A Green Gal’s Guide to the NY Indie Beauty Expo

The 2018 New York edition of the Indie Beauty Expo will take place this August 22-23rd on Pier 36.

Calling my fellow New York Green Beauty Lovers! The Indie Beauty Expo is coming back to the Big Apple with a roster full of new vendors and a lot of surprises.

With a humongous lineup of indie beauty picks, we understand that it can become a bit overwhelming. Fear not! We have selected our top 10 green and organic beauty brands that you should absolutely check out in your NY Indie Beauty Expo visit. We promise they won’t deceive you!

lük Beautifood, Lipstick So Clean You Could Eat It

lük Beautifood has been a personal favorite of mine since I discovered it at my first Indie Beauty Expo. With a beautiful range of 12 sheer shades, it has the perfect nudes and neutrals to create an elegant and healthy look. Made in beautiful Australia, their organic lipsticks are the green thunder from Down Under!

lük beautifood Lip Nourishes are 100% Natural, toxin-free, and made from food ingredients. If you are looking to jumpstart your green beauty routine with a clean switch at the Indie Beauty Expo, I can’t recommend them enough!

Joséphine Cosmetics: Glam, Healthy, and Inclusive

If you are looking for a sultry range of organic makeup, you have to pay a visit to Joséphine Cosmetics. This company manufactures in the USA everything a green gal could ask for. Do you know how hard it is to find an organic cosmetics line that delivers bold shades, sensuous textures, and trendy products that look fab in every single skin tone? That, in a nutshell, is Joséphine.

My favorite products from the brand are La Laque, a sultry velvety matte liquid lipstick for those bold and over-the-top looks, and the Eye Define, a glorious high-definition liquid eyeliner with a felt lip for a sharp and flawless application. These cruelty-free, haute naturals are perfect if you are looking to greenify your beauty routine without giving up the current makeup trends.

Au Naturale and the Clean Beauty Revolution

Au Naturale Cosmetics has been one of my best Indie Beauty Expo discoveries so far. They carry an impressive line of organic makeup ranging from subtle to bold shades. Ashley Prange, the founder, has always been very vocal about why clean beauty is important and I think it is very important to recognize her work to give visibility to the cruelty-free, natural alternatives that exist for beauty lovers.

If you visit their booth, don’t miss their beautiful mineral eyeshadows and they new creme multisticks (Destiny is on my wish list for this year!) They recently reformulated their whole line to include new, cutting-edge clean ingredients so don’t hesitate to stop by and see how your favorite products have changed. I personally love the new lipstick formulas!

Little Moon Essentials, Handcrafted in Small Batches

I met Little Moon Essentials when I covered the Natural Products Expo East last year. I was immediately drawn to their all-natural, organic approach to bath and body care made with small batches.

Although all their products are delightful, I personally love their scented line Tired Old Ass. Designed to give you a natural boost of energy through the scent, it smells divine and is a great conversation starter. My co-workers still chuckle when I pull it up after a long meeting, but it works!

Cote Nail Polish, the true 14-free

The green beauty market is swamped with offerings of gazillion-free nail polishes, but some of their marketing claims are a tad ridiculous. Some brands go as far as claiming they don’t have parabens, when parabens have never been used in nail polish!

What you should really check out for are formulas without DPB, toluene, resin, camphor and formaldehyde. Cote Nail Polish is a true 14-free brand that has one of the cleanest formulas ever seen, to the point that Cote nail salon in New York City doesn’t smell like nail polish. Cote offers a gorgeous range of polishes with no toxic/nasty fumes, no harmful ingredients, and a luxurious formula. If you are looking for a clean yet impeccable manicure, do make sure to stop at their booth at the Indie Beauty Expo.

Shea Terra Organics, the best African Beauty Secrets

I have been following Shea Terra Organics for a while because they have some of the cleanest formulas using raw, true shea butter I have ever seen. If you add to that the fact that their pricing is more than reasonable, you’ll understand why I am a bit obsessed with this small but mighty brand.

Although I pretty much love everything I have tested from the brand, my absolute favorite is the Gingered Pumpkin Double Shea Butter Smoothi-EE. It is the absolute best friend of my very dry skin and it has the warm smell of a Thanksgiving holiday spent with your loved ones.

Spoolies, Vintage Hair Curlers Revisited

Spoolies are one of the greatest inventions ever. Inspired by the curl rods from the 50s and 60s, these no-heat silicone hair curlers are an eco-friendly and inexpensive way to get your curls on point.

Although they are designed to be used on straight hair, we curly haired gals can greatly benefit from their greatness. I love to use them after I wash my hair to define those four or five strands that always go their own way (in curly talk, that means frizz and an uneven curl pattern.)

The Seaweed Bath Co, a Little Mermaid’s Dream

The Seaweed Bath Co is coming back to the Indie Beauty Expo, and I’m telling you, they are going to make a big splash! Although they have a full range of glorious skincare products, their all-natural Seaweed Bath Powder is a Little Mermaid’s dream come true. If you suffer from dry skin like moi, it is a wonderful way to give it a much-needed hydration and nutrition boost without using synthetic ingredients.

Inner Sense Organic Beauty, Organic Ingredients for your Hair

Believe me when I say it is impossible to find a completely organic shampoo unless it is in a solid state. Castile soap would be the cleanest option, but it leaves hair looking like a mop unless you are a vinegar rinsing maverick. So the next best thing is to find a shampoo that is formulated with a few safe synthetic ingredients along with natural, nutritive organic extracts.

Inner Sense Organic Beauty has a wonderful line of shampoos and styling products that aren’t completely organic, but rather have just a few synthetic ingredients that are acceptable in a clean beauty routine. The combination of organic ingredients with those safe synthetics give as a result a wonderful line that is eco-friendly, clean, and leaves hair looking beautiful. My favorite product of the line is the Quiet Calm Curl Control, a styling lotion that I use to boost my natural curls.

Ayuna, European Minimal Cosmetics

Ayuna is an eco-chic luxury brand made with love in Europe. Rather than having an extensive line, they follow the hygge  philosophy by which they only offer the skin what it needs, no more and no less. Their innovative approach to skincare is reflected in their very name: Ayuna means to fast in Spanish.

The founding idea behind Ayuna is that we are putting too many products on our skin. According to their principles, by switching to a minimalist regime where we only use what the skin needs, with no unnecessary ingredients, it is possible to give an effective solution to most skin woes. I have personally taken the #ayunachallenge (see above for my Insta pic) and used exclusively their line for two full weeks, and I am happy to report it worked wonderfully on my dry skin.

My personal Ayuna favorite? Their Balm Volcanic Revitalizing Mask. Its gentle texture eases signs of skin sensitivity and offers a purifying feel, leaving behind skin that looks smooth and glowy. Formulated with a natural sugar, it leaves skin looking dewy and feeling protected.

Which brands are you looking forward to discovering at the 2018 NYC Indie Beauty Expo? Do you have any favorite brands we haven’t mentioned here?