The Best Clean Beauty Under $50

Clean beauty is one of the most crowded corners of the beauty aisle, and the word itself promises more than it guarantees. So this edit sticks to formulas that do their job well, whether that is a sunscreen you will wear every day, a mascara that doesn't flake or a body wash that turns a shower into a small ritual.

The first group covers skin. Oh My Cream's cleansing oil and Sofie Pavitt's Clean Clean cleanser take care of washing. Kosas's DreamBeam, Goldfaden's LumiShield and ILIA's Sun Serum are the sunscreens, and Supergoop's mineral powder handles touch-ups over makeup. Natasha Denona's HY-GEN primer serum sits between skincare and makeup.

The first thing to understand is that clean is not regulated. There is no legal definition, so every brand decides what it means for them, which can range from skipping synthetic fragrance to a long list of banned ingredients. Look at what a product actually leaves out, and whether that matches what you care about.

Texture and finish vary a lot, even within clean brands. One mineral sunscreen sits white while another blends straight into skin, so try a few before deciding clean formulas aren't for you. In the makeup group, Kosas's Multistick, ILIA's Soft Focus blush and Tower 28's Swipe concealer are easy places to start, and Saie's Mascara 101 and ere perez's avocado mascara are the ones to compare.

Some products are easier to stick with than others. Sunscreen and makeup show their results right away, so you keep using them. Body care is harder, because the benefit builds slowly over weeks, which is why it helps to make it something you enjoy.

Nécessaire's body lotion, Maison Louis Marie's Icila lotion and The Organic Pharmacy's body oil are nice enough to reach for every day. Goop Beauty's Black Pepper and Ginger body wash, Surya's bath soak and Well Kept's bubble bath make the shower or bath feel like time off, and Kate McLeod's Daily Stone is a solid body moisturizer that melts as it touches warm skin.

Clean beauty works when it is well formulated and used consistently, the same as anything else. Hair care is a good example. Act + Acre's clarifying shampoo helps with hard water build-up, Crown Affair's and Rahua's volumizing formulas are for fine hair, and Nécessaire's rosemary shampoo and Innersense's soothing conditioner are the gentler options. You can also mix clean and conventional products without any problem, since your skin doesn't care about branding. If you take one thing away, choose the clean products you will actually use every day, starting with sunscreen, and judge them by how they work, not by the label on the front. If you want to keep browsing, I also put together Clean Makeup Brands.