Twenty One Pilots, Rosie Assoulin, and The Grand Budapest Hotel — there's something gratifying about discovering an indie hit before it gets big, and the same goes for beauty brands. By now, most of you are more than likely familiar with the big names: the products that stand out on CVS and Sephora shelves. You know, household brands like Burt's Bees, GlamGlow, and BareMinerals. These guys will always hold a special place in our hearts — and our bathroom cabinets — but we can't deny that we love ourselves a fabulous under-the-radar find. Take the ubiquitous brand, Drunk Elephant: Just a few years ago the Texas-based, non-toxic powerhouse was flying under everyone's noses, and now our aunts are asking about its famous T.L.C. Framboos Glycolic Night Serum. The point is all brands, big and small, have gotta start somewhere (and we can't say we mind if one of those places includes our desks). With that said, we bring you 21 outstanding beauty companies we can't stop talking about. And the best part? Many of them are disrupting the status quo.
Photos: Courtesy of Brands
Maya Chia
Founded by ex-political speechwriter Susanne Norwitz, Maya Chia was developed based on the amazing nutritional benefits of chia seeds.
When Norwitz realized the superfood's potential in skin care, she created a luxury, all-natural line of products, including this beauty editor favorite hybrid called Highlight of the Day, so that people could reap its skin-perfecting results. Other highlights from the brand are its Pressed Serum Brightening Moisture Concentrate and the Body Illuminating Serum, both of which contain chia in addition to other skin-loving ingredients like coconut and broccoli seed oils.
Captain Blankenship
If you've been looking for a way to support women-run companies, buying beauty products from Captain Blankenship is a great place to start. The brand supports small farms, puts the planet first, and is completely free of parabens, synthetic preservatives, and other nasty toxins. Some of our personal favorites from the upstate New York-based brand include its Golden Waves Sea Salt Shimmer Spray and its Mermaid Detox Face Mask. Cute names and high quality? Yeah, we'll take it.
Herbivore Botanicals
Started in their Seattle kitchen, Julia Wills and Alexander Kummerow built Herbivore Botanicals to be totally non-toxic, high-quality, therapeutic, and just plain enjoyable to use. All of its products are created and tested on themselves and friends, and they put a major emphasis on ethically sourcing organic ingredients wherever possible. Its best-selling Blue Tansy Resurfacing Mask is a standout as it uniquely exfoliates the skin while soothing it at the same time. Other must-haves are its Rose Quartz Illuminating Body Oil and Lapis Facial Oil.
Indie Lee
After being diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis, followed by a rare brain tumor — both in less than a year — Indie Lee went on a mission to make effective skin-care products free of toxins or anything synthetic. She started with the Coconut Citrus Body Scrub, a gentle exfoliator created to soothe her dry skin while she received chemo. We're also obsessed with the Blemish Lotion, a talc-free spot treatment that shrinks zits without turning your skin into a flaky nightmare.
Remix by Giselle Wasfie
Ex-magazine editor and music journalist Giselle Wasfie gave it all up to start Remix, an aromatherapy-slash-beauty line inspired by Chinese medicine. Based out of Chicago, the now acupuncturist-herbalist handcrafts her fragrant creations using botanicals and essential oils with the backbone being the principles of energy medicine, which are said to deliver a mind-body healing effect. The brand's Weed Bug Repellent + Unisex Cologne is an example of how Wasfie develops products made for multiple purposes (and in chic packaging no less). This scent features notes of orange, lemon, jasmine, and rose geranium, as well as sandalwood and vetiver. Bye-bye bugs, hello smelling great.
Mad Hippie
Don't let the quirky name and cutesy packaging throw you off: The Portland, Oregon-based brand's Vitamin C Serum is a miracle worker. The blend of antioxidants (including ferulic acid and vitamin E) promotes a brighter complexion and helps protect against further aging. Bonus: Proceeds from every online sale go to save endangered elephants.
Sachajuan
Sachajuan is a Swedish hair-care brand that has earned legions of followers — beauty editors and industry pros included — thanks to its awesome styling products and sophisticated packaging. We love the entire line, but the Ocean Mist salt spray has an extra-special place in our hearts — and on our vanity tray.
Kahina Giving Beauty
By now you're well aware of argan oil's magical moisturizing properties. But Kahina's line of skin- and hair-care products doesn't use just any old argan oil. The New York-based brand uses cold-pressed, certified-organic oil that's sourced from female-run cooperatives in Morocco. For extra hydration, we like to mix a few drops of the argan oil into our face cream or through the ends of damp hair for a conditioning boost.
Urban Skin Rx
Founder Rachel Roff started Urban Skin Rx as a means to make the beauty world more inclusive because she recognized the lack of education and treatments available for conditions seen in darker skin tones. The collection features a wide range of products for just about every concern under the sun: eczema, dark spots, ingrown hairs, and so on. The brand's multi-use Even Tone Cleansing Bar is a best-seller because not only does it work wonders on dark spots and texture, but it can also be used as a cleanser, exfoliator, and face mask.
Onomie
Its millennial-pink packaging and streamlined collection are only two reasons people adore Onomie. Its patent-pending formulas and advanced technologies are two more. With that said, it's hard to choose a favorite from the line — because everything is just that good — but the brand's new-to-the-market Boosting Lip + Cheek Stick, which comes in three skin-enhancing shades, quickly became beloved by beauty editors for its moisturizing formula, beautiful shades, and portability.
Skylar
This fragrance line is cruelty free, hypoallergic, and free of parabens and toxic chemicals. Oh yeah, and its scents are pretty sublime, too. This one in particular, called Isle, is a best-seller and features notes of bergamot, cardamom, and sandalwood. The result is uplifting, clean, and perfect for someone new to the fragrance game.
DedCool
DedCool was born in Los Angeles a little over two years ago by founder Carina Chaz, who was just 21 at the time. Chaz took her passion for cologne, masculine scents, and clean beauty and used them to bring to life a perfume brand with natural ingredients and minimal packaging to appeal to the masses. Her non-toxic, high-quality scents aren't geared toward any gender, which we love, seeing as everyone should be able to enjoy fragrance regardless of how they identify.
Saturday Skin
We can't sing Saturday Skin's praises enough for two main reasons: The K-beauty brand is all about self-care — its products are designed to feel like "a weekend in a bottle" — and they're highly effective. OK, and fine, the adorable packaging gets to us, too. Some of our staples are its Daily Dew Hydrating Essence Mist, which features kiwi and grape extracts to plump skin, and its Featherweight Daily Moisturizing Cream, a light-as-air moisturizer that hydrates as quickly as it sinks in.
Fatboy Hair
The name in itself is enough to make you want to purchase one (or all) of its products, but Fatboy Hair doesn't skimp on quality just because its branding is A1. The inclusive hair-care brand, designed for all hair textures, develops effective products with clever packaging: One of our go-tos is its Hair Perfect Putty, which feels smooth and creamy when you're applying it, but then dries down matte, keeping flyaways at bay while creating amazing second-day texture. It also comes in spray form, if that's your jam.
Grown Alchemist
Based in Austrailia, Grown Alchemist makes high-performance products for hair, body, and skin using advanced peptides, collagen-boosting actives, and powerhouse antioxidants. An all-time favorite is its Tinted Hydra-Repair Cream, which contains skin-calming camellia and geranium blossom and offers subtle coverage that's amazing for sensitive and redness-prone skin. See it in action in this step-by-step guide to makeup for facial redness.
Juvia's Place
Inspired by the beauty of African culture, Juvia's Place was started to offer highly pigmented, vibrant makeup (with a focus on eye shadow palettes) at affordable price points. Whether you're into neutral tones or high-voltage brights, there's definitely something that will strike your fancy from the inclusive cosmetics brand — and it won't cost you more than $25.
Kopari Beauty
Co-founders Kiana Cabell, Bryce Goldman, and Gigi Goldman started Kopari with 100 percent pure, organic coconut oil at its core. Sourced from the Philippines, the brand uses coconut oil to develop products for the hair, body, and skin. Its prized Coconut Melt is a favorite among bloggers, beauty editors, and skin experts alike, but if you're looking for a killer face cream, cleansing oil, or lip balm, Kopari has you covered, too. Oh yeah, and its delicious body scrub won a Best of Beauty Award last year, too.
Jillian Dempsey
Renowned makeup artist Jillian Dempsey, who works with stars like Kristen Stewart and Jennifer Aniston, blew people away with her eponymous beauty line, which features creamy lid tints, kohl eyeliner, and cream blush. You can tell the products were developed by someone who seriously knows their stuff, as the products are pigmented, long-lasting, versatile, and just straight-up beautiful. This bronze lid tint is particularly swoon-worthy.
Fluide Beauty
Fluide Beauty produces makeup for everyone — regardless of race, gender identity, religion, and so on. And it happens to be damn-good, too. The liquid lipsticks are creamy, opaque, and non-drying, and the nail varnishes don't chip on the second day like some non-gel formulas do (that and its color selection is prime). Products aside, we're partial to Fluide because it spotlights the fact that we're finally moving in a more inclusive direction in the beauty industry that refuses to market makeup to only one type of person. As if its ethos wasn't already reason enough to show your support, the brand also gives 5 percent of its proceeds to LGBTQ health and advocacy groups.
Plantoxidants
Eco-friendly, organic brand Plantoxidants uses the antioxidant-rich power of goji berries to infuse its skin care with clean, all-natural goodness that increases skin-cell turnover and fights free radicals. The certified-organic line contains no irritants, chemicals, or synthetic fragrances, and is all about nourishing and strengthening the skin. Its Purifying Cleanser is especially lovely as it unclogs pores and cleans skin without stripping it.
Kosås
Started by former painter Sheena Yaitanes, Kosås is a consciously formulated cosmetics brand based out of California that has quickly become touted among beauty editors and industry insiders. Made with quality ingredients, its products are designed to complement every skin tone. Its lipsticks, in particular, are some of our most-loved from the line because they're ultra-pigmented and long-lasting, but still soft and comfortable to wear.
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