20 Sustainable Beauty Products for Spring

Cotton rounds aren't beauty "products" in the traditional sense, but they are the unsung heroes of a routine and can be quite wasteful as disposable items. But not anymore. We can now buy reusable and sustainable versions of cotton rounds that can be washed and reused, like these from the brand Face Halo, which come in a pack of eight.

The cotton rounds help to remove the makeup, but the makeup remover itself can be sustainable, too. This one is touted as toxin-free, with natural ingredients like hempseed oil, castor oil, and witch hazel extract. The brand that makes it promotes recycling by accepting back empty bottles from customers.

Black Girl Sunscreen is an innovator in the beauty business, becoming a household name sunscreen for darker skin tones. The brand also has a mission to be environmentally conscious. It helps to meet this goal by accepting empty packaging for recycling — with a surprise for doing so, too.

We had to include another sunscreen because it's just that important of a step in one's beauty routine, especially as sun protection becomes vital as we spend more time outside in the summer. The Iris&Romeo Weekend Skin SPF 50 + Vitamin C + Glow combines vitamin C and SPF in one product, which is already eco-conscious. The tube is made from 60% recycled plastic.

The brand 100% Pure has a reputation for being a sustainable business with strong products to boot. The bakuchiol moisturizer touts itself as a retinol alternative that has hyaluronic acid and squalane to hydrate and protect the skin's barrier (and prevent sun spots). The best part: The brand allows you to choose to donate to an animal shelter or plant a tree at checkout.

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Spring is a good time to use a concealer that can provide ample coverage, but also feel light and airy. That's the RMS UnCoverup Concealer (available in 16 diverse shades). It's purported to be a buildable coverage concealer that leaves a natural finish, but it can also be used as a color corrector and moisturizer. It's packaged in a glass jar and an "outer carton made of 80% post consumer recycled paper and vegetal ink."

Ilia is known for being a beauty brand that avoids harsh and harmful chemicals in its products, and its mascara is a favorite for many makeup lovers. Ilia also uses "sustainable packaging through the use of recycled aluminum, glass components, and responsibly sourced paper" to really make it an all-around "do good" brand choice.

When choosing a lip balm, it's easy to buy from brands that aren't sustainable, especially when it comes to the packaging and volume of product. We found one of a few brands trying to do better in this arena and that's La La Leaf Co., which makes a lip balm that provides long-lasting moisture and a longer shelf-life. The balm is also cruelty-free, of course.

Highlighter is the icing on top of a glam and glowy makeup look, and it can be sustainable, too. This vanilla highlight is from Ere Perez, a brand that has committed to being ethical as well as eco-conscious one. The brand aims by 2024 to be "87% plastic free, 50% recyclable, 26% refillable, and 24% reusable."

Those who are in the market for a sustainable powder foundation should check out Honeypie Mineral Foundation. It is made with all-natural ingredients and doubles as a foundation and setting powder. The product has 4.3 out of 5 stars on Amazon and uses compostable materials. The brand also promises to plant a tree for every product purchased.

Speaking of natural beauty products, the brand Bee You Organics has the same idea. Bee You's blushes use clay and mica for a natural, flawless look. The brand tries to minimize plastic waste, and is currently moving away from plastic packaging.

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Bésame Cosmetics is a Latina- and female-owned business that sells lipsticks for all seasons with a focus on vintage shades. Several of the shades are bright and perfect for spring, like the Victory shade, seen here. The brand says it's been committed to sustainability for the last 17 years with its packaging: "reusable tins for our Cake Mascara to and biodegradable paper envelopes to refillable metal keepsake compacts and our signature aluminum lipstick tubes."

This Inika Organic eye shadow palette has four fabulous eye shadow pigments for spring that will go perfectly with different shades of soft blushes. From the shadow itself — made from ethically sourced mica — to the packaging, which is made from sustainable and reused materials, Inika products are worthy of this lineup.

The monochromatic look has been in style for a few seasons, and it's usually created using multiuse products. It's not only smart, but it also looks good, saves money, and incorporates natural materials. An eco-beauty win. That's the idea with Axiology Beauty's Balmies, specifically this vegan set, that are 3-in-1 multi-use crayons that can be used on eyes, lips, and cheeks. The sticks come in plastic-free packaging for an eco-boost.

It says it in the name, but to expand on that, the Zero Waste lip and cheek product from Your Izzy is also a multi-use product in a stunning pink color that can be used as lip gloss or blush. It's also "cruelty-free, vegan-friendly and CarbonNeutral for minimal impact to the environment."

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Pretty pink hues scream spring, so we found an amazing eye shadow formula from Elate Beauty, a brand that includes sustainability front and center in its brand. The company tries to minimize plastic with sustainable packaging while working to plant trees and to donate to environmental causes. The company also strives to ensure the farmers it works with are paid and treated fairly.

Tata Harper is a more established brand, known for its sustainability efforts (and for being "handmade with love in Vermont"), but has great products to back up its success. If you have money to spend on a great product, it's a brand to splurge on. The resurfacing serum will leave your skin feeling fresh, bright, and exfoliated for spring.

Speaking of exfoliators, this one from Aavrani, which is a turmeric-infused clay mask that is said to gently exfoliate, brighten, and even out skin tone, also comes highly rated. The brand, founded by a woman of color, gives back in a different way: by pledging 2% of its annual proceeds to an education program for young women in India.

For a hydrating glow that combines hyaluronic acid and vitamin C in one serum as well as saving money and reducing packaging, we look to Three Ships Beauty Dew Drops Mushroom serum. The serum has a number of natural ingredients, including several eco-friendly bark extracts.

We'll let the brand explain: "Our Bark Extract is upcycled from the biomass by-products of the lumber industry in Quebec, Canada. The bioactive molecules in the tree’s bark are obtained through a circular economy cycle, where leftover bark is recycled into compost and returned to the forest as fertilizer."

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Last but not least, many of us include nail lacquer or gel nail polish as part of our beauty routine, and we should make those as sustainable as we can. We found that Dimension Nails has a great sustainability reputation as vegan, cruelty-free, and eco-conscious. The brand uses recycled materials for packaging, and its "resealable baggies use over 50% less plastic than our reusable pots." The company offers a return program for customers to recycle their bottles.