skin, covering dark circles, blemishes, and discoloration like that’s its job. Oh, wait—it is. Considering the formula also includes skin-brightening ingredients such as vitamin C, it deserves a raise.
BLUSH/BRONZER: Ilia Beauty Multi-Stick
Unless you’re using a diaper bag to carry around your on-the-go makeup, your makeup bag has limited space. Editing is necessary. And while it can be hard to narrow down your picks, one product is a no-brainer: Ilia Beauty’s Multi-Stick. Available in a dozen seriously-gorgeous-on-everyone shades (like the peachy-pink Whisper and pearly bronze In the City), this creamy twist-up stick can (and should) be used on cheeks and lips, eliminating the need to carry around lots of other products. There’s just no way to glow wrong.
MASCARA: Ilia Beauty Limitless Lash Mascara
This Best of Beauty Award winner has impressed our editors for a while, and now the readers have also spoken: Ilia Beauty Limitless Lash Mascara is legit. Add as many coats as you deem necessary, then watch in awe as it doesn’t flake. Instead, you get lift, separation, and volume from a gentle formula that conditions your lashes while instantly enhancing them.
EYE MAKEUP: Tower 28 OneLiner Liner
Tower 28 OneLiner Lip Liner doesn’t just qualify as clean, it qualifies as kind of miraculous. A classic pencil format with a matte finish that isn’t drying? Like, how? The formula’s shea butter and marula oil make its color wildly blendable, refusing to tug as you apply. Just a heads up: You’ll probably be tempted to use it on your cheeks and eyes too—and Tower 28 encourages it.
LIP GLOSS/LIPSTICK: Tower 28 ShineOn Lip Jelly
To call Tower 28 ShineOn Lip Jelly a lip gloss is to underestimate it. Sure, it gives lips a truly stunning shine in a variety of fun and easy-to-wear shades, but it goes beyond glossiness with its balm-like benefits. Five different nourishing oils—apricot kernel, castor seed, dog rose, avocado, and raspberry seed—ensure lips feel as juicy as they look.