Amp up Your Makeup Routine With These Talc-Free Clean Beauty Base Products
Sara Miranda
Whether you’re in need of a setting powder that locks in makeup all day or a highlighter that defines the high points of your face, the clean beauty sector has you covered. With new clean beauty brands emerging by the day, it can be hard to pinpoint where to start. From primer to highlighter, we’re sharing some of the best talc-free clean beauty base products on the market.
Primer: Alima Pure Smooth + Prime ($46)
If you’ve been looking for that holy grail clean primer that actually does the job it’s supposed to do, this one is it. With its mattefying ingredients, it’s ideal for summertime, and it has clary sage water to shrink your pores before you put on your foundation.
Foundation: Kosas Tinted Face Oil Foundation ($42)
Shopping for foundation is hard enough as it is and when you narrow the search to clean beauty only, it can start feeling downright impossible. Kosas Tinted Face Oil Foundation strikes that perfect balance of giving you a glowy look without being oily; legit buildable coverage that doesn’t like caked-on. As a bonus, it’s full of nourishing oils like red raspberry, jojoba, and rosehip, so it’s almost like a facial serum in foundation form.
Setting Powders: Well People Bio Brightener Invisible Powder ($20) and ILIA’s Soft Focus Finishing Powder ($34)
In addition to primer, adding a setting powder to your base makes a huge difference in locking down your makeup and preserving that glow. Well People’s powder ensures makeup barely slips and slides while adding a subtle sheen to your base. With a setting brush, add a few dabs of powder to your cheeks and T-Zone, and you’re set! For another talc-free setting powder alternative, turn to ILIA’s Soft Focus Finishing Powder, which provides a blurred finish to pores and traps oil throughout the day.
Powder Blush: LAWLESS Make Me Blush Talc-Free Velvet Blush in Sakura ($29)
If you’re a powder blush devotee, then you’re gonna love this clean alternative. One dab of this blush (yes, one dab!) delivers some serious color to the cheeks. Not only does this blush add some rosiness to the cheeks but also stays in place all day long!
Cream Blush: Phyto-Pigments Last Looks Cream Blush ($25)
This super-blendable clean cream blush is made with plant-derived hyaluronic acid to deliver plumping moisture to the skin. (It even does double-duty as a sheer tint for your lips.) It works to fight fine lines and wrinkles while you wear it and the balm-like texture makes it easy to reapply using your fingertips.
Cream Highlighter: Saie Glowy Super Gel Lightweight Illuminating Serum in Starglow ($25)
Sometimes, powder-based products don’t sit well when the skin is feeling extra dry. If dry skin has got you down, make sure to use products packed with skin-nourishing ingredients that also brighten your dull complexion, and the Glowy Super Gel does the trick. It’s the perfect highlighter to add another dimension to a no-makeup makeup look and a full beat.
Setting Spray: Tower28 Beauty SOS Daily Facial Rescue Spray ($28/4 oz.)
This setting spray not only ensures makeup doesn’t fade throughout the day, but also promotes good skin health.The star of its ingredient list, hypochlorous acid, works in tandem with the immune system to mend the skin. We’re all ears for a multipurpose product!