SEPHORA COLLECTION - BEST CLEAN FACE CREAMS, BEST CLEAN FACE SERUMS, BEST CLEAN ANTI-AGING SERUMS
For the past two years, Sephora has been collaborating with its skincare brand partners to identify formulas as “clean beauty.”
What exactly clean means can waver, depending on the retailer and the brand. But Sephora has established a standard — and even an identifying seal that designates specific products that comply with their definition of clean beauty.
Currently, Sephora identifies nearly 100 ingredients as unclean — meaning that products without these ingredients can receive the coveted Sephora Clean seal designation. Among the ingredient horrors are several that have been found in skin care for decades, including sulfates, parabens, mineral oil, formaldehydes, and triclosan.
Sephora’s definition of “clean”.
Brands have been working to expunge their formulas of these potentially toxic ingredients for several years now. When I was working at Kiehl’s, as early as 2008 there were conversations about reformulating many of the brand’s most popular products without parabens and sulfates.
In fact, Kiehl’s relaunched its best-selling Ultra Facial Cream sans parbens. Ultra Facial Cream was one of my favorite projects over my eight years working on the brand.
At the time, we’d been sponsoring a team of athletes and mountain climbers (sadly, I'll never be a mountain climber) on their adventures around the world. Why not give them lab samples of this new moisturizer to torture test on their climb of Greenland's icy peaks?
When they returned, they reported that the formula had kept their skin from drying out in the coldest, harshest conditions they'd faced.
What better way to honor their heroism than to dedicate the product to them. Until the recent paraben-free unveiling of Ultra Facial Cream, there was a tiny map of Greenland on the back of the jar in honor of their achievement. New Ultra Facial cream is now formulated without parabens, carbamide, T.E.A. — and Greenland!
Back to Sephora’s Clean Beauty Revolution!
By my count, there are more than 100 skincare brands that are designated as clean by the beauty retailer. Among them popular indie brands like Drunk Elephant, Farmacy, Herbivore, Tata Harper and Tatcha.
But there are also several more established brands on the list, including Origins, Korres and Caudalie. It’s surprising to me that there aren’t more of these “established” companies making the cut.
Where are the clinical brands? K-Beauty brands? I’m sure the conversations are being had. Huge shifts like clean skin care take time. In fact, while Sephora identified just 13 ingredients that have to go, the list has expanded quickly. Among the new nasties are many more obscure toxins like ethyl acrylate, aluminum salts, dioxane and resorcinol. In 2020, Sephora added more to the list of no-no’s: PEGS, EDTA and even chemical sunscreens in addition to oxybenzone.
Clean at Sephora
“When you spot our Clean seal, you can be sure we’ve checked that this brand’s product is made without the ingredients you told us you’d most like to avoid.”
So, it was high time they cleaned up their own act! I mean if you’re going to have a “Clean at Sephora” seal, you’d think your own skin care would be covered by the designation, too. Not all of the Sephora Collection skin care is clean by Sephora’s own standards — but ten of the brand’s new products are. And, I love how affordable they are! Each of the moisturizers — the Nourishing Moisturizer, All Day Hydrator, and Brightening Eye Cream are just $16 and they’re all clean. As well as the new super soothing, hydrating Clean Skin Gel cleanser!
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Click here to shop the Sephora Collection Clean Beauty Under $20 collection.
Sephora Collection | Nourishing Moisturizer - Hydrate & Repair
The Sephora Collection clean Nourishing Moisturizer is formulated to nourish, repair and soften skin. And it does just that. It’s got a thick, whipped texture that I wasn’t expecting, but I shouldn’t be surprised given that it’s rich in non-fragrant plant oils that my skin loves. (Yours will too!) Plant oils like Avocado Oil, Marula Oil and Rose Hip Seed Oil. The Nourishing Moisturizer formula is vegan, too, and made with 91% natural plant ingredients. There’s so much that’s intriguing and fresh here. With its multitude of vitamins, botanical extracts and non-fragrant plant oils, at $16 you can’t go wrong. In fact, I can’t find anything particularly wrong with this product — aside from a low level of fragrance, which is completely undetectable. It smells like nothing — which I find so refreshing!
SHOP THE BLOG: Click here to shop the Sephora Collection Clean Beauty Under $20 collection. Purchase the Sephora Collection Nourishing Moisturizer for $17 here.
Sephora Collection | All Day Hydrator - Hydrate & Glow
On the lighter side, the Sephora Collection clean All Day Hydrator is quite a lightweight, runny lotion that feels perfect on skin on a warmer day like today is in New York City. Spring has finally sprung! Similar to the richer Nourishing Moisturizer, it’s well-formulated; a better formulation, in my opinion. The first five ingredients are Hyaluronic Acid Derived From Wheat, Vitamin C, Vitamin E of Natural Origin from Sunflower Blossom, Glycerin Of Natural Origin and, of course, Water. I think it’s both unusual and interesting that Sephora doubled up on these “natural origin” ingredient call-outs with regular old Glycerin, Tocopherol (Vitamin E), Hyaluronic Acid, and even Ascorbyl Glucoside — a stable form of Vitamin C that’s combined with glucose and, when absorbed into skin, breaks down to Ascorbic Acid, the purest, most potent form of the antioxidant vitamin. If you don’t like or want a heavy, oil-rich moisturizer, the new All Day Hydrator is a great option. If you don’t like or want to spend more than $20 on a daily moisturizer, its $16 price makes it a perfect option!
Did I mention that it’s clean?
SHOP THE BLOG: Click here to shop the Sephora Collection Clean Beauty Under $20 collection. Purchase the Sephora Collection All Day Hydrator for $17 here.
SHOP THE BLOG:
Click here to shop the Sephora Collection Clean Beauty Under $20 collection.
Sephora Collection | Brightening Eye Cream – Hydrate & Depuff
The Sephora Collection Brightening Eye Cream is formulated to hydrate thinner skin around the eyes, reduce the appearance of dark circles, and deflate puffiness — my biggest concern for my eye area. It’s the Italian curse! Considering all the wine the Romans imbibed in their weekend orgies, I’ll bet puffiness was a big concern for them, too.
With its light, fast-absorbing gel-cream texture, this one is a bit of a departure from the All-Day Hydrator’s ingredient intrigue. Just conventional Glycerin, Tocopherol, and Sodium Hyaluronate here. Nothing wrong with that, but I was having so much fun with those exotic sounding variations. It makes the ingredient list a little boring. But, as I’ve said before, great skincare isn’t supposed to be sexy. That’s just marketing. Brightening Eye Cream has a few antioxidants in it, but it’s no protective powerhouse. Yes, I love the depuffing caffeine, but it’s not at a very high level and I didn’t notice much difference. There is one really bizarre ingredient called Mudar Plant Bark Extract. I had to look this one up!
“Mudar root bark is the common form of Calotropis procera that you will find in India. It is made by drying the root and then removing the cork bark. In India the plant is also used to treat leprosy and elephantiasis. Mudar root is also used for diarrhea and dysentery.”
I don’t know about all that, but deeper Googling revealed that it’s an effective anti-inflammatory. I think the Romans would have loved a jar of this stuff!
SHOP THE BLOG: Click here to shop the Sephora Collection Clean Beauty Under $20 collection. Purchase the Sephora Collection Brightening Eye Cream for $17 here.
Sephora Collection | Clean Skin Gel – Cleanse & Tone
Oh, how I love a good cleanser. Cleansing, period. It’s may favorite skincare step! So naturally I was super excited to try the new Sephora Collection Clean Skin Gel with its non-toxic formulation and 99% naturally derived ingredients. There are literally just 11 ingredients in the whole formula, and I’m having fun trying to figure out what isn’t natural. I have to assume it’s the fragrance. But no matter, this lightweight, syrupy cleanser does the trick.
As one of the new clean products in the Sephora Collection, it’s nice to know there are no damaging, compromising toxins here as you massage it into your skin. A clean cleanse is so important to a healthy skincare regimen.
Like all of these new clean formulas, it’s super affordable at just $10 for a 125ml tube. Nourishing Aloe Vera and humectant Glycerin give it a springy, bouncy texture that feels so good on the skin. Coconut esters lightly emulsify without stripping.
It’s just a nice, fresh, confident clean. Oh, and the tube? It’s made from 62% plastic from sugar cane residue.
SHOP THE BLOG: Click here to shop the Sephora Collection Clean Beauty Under $20 collection. Purchase the Sephora Collection Clean Skin Gel for $10 here.
SHOP THE BLOG:
Click here to shop the Sephora Collection Clean Beauty Under $20 collection.
Sephora Collection | Clean Clarifying Peel Pads
With Sephora’s Clean Beauty Under $20 collection, of course, I’m most excited about the clean, affordable skincare – especially the Clean Clarifying Peel Pads. These babies are soaked in BHA Salicylic Acid, PHA Gluconolactone and multiple gently exfoliating fruit extracts.
And yes, the Peel Pads work just as well at smoothing and brightening your complexion as they do deodorizing your underarms. If you haven’t caught my blog article on the deodorant hack, check it out here.
But the best part? You get 60 pads for $15! You do the math. They’re the least expensive acids pads I can think of. (Psst…They’re great for #maskne prevention, too!)
SHOP THE BLOG: Click here to shop the Sephora Collection Clean Beauty Under $20 collection. Purchase the Sephora Collection Clean Clarifying Pads for $15 here.
Sephora Collection | Clean Cleansing & Gentle Exfoliating Wipes
I also really like the hemp-infused Sephora Collection Clean Cleansing & Gentle Exfoliating Wipes. These things are huge! And you get 25 for just $8. I was surprised at how effective they are and that they don’t leave any sticky residue behind.
I’m not normally a fan of cleansing wipes. Partly because they remind me of the 30 days during Hurricane Sandy in NYC when Orpheus and I had to evacuate our apartment and live in a temporary place in Times Square (the worst place to live in NYC!). We were without power and water for four days and all I had was cleansing wipes!
But they’re nearly always sticky! Not the Sephora Collection Clean Cleansing & Gentle Exfoliating Wipes!
While they’re a clean formula, they’re not a perfect formula. It’s a tight, clean formulation with just 12 ingredients in the INCI. There is, regrettably, some fragrance in these wipes — more fragrance than Cannabis Sativa Seed Oil, aka Hemp Oil, which I find hilarious. But they’re also not greasy, with two non-fragrant plant oils, including Caprylic/Capric Triglyceride and Hydrogenated Castor Oil.
I sure wasn’t expecting perfection from something so affordable, but they’re effective and reliable enough for the price.
SHOP THE BLOG: Click here to shop the Sephora Collection Clean Beauty Under $20 collection. Purchase the Sephora Collection Clean Cleansing & Gentle Exfoliating Wipes for $15 here.
I’m so intrigued by and even grateful for these new, clean, affordable, well-formulated products. I love Tata Harper as much as anyone, but her range of clean cleansers, serums, moisturizers and on and on are just not accessible for most people. I have no interest in paying $82 for a cleanser. The fact that these new Sephora products are so accessible means the democratization of clean skin care.
Even the Romans would appreciate that. Carpe diem! Get your hands on these now.
SHOP THE BLOG:
Click here to shop the Sephora Collection Clean Beauty Under $20 collection.
The Ingredient List of the Sephora Collection Clean Cleansing & Gentle Exfoliating Wipes:
Aqua (Water), Caprylic/Capric Triglyceride, Peg-40 Hydrogenated Castor Oil, Phenoxyethanol, Glycerin, Parfum (Fragrance), Benzyl Alcohol, Ethylhexylglycerin, Glyceryl Stearate, Lauryl Glucoside, Sodium Lauroyl Lactylate, Citric Acid, Cetearyl Alcohol, Sodium Stearoyl Lactylate, Limonene, Cannabis Sativa Seed Oil, Tocopherol.
The Ingredient List of the Sephora Collection Nourishing Moisturizer:
sii|h 0 0, Coco-Caprylate/Caprate emo, Isononyl Isononanoate emo, C10-18 Triglycerides emo|solv, Decyl Oleate emo 0 3, Isostearyl Isostearate emo 1 4, Glyceryl Oleate Citrate emu|surf, Stearyl Heptanoate emo 0 4, Hydroxypropyl Starch Phosphate vc, Cetearyl Glucoside emu|surf, Glyceryl Stearate emo|emu 0 1-2, Sorbitan Olivate 
emu, Stearyl Caprylate emo, Hydroxyethyl Acrylate/Sodium Acryloyldimethyl Taurate Copolymer vc, Persea Gratissima (Avocado) Oil aox|emo 0 0-3, Rosa Rubiginosa Seed Oil aox|emo, Sclerocarya Birrea Seed Oil emo, Cetearyl Alcohol emo|vc|emu|surf 1 2, Squalane sii|emo 0 1, Hydroxyacetophenone aox, Carbomer vc 0 1, Hydrogenated Rapeseed Oil emo|vc, Parfum (Fragrance) 
perf, Tocopherol aox 0-3 0-3, Butylene Glycol h|solv|vc 0 1, Gellan Gum vc, 1,2-Hexanediol solv, Caprylyl Glycol h|emo, O-Cymen-5-Ol pres|amic, Sodium Hydroxide buff, Sodium Polyacrylate vc|emo, Polysorbate 60 emu|surf, Helianthus Annuus (Sunflower) Seed Oil emo 0 0, Sorbitan Isostearate emu 0 1-2, Sodium Chloride vc, Citric Acid buffThe Ingredient List of the Sephora Collection All Day Hydrator:
sii|h 0 0, Butylene Glycol h|solv|vc 0 1, Heptyl Undecylenate emo, Glyceryl Stearate emo|emu 0 1-2, PEG-100 Stearate surf|emu 0 0, Glyceryl Stearate Citrate emo|emu, Palmitic Acid sii|emo|emu 0 2, Stearic Acid emo|vc 0 2-3, Hydroxyacetophenone aox, Hydroxyethyl Acrylate/Sodium Acryloyldimethyl Taurate Copolymer vc, Microcrystalline Cellulose vc, Caprylyl Glycol h|emo, Perfume perf, Helianthus Annuus (Sunflower) Seed Oil emo 0 0, Tocopherol,Vitamin E aox 0-3 0-3, Caesalpinia Spinosa Gum vc, Hyaluronic Acid sii|h, Bisabolol so, Sodium Benzoate pres, Cellulose Gum vc 0 0, Polysorbate 60 emu|surf, Sorbitan Isostearate emu 0 1-2, Sodium Phytate chel, Physicochemical Formula Stabilizer, Arginine sii, Ascorbyl Glucoside aox|sbThe Ingredient List of the Sephora Collection Brightening Eye Cream:
sii|h 0 0, Glyceryl Stearate Citrate emo|emu, Heptyl Undecylenate emo, Butylene Glycol h|solv|vc 0 1, Silica vc, Jojoba Esters so|emo|h, C10-18 Triglycerides emo|solv, Hydroxyethyl Acrylate/Sodium Acryloyldimethyl Taurate Copolymer vc, Albizia Julibrissin Bark Extract , Sodium Polyacrylate vc|emo, Hydroxyacetophenone aox, Caffeine aox|perf, Caprylyl Glycol h|emo, Tocopherol aox 0-3 0-3, Parfum (Fragrance) perf, Sodium Hyaluronate sii|h 0 0, Helianthus Annuus (Sunflower) Seed Oil emo 0 0, Polysorbate 60 emu|surf, Sorbitan Isostearate emu 0 1-2, Sodium Benzoate pres, Potassium Cetyl Phosphate emu|surf, Sodium Phytate chel, DarutosideThe Ingredient List of the Sephora Collection Clean Skin Gel:
sii|h 0 0, Xanthan Gum vc|emu|surf, Sodium PCA sii|h 0 0, Sodium Benzoate pres, Potassium Sorbate pres, Fragrance perf, Citric Acid buff, Aloe Barbadensis Extract so|emo|h, Sodium Hydroxide buffThe Ingredient List of the Sephora Collection Clean Clarifying Pads:
Aqua (Water), Glycerin, Vaccinium Myrtillus Fruit Extract, Gluconolactone, Sodium Hydroxide, Saccharum Officinarum (Sugar Cane) Extract, Butylene Glycol, Sodium Benzoate, Salicylic Acid, Citrus Aurantium Dulcis (Orange) Fruit Extract, Citrus Limon (Lemon) Fruit Extract, Parfum (Fragrance), Citrus Paradisi (Grapefruit) Fruit Extract, Acer Saccharum (Sugar Maple) Extract, Calcium Gluconate, Citric Acid, Aloe Barbadensis Leaf Juice Powder.
