In 1933 the FDA sent a traveling exhibit around the United States called the Chamber of Horrors. It featured a before-and-after of a woman injured by Lash Lure, an aniline-dye tint for eyelashes and eyebrows that had blinded and hurt women. When the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act of 1938 gave the FDA authority over cosmetics for the first time, Lash Lure was reported as the first product seized. It is the story that reminds me why we started asking what is in our makeup at all.

Today the word clean is doing a lot of work that the law does not. The FDA says it does not define or endorse terms like natural, clean or hypoallergenic, and that cosmetics do not need premarket approval, except for color additives. So clean makeup brands are really brands with a point of view and an exclusion list of their own. I read each one for what it actually promises, and that is a much more useful thing to shop by than the word. ILIA is the one I would begin with. Founder Sasha Plavsic started it in Vancouver, and the brand says her story began when she found questionable ingredients in her favourite lip balm. BC Business dates the first launch to 2011, with that balm, which is now the Balmy Tint.

The trick is to start where the brand started, with a mouth and a cheek. Balmy Tint Hydrating Lip Balm is the origin story in a tube. The Lip Sketch Hydrating Crayon is a more drawn-on colour, and the Overglaze Hydrating Lip Gloss is the shine. For the cheeks there are Soft Focus Blurring Blush and the Multi-Stick, which is a cream blush, highlighter and lip tint in one. Then the eyes: Limitless Mascara, and the Thru-Line Waterproof Eyeliner for anyone with a commute in the rain. The Skin Blur Serum Concealer with 12-hour wear is the piece I would use every day.

Here is how I would choose between these two: ask what you want the product to do on your skin, not what you want it to say on the label. RMS Beauty and Westman Atelier are both makeup-artist brands, and they both speak in a very personal voice.

RMS Beauty comes from Rose-Marie Swift, a makeup artist of more than 30 years who, the brand says, launched it in 2009 to clean up the industry. Its stated rules are raw, food-grade, organic and wildcrafted ingredients, and transparency about the whole list, including fragrance. The Buriti Bronzer is the warmth, the UnCover-Up Concealer is the classic, and the Legendary Serum Lipstick and Eyelights Cream Eyeshadow are both about a soft, skin-like colour.

Westman Atelier is Gucci Westman's line, launched in 2018 by a longtime celebrity makeup artist. The Baby Cheeks Blush Stick is one of its named best sellers, and the Lit Up Highlight Stick is its glow. Lip Suede is the matte lipstick, and Eye Want You Mascara is the eye product.

A pairing I like: the RMS bronzer swept high on the cheeks, then Baby Cheeks tapped on the apples and blended out with a fingertip. Warm and pink together looks like a holiday.

What I would skip: a cream eyeshadow on lids that crease by noon, unless you set it with a little powder. The RMS shadow is lovely, but oil and heat will always win.

Start with the concealer. It is the product you will use every day, and the one where two clean makeup brands are easiest to compare. Put Kosas Revealer on one side of your face and Tower 28's Swipe Serum Concealer on the other, then step back to the window.

Kosas launched in 2015 with a mini-collection of four weightless lipsticks. Its founder, Sheena Yaitanes, has said she felt alienated by an overwhelming industry and wanted unfussy products that double as skincare. Revealer is the super creamy, brightening concealer, and Air Brow is a tinted, volumizing gel for the brows. Weightless Lip Color and Soulgazer Mascara finish the small, useful edit.

Tower 28 launched in April 2019 with ShineOn Lip Jelly among its first products. Founder Amy Liu has lived with eczema for her whole adult life, and the brand says every product meets National Eczema Association guidelines. That is a specific standard, and one I trust more than a vague promise. MakeWaves is the lengthening and volumizing mascara, and BeachPlease Lip + Cheek is a dewy cream blush.

A pairing I like: ShineOn Lip Jelly over a Kosas lip colour. It makes the colour look wet without changing it.

What I would skip: testing a new mascara on the morning of a wedding or a big meeting. Wear it for a day first.

One habit worth borrowing from Merit: the routine is small. Katherine Power, who co-founded Who What Wear, debuted the brand in January 2021 with seven products, and the idea was a five-minute routine.

Merit's Flush Balm is a cream blush, Day Glow is a dewy highlighting balm, and the Signature Lip is a lightweight lipstick. Brow 1980 is a volumizing tinted gel-pomade, the one you would use if your brows are your whole face. Merit is described as vegan and cruelty-free, and EU-compliant.

Ere Perez is the brand to look at if you like your makeup named after food, and the names are honestly the fun part. The Beetroot Cheek & Lip Tint is one product for two jobs, the Avocado Waterproof Mascara is for wet days and the Aloe Gel Lash & Brow Mascara is for anyone who wants a softer, brushed-up finish. Ami Colé's Skin-Enhancing Concealer is the small piece that makes the whole grid feel finished.

A pairing I like: Merit's Flush Balm on the cheeks and Ere Perez's Beetroot tint on the lips, both blended with your fingers. It looks like you spent five minutes.

What I would skip: layering three cream products on very oily skin in summer. Choose the balm, and let the skin do the rest.

I think the best clean makeup habit is to pick fewer things and read them properly. A brand that tells you exactly what its rules are, like RMS with its raw ingredients or Tower 28 with its eczema standard, is more useful than one that only says clean.

So I would start with a concealer you like, a cream blush and a mascara, and only add things you reach for twice. Test each one for a full week before it earns a place in the bag, and read the ingredient list once, slowly, at home. Lash Lure was the first thing seized under the 1938 law. Checking a label is the least we can do. If you want to keep browsing, I also put together RMS Beauty and the Makeup Artist Who Rebuilt Her Own Kit and How To Clean Makeup Brushes Without Wrecking Them.