In the age of mindful eating and decluttering, it’s no surprise that to see the rise of clean beauty.
We should all know by now that many of the mass-produced skincare products are made with questionable chemicals we can’t pronounce. Clean beauty, the buzzy—and still debatable—trend, is loosely defined as products that are made with ingredients that won’t cause harm to humans or the planet.
Each brand defines “clean” differently. Some stress using 100% organic vegan ingredients, while others simply mean that it is free of the most obvious toxins. But most importantly, the clean beauty trend encourages consumers to look at the labels and ingredients before buying.
Here are six different best-loved clean beauty products you can find in Hong Kong, including some handmade local brands. Find one that suits your clean lifestyle the best now:
Coconut Matter
If you are looking for an effective, well-designed skincare brand that is good for you and the environment, check out Coconut Matter.
Coconut Matter doesn’t only strive to be a natural, vegan beauty product. It also commits to plastic-free packaging. Its signature lipsticks and lip balm are available in a range of beautiful colours and packaged in paper tubes. The natural buttery lipsticks are kid-friendly. Its deodorant sticks and insect repellent sticks are also made of coconut oil sourced through fair trade.
Where to shop: A wide range of zero-waste and green shops in Hong Kong stock Coconut Matter’s products. Find the nearest one on their website.
Juice Beauty
We never knew beauty brands could be farm to (vanity) tables as well until we met Juice Beauty.
As its name suggests, Juice Beauty creates beauty goodies with a base of organic juices. Its blemish-clearing SPF 30 moisturizer, for example, uses organic grape and pomegranate. It also uses apple and white grape in its Green Apple Age Defy Serum.
The wellness brand promises products without parabens, petroleum, pesticides, phthalates and other toxins known as possible irritants for your skin.
Where to shop: Juice Beauty line at Sephora Hong Kong
SoapMum
Founded as a personal hobby in 2013, SoapMum is one of the pioneering homemade skincare brands in Hong Kong. Its signature Calendula Milk Soap has been a favourite among people with eczema since its beginning. Like all its products, the Calendula Milk Soap emphasises natural ingredients without known irritants like steroids, fragrance and drying alcohol. All of the soaps are handmade in Hong Kong.
The brand has expanded its collection since—making products from natural mineral powder sunscreen to hydrating masks to insect repellents.
Where to shop: You can find SoapMum at their specialty shops and bigger chains like Watsons and AEON.
I Never Use Foundation Breakfast Club
It all began because Olive Wong, the founder, was often asked which foundation she applied to her flawless skin. The answer? None.
Inspired by these curious questions, Wong began I Never Use Foundation Breakfast Club in 2013 to share her skincare and beauty tips. Started as a carefully curated shop for mindful and earth-conscious skincare and beauty products worldwide, I Never Use Foundation (INUF) has grown into one of the most trusted clean beauty brands in Hong Kong with its own product line.
The small-batch skincare brand is a 100% natural luxury skincare line specially made for Asian skins in “humid climates, polluted and stressful environment”—sound familiar, Hong Kong? All raw materials that go into the products are natural and vegan.
Where to shop: Online or at INUF’s flagship store, including its skin and nail spa.
Drunk Elephant
Thanks to the return of Sephora Hong Kong, we can restock the trendy eco-conscious skincare brand Drunk Elephant. Featuring Amassing a cult following among the famous and beautiful, the candy-colored brand is the best-seller at Sephora.
Instead of choosing only natural ingredients, Drunk Elephant focuses on biocompatibility. It is free of the “suspicious 6” in skincare—the six ingredients that they believe are the roots of “almost every skin issue”: essential oils, drying alcohols, silicones, chemical screens, fragrance or dyes, and SLS.
Where to shop: Drunk Elephant line at Sephora Hong Kong
Kora Organics
The brainchild of Australian supermodel Miranda Kerr, Kora Organics sells pure skincare products Kerr has always wanted but couldn’t find. Its products are made with quality certificated organic ingredients. Its stellar products are the ones with “noni”, a magic superfood that is said to soothe and rejuvenate your skin.
Where to shop: Kora Organics line at Sephora Hong Kong
To understand more about clean beauty, you can find a list of brands on clean beauty app like Think Dirty or Sephora’s Clean At Sephora page.
