Here’s Exactly How To Shop Beauty According To Your Ethical (And Skincare) Concerns

IMAGE: INSTAGRAM @SHELFIELUST

Mindfulness @ Mecca

Mecca Cosmetica has recently added curated edits of products available directly from the home page. Each option is there to meet specific concerns, be it products that are vegan (yay for Mecca MAX!), ‘naturally derived’ (you can’t go past RMS Beauty) or ‘ingredient conscious’ (the elegantly simple body products from French Girl).

MECCA MAX SELFIE SKIN, $28

RMS SIGNATURE SET, $67

FRENCH GIRL Lumière Moonlight Shimmer Oil, $76

Sephora Made Simple

Not to be outdone, other major online retailers are also making it easier for you to shop the way that suits you, endless scrolling be damned. Sephora offers the ability to make selections according to specific ingredients, so you can easily see both what is included, and what is definitely excluded. Super handy when, say, you want a new retinol serum, but need it to be alcohol-free. (Btw, if this is you, FAB’s Skin Lab Retinol Serum has got you covered.)

SEPHORA MAKES IT EASY TO SHOP FOR EXACTLY THE INGREDIENTS YOU DO (AND DON’T) WANT TO USE, JUST LIKE WITH THIS RANGE OF MASKS FROM DR ROEBUCKS.

IMAGE: INSTAGRAM @DRROEBUCKS

FIRST AID BEAUTY SKIN LAB RETINOL SERUM 0.25% PURE CONCENTRATE, $91

DR. ROEBUCKS TAMA HEALING MASK, $35

Awareness with Adore Beauty

Acknowledging that unregulated terms like ‘clean beauty’ can be a minefield, Adore Beauty gets specific. Within their major ‘organic and ethical’ category, you can pinpoint your specific concern. For instance, are cruelty free products important to you? Easy. They offer three different accreditations to shop by, including products with the very strict Leaping Bunny seal, like the classic Dr Bronner liquid soaps, as well as a separate vegan section, where you can happily stock up on Olaplex’s cult hair treatments.

Dr. bronner 4-1n-1 soap, $17.95

OLAPLEX NO. 7 BONDING OIL, $49.95

R+Co Trophy Shine + Texture Spray, $45

Savvy Shoppers Are Happy Shoppers

Our take? The more informed we are before we spend those big beauty dollars, the better, so kudos to these sites that help us shop smarter. With more choice available than ever before, being able to easily edit your options by concern is a time and sanity saver. As for their next steps, we’d love to see retailers address the last two major issues in online beauty shopping – the environment (providing info on sustainably resourced ingredients, packaging and shipping options), and finally disclosing full ingredients lists. When we know exactly what goes into our products, in every sense, then we can put our money towards supporting what matters to us.

Story by Zoe Briggs.