Want to change up your look while changing the status quo? The best zero waste makeup brands can help you do both.
Commercial makeup is filled with (let’s be frank) junk, including chemicals, preservatives, and other fillers you don’t want on or in your body.
While sustainable makeup brands offer alternatives that aren’t just healthier for you, but for the planet too.
And that’s what we’ve curated in this list. Brands that take clean beauty to the next level by creating zero waste cosmetics, with safe ingredients and formulations so you can dab, draw, blend, and tint without worrying about your beauty routine’s impact on the planet (or your health).
Soon we’ll be using our Brand Rating System moving forward to look at a range of criteria, like chemical use, sourcing, and company values. For more on how we’ll evaluate these brands in the coming months, see our rating approach.
We independently research all featured brands and we ask them to confirm their claims. In many cases we personally review recommended products. This post contains affiliate links which means we may earn a commission if you buy something. Learn more here.
Plastic-Free Makeup Brands We Love Using
Axiology offers 3-in-1 makeup crayons with simple paper wrapping. They’re ideal for minimal and multipurpose makeup users like us who appreciate their sustainable simplicity.
Creating makeup to accommodate all skin tones and gender identities, Terra Stoma‘s cosmetics aren’t just natural but beautifully inclusive, too.
We love using Dab Herb’s range of cosmetics, which are vegan-friendly, cruelty-free, and palm oil-free—not to mention come in some seriously gorgeous, responsible packaging.
Index: Zero Waste Cosmetics Brands
- Terra Stoma Jump to brand
- Dab Herb Makeup Jump to brand
- Axiology Jump to brand
- All Earth Mineral Cosmetics Jump to brand
- Plant Makeup Jump to brand
- Elate Cosmetics Jump to brand
- Fat and the Moon Jump to brand
- Bee You Organics Jump to brand
- Eco Minerals Jump to brand
Terra Stoma
Price Range: $–$$
Woman and Latina-owned Terra Stoma is a Texas-based brand founded by clinical herbalist Taylor Terrazas. Committed to inclusivity, their gender-neutral makeup range is formulated for diverse skin tones and available at an accessible price point. That’s even given that their prices incorporate a “Plastic Tax,” which is donated quarterly to social and environmental initiatives.
As a member of SBBC (Small Business for Big Change), the brand’s products are made in small batches using clean formulas and sustainably packaged in aluminum, glass, or paper with hemp or sugarcane labels. Aluminum refills are available for the skin elixirs.
If you want to shimmer and sparkle without harsh chemicals and toxic ingredients, Terra Stoma’s high-pigment colors fit the bill. The range includes shimmery liquid eyeshadow, eyeliner, mascara, lipstick, foundation, illuminator, and eyebrow pomade. Many products contain mica, which is ethically sourced and free from nanoparticles and heavy metals.
My Personal Review of Terra Stoma’s Beauty Stick:
“I’ve tested several of their refillable makeup products, including the multi-use Beauty Stick for lips, cheeks, and eyes, which comes in a fully compostable and ultra compact cardboard tube. I love how silky smooth it feels, and it smells divine! You also only need a small amount because the color is so vivid and it spreads so well, so each stick lasts a long time in my experience.”
Review by Amber McDaniel, SJ’s Head of Content
Dab Herb Makeup
Price Range: $–$$
Coming to you from California, Dab Herb is a “Nature to Nurture” beauty and skincare company that uses (mostly) certified organic, wild-harvested, and food-grade ingredients, ethically sourced from carefully chosen suppliers. Everything is handmade in micro batches to reduce waste and guarantee freshness.
All of their plastic-free makeup products are vegan-friendly, cruelty-free, and palm oil-free. You’ll find botanical butters, herbs, oils, and plant pigments on the full ingredient lists they share for each product. They avoid the use of minerals but do use mica, sourced from a Responsible Mica Initiative member.
Dab Herb offers makeup for eyes (mascara, eyeliner, eye shadow, and eyebrow pomade), faces (natural foundation, concealer, luminizer, primer, contour powder, blush, color corrector), lips (gloss, tint, balm), and makeup tools—all of which come housed in glass or tin containers and compostable tubes. Refills (available on request) come in paper pouches, and orders ship in paper mailers.
My Personal Review of Dab Herb’s Petal Concealer:
“Several of Dab Herb’s products have a place in my everyday beauty routine, but I’m especially drawn to the Petal Concealer, a creamy and moisturizing spot treatment rich in nourishing ingredients like raw and unrefined avocado oil, grapeseed oil, and food-grade flower petals that’s perfect for touching up those surprise midday pimples and red spots.
The pocket-sized pot is super small and portable, but because it has such great spot coverage, it’s lasted me over a year already.”
Review by Amber McDaniel, SJ’s Head of Content
Axiology
Price Range: $–$$
Ericka Rodriguez founded Axiology when she couldn’t find decent cruelty-free, vegan lipstick.
The completely zero waste beauty brand’s growing collection of paper-wrapped, plastic-free cosmetics can be found at several major retailers, and US shipping is available from the website.
The BIPOC-owned, woman-run business sources several ingredients (including shea butter and moringa oil) through fair trade channels. They also source all compostable outer packaging from a woman-owned recycled paper co-operative in Bali.
All products—which include Balmies, Multi-Sticks, and Shape Sticks—are PETA-certified cruelty-free and vegan, and made with simple ingredients, about 70% of which are organic. Beyond not using any palm oil, Axiology also provides financial support to the Orangutan Foundation International and several other animal welfare organizations.
My Personal Review of Axiology’s Balmies:
“Axiology’s 3-in-1 makeup crayon is one of my favorite makeup products. The paper-wrapped colorful organic lipsticks can also be used on cheeks and eyes, so I don’t need separate products – love multi-use! Plus, I’m a big fan of the fact that they contain nine simple ingredients and are the perfect size for popping in my handbag for on-the-go application.
“I also recently tested the new Shape Stick, a super creamy multi-use stick that makes contouring effortless (even if, like me, you’re a little cosmetically challenged).”
Review by Amber McDaniel, SJ’s Head of Content
All Earth Mineral Cosmetics
Price Range: $–$$
An award-winning UK-based makeup brand, All Earth Mineral Cosmetics handmakes all its products in Kent or Cornwall from a combination of mineral and botanical ingredients. They prioritize ethical ingredient sourcing, especially regarding their minerals, which are sourced through child-labor-free channels.
Their plastic-free cosmetic packaging includes recyclable and reusable glass or aluminum and a “Pot for Life” reusable makeup sifter made locally from recycled finished nets. Refills come in compostable tubes.
Plus, their Eco Swap lets customers send back unwanted containers for recycling through TerraCycle, and orders ship in biodegradable and recyclable materials, each one helping fund Eden, a global nonprofit working to restore ecosystems around the world.
With all manner of face makeup (foundation to illuminator), lip and eye tint, and a skincare collection (butter, cream, serum, and face masks), All Earth Mineral Cosmetic has everything you need for a low waste makeup routine. Plant and non-nano mineral-based, the line is free of parabens, alcohol, sulfates, gluten, synthetic preservatives, fragrances, and binders.
Plant Makeup
Price Range: $–$$
Plant Makeup was founded by artist, musician, and all-round creative goddess Jes and her passion for plants. What started with blending herbal teas grew into something much bigger, and the art-project-meets-apothecary now offers a full selection of non-GMO, cruelty-free, and palm oil-free makeup, skincare, haircare, and scent products that she makes in small batches and ships from her home in Massachusetts.
Products are packaged in glass pot minis, metal tins, or compostable cardboard tubes adorned with Jes’s hand-drawn artwork. Orders ship in biodegradable, recycled, and upcycled materials.
A one-stop botanical shop, the range includes multi-use products, like bronzer/foundation, zero waste lip balm, eyeshadow, shimmer sticks, mascara, highlighter, and primer, made with love and sustainably sourced local and/or organic ingredients. Not everything is vegan as some products contain organic USA-sourced beeswax or honey. They are, however, made without mineral oil, nanoparticles, synthetics, toxins, or animal-derived carmine for coloration.
Elate Cosmetics
Price Range: $–$$
Committed to ethical ingredients, sustainable packaging, and responsible marketing, Canadian Elate is at the forefront of the conscious beauty movement, shipping worldwide from their home in beautiful Victoria, British Columbia.
All of their products are vegan and cruelty-free with Leaping Bunny and PETA certifications, and over 75% of their ingredients are certified organic. 95% of their packaging materials is reusable, recyclable, or compostable. Materials include bagasse (a byproduct of sugarcane production), aluminum, glass vials, FSC-certified wood, and bamboo. You can recycle packaging at home or by returning your empties to the brand.
Plus, the Certified B Corp donates 2% of its annual profits to charity—1% to environmental nonprofits and 1% to social nonprofits.
Elate’s range includes eye makeup (eyeshadow, zero waste mascara, eyeliner, and brow balm), face makeup (foundation, powder, concealer, blush, highlighter, bronzer), lipstick, lip gloss, palettes, and kits. All products are free from gluten and nano-sized particles. They do use some RSPO-certified palm oil derivatives and mica is sourced from Responsible Mica Initiative members.
Fat and the Moon
Price Range: $–$$
Drawing inspiration from herbalists and natural healers, women-owned Fat and the Moon creates all-natural, mostly organic “potions” that prioritize healing and “empowerment through self-care”.
Skincare to non-toxic deodorant, all products are freshly handmade to order with all ethically sourced ingredients that include nourishing plant seed oils, clays, hyaluronic acid, botanical extracts, and essential oils. All Fat and the Moon products are palm oil-free and cruelty-free, but not entirely vegan, as the eye coals and lip stains contain beeswax.
Their “adornment” collection contains highlighters, eye coals (similar to eyeliner but less waxy and in pot form), and tinted lip/cheek stains, made by infusing alkanet root in nourishing sunflower oil, with a touch of rose geranium essential oil added for scent. They’ve designed their tin and glass jar packaging “to be a joy to reuse and a breeze to recycle,” and they support various charities and causes in their community.
Bee You Organics
Price Range: $–$$
Bee You Organics was founded by Larissa Warren, who started experimenting with developing natural skincare products after an accident left her skin badly scarred. Their bee-you-tiful zero waste beauty products are handmade in small batches and include organic sun-protective BB creams, face powders, mineral eyeshadows, eyeliner, and mascara.
Ingredients are ethically sourced, food-grade, mostly organic, and fairtrade where possible. All products are also non-GMO, cruelty-free, alcohol-free, palm oil-free, preservative-free, and water-free. Not all ingredients are vegan, as some of their zero waste skin care includes emu oil and the BB creams contain beeswax, sourced from their own apiary and local bee farmers, which they further support by funding local university bee research projects.
For packaging, they use tin, glass, or cardboard. Orders ship plastic-free, right down to the compostable labels, and they also accept returns of used containers for recycling/reuse.
Eco Minerals
Price Range: $–$$
Founded in 2007, Eco Minerals is a makeup brand based in Byron Bay, Australia. Their products are 100% natural, vegan, cruelty-free, and palm oil-free.
Across their range of foundation, concealer, blush, bronzer, illuminate, eye shadow, mascara, and lipstick, you won’t find any parabens, talc, magnesium stearate, bismuth oxychloride, nano-particle, fillers, dyes, or coated mica. Instead, you’ll find pure natural mineral ingredients, including responsibly sourced mica.
For a low waste makeup solution, they offer refills in kraft paper envelopes for some powder products and a 40% reduced plastic cartridge refill for their BB creams, radiance oil, and primer. Lipsticks come in recyclable aluminum tubes and all orders ship using biodegradable materials.
Hopefully this isn’t completely obvious, but is there a key to the bullet point colors?
Hi Janice! You’re right it’s not super obvious, we should make that clearer. You can find a detailed description of what we look for here and a good explanation of the key here. Hope that helps!
Hi
I’m also trying to shop local miles and so these brands from west coast usa and Australia don’t fit the bill 🙁 Can you please keep with a list of UK//mainland Europe products, do you think? Thank you for the work you’ve done.
Thanks for the feedback Lorna, we’ve had quite a few folks asking us for this so will aim to do that in our next refresh of these articles. We started with this article which might help, but not many UK/EU brands yet, we will work on building up that list!
I was looking into zao cosmetics but haven’t heard a lot about them. Did they not make your list for a specific reason?
Thanks Abby! We actually did try reaching out to them to try learn more but never received a response. Good prompt to try again, thanks!
Zao make up brand as well
Thanks Jayde, we will try at some point to reach out to them again. No response on the first try!