A growing list of independent, local beauty brands we love
PHOTOGRAPHY FROM @LESSEOFFICIAL/instagram
WORDS BY Jasmine Wallis AND FASHION JOURNAL
Makeup, skincare and more.
While many of us down-under beauty lovers are still patiently waiting for international brands to show up on our shores, we shouldn’t forget the local beauty brands making big changes in the biz.
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From ever-important sunscreen brands to Indigenous-made beauty balms, we think it’s important to highlight (get it) the growing independent makeup and skincare brands created right here in Australia (and a few from New Zealand). Browse our ever-expanding Australian beauty brands list below.
Fluff
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Fluff’s products come in a mirrored pebble – need I say more? The brand gained a fast following for its innovative and playful products. Add on being vegan, refillable and cruelty-free – no wonder why it sells so fast.
Copini
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Copini was created with one goal in mind: to make beauty easy. From freckles to contour, lips to cheeks, Copini offers a range of multi-use products, perfect for effortless everyday routines and on-the-go touch-ups. While it’s versatility is what put it on the map, Copini’s products are all 100 per cent vegan, cruelty-free, and free from skin irritants and endocrine disruptors.
Conserving Beauty
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Founded by Natassia Nicolao in 2021, Conserving Beauty fuses sustainability and skincare with its innovative, effective products. The Conserving Beauty range is waterless, meaning less diluted, more powerful formulas delivered directly to the skin. A crowd favourite is the brand’s Gentle Oil Cleansing Cloths, which melt makeup away and dissolve completely in water, meaning no waste.
Saya
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Designed to protect and nourish the skin, Noosa based brand Saya takes the complications out of skincare to deliver beautiful results. Non-toxic, safe and highly effective, Saya selectively blends ethically sourced Australian botanicals with powerful actives to revive your skin to its peak health and vitality. 100 per cent vegan and cruelty-free, Saya’s products are made with our planet at the front of mind.
Raeso
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The word Raaie comes from the word ‘Ra’, both the Egyptian sun god and the Māori word for ‘sun’ and ‘ray of light’. Raaie skincare is crafted from New Zealand botanicals, with a focus on natural ingredients like black tree fern, alpine rosehip and native sea algae. Raaie’s thoughtful skincare products help to repair damaged skin cells at night and protect skin during the day.
Strange Luxury
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After a lifelong love for skincare, Strange Luxury’s founder, Bella Geminder, wanted to create products that were as good quality as other skincare giants on the market, but at a more affordable price range. From its purifying masks to hydrating serums, all products are made in small batches, with no added fragrances.
Emma Lewisham
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Though technically New Zealand-based, circular-designed beauty brand Emma Lewisham deserves a mention for its range of 100 per cent natural, scientifically-supported skincare products. Describing its range as ‘planet positive skincare’ Emma Lewisham’s selection of botanical-based formulas is leading the way for natural carbon-positive, transparent and environmentally conscious beauty. With the brand’s Beauty Circle program, you can continuously refill all of your favourite products.
MV Skintherapy
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Small batch and plant-powered skincare are the foundations upon which MV Skintherapy was born. Created with simplicity in mind, Sharon McGlinchey, a celebrity facialist, crafted this beauty brand to reflect a holistic approach to skincare. With a focus on the importance of self-care and efficacy, the brand combines the highest quality ingredients to help you embrace your natural beauty.
Paralia
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Inspired by the Mediterranean way of life, Paralia’s philosophy is clean, natural, purposeful and effective. Prioritising clean, vegan ingredients and cruelty-free production, Paralia believes that less is more when it comes to skincare. With its focus on quality and natural ingredients, the brand offers that Mediterranean summer glow without buying a plane ticket.
Flavedo
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Concerned with the amount of plastic waste flooding the beauty industry, Australian makeup brand Flavedo took matters into its own hands. Combining the colourful playfulness of the beauty world with zero plastic packaging means you don’t have to compromise on fun and flavour in exchange for being eco-friendly. The pastel eye pencils are definitely on our wish list.
Go-To Skincare
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Created by beauty buff and Australian icon Zoë Foster Blake, Go-To is worry-free skincare that also looks beaut to boot. Famous for its peach packaging and delicious ingredients, Go-To takes potent plant and nut oils and whips them into products that your skin drinks up. First time? Try the Face Hero oil and then enjoy never wanting to put anything else on your skin ever again.
Bread
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Cult beauty brand Bread has finally hit our shores. Launching in Sephora this year (after only selling in the US), Australian-born Maeva Heim has created products designed specifically for Black and curly hair types. After growing tired of women of colour not being included in the ‘lazy girl hair’ aesthetic, she crafted a range of vegan, Australian native-enriched hair oils and conditioners. Hot tip: pair with Australian-owned silk hair accessories from Damn Gina for ultimate shine.
Tronque
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New Zealand beauty brand Tronque is all about self-care from the neck down. From its Triple Active Body Milk to natural deodorant, Tronque makes the case that caring for your body is just as important as your face. Plus, the label offers refills on select products to help combat waste.
Ere Perez
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Australian born beauty label Ere Perez was founded in 2002 with ‘a dash of rich Mexican colour’. Inspired by the bountiful ingredients native to the Australian landscape, Ere Perez creates skincare and staple makeup bits based on the science of plants.
Lesse
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Lesse is an Australian-born skincare label founded by Neada Deters, a former beauty editor and writer. In search of a solution to her own skincare concerns, Neada decided to create her own brand. Made with local plant actives, medicinal herbs and adaptogenic mushrooms, Lesse is all about combining nature and science to deliver the best results for your skin.
Airyday
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Airday was founded after its founder, Frances, was diagnosed with skin cancer at 36. Although it was detected early, the experience made Frances realise and reflect on her own relationship with sunscreen and SPF. Now, three years on, Airyday makes a range of face and body sunscreens designed to work into your everyday routine.
Alpha-H
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Crafted on the Gold Coast, Alpha-H is cruelty-free and champions the clean beauty space. Alpha-H was also at the forefront of introducing glycolic and accelerating acids to the local market thanks to its founder, Michelle Doherty, suffering from adult acne. With more than 25 years of experience, Alpha-H is now one of Australia’s best skincare exports.
Naked Sundays
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Colourful, vegan and cruelty-free, Australian beauty brand Naked Sundays creates products that combine skincare and SPF. Naked Sundays offers unconventional, sunscreen-infused products that are fun to use like glow mist, balm sticks and coconut-scented lip oil.
Grown Alchemist
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Grown Alchemist was born out of a gap in the market. Brothers Keston and Jeremy Mujis wanted to create a product that looked both chic and simple while also delivering powerful scientific skincare results. Similar to Aesop, Grown Alchemist is now one of Australia’s most famous exports with even beauty buff Gwenyth Paltrow using the local label.
Tomorrow-Today Beauty
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Tomorrow-Today is a Melbourne-based beauty brand making ‘skincare for screen time’. Its Founder is Indianna Roehrich, the Director of the social media agency Simply Social. Having spent almost a decade in the social media space, she understands the harmful effects screens can have on our skin. Tomorrow-Today’s hero product, the Tech Protect Serum, is a lightweight, daily-use formula designed to shield your face from blue light and repair skin while you type away.
Gorgeous Nothings
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In a market that is so often defined by scale, speed, and accumulation, perfume brand Gorgeous Nothings launched with just one product. Its hero scent, I Eau de Parfum, carries notes of cedarwood, musk and amber, and was composed using 95.1 per cent upcycled fragrance concentrate. With refillable packaging and a slow-release model, it seeks to encourage longevity and sustainability within the beauty world.
Urban Jungle
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For the Australian-based brand Urban Jungle, innovation and inclusivity are core principles. Using high-quality technology to create simple yet effective formulas, the brand is loved for products like the Glow With The Flow Gel Serum and Melt Me Softly Cleansing Balm. The unicorn-shaped pimple patches are a personal favourite.
Lowanna Skincare
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Launched during lockdown, Lowanna Skincare is an Indigenous-owned brand that uses traditional plant medicines from founder Sinead Vandenbroek’s heritage. Made from high-quality, vegan ingredients, Lowanna Skincare offers a range of everyday skincare essentials. Try the Everyday Moisturiser that sold out within days of its launch.
Sansceuticals
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Full of active ingredients, Sansceuticals creates effective products to stimulate cell regeneration and relieve sensitive skin conditions. With over two decades of experience, founder Lucy Vincent is passionate about crafting sustainable and beautiful products free of all the nasty stuff. Sansceuticals also has a multifunctional approach meaning you need fewer products, resulting in a more simplified morning routine.
Eye of Horus
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Byron-based label Eye of Horus is committed to creating clean, thoughtful beauty products. Designed to give you a ‘your face but better’ feel, the brand’s collection of natural makeup is all about enhancing your already-existing stunning features. Its Goddess Mascara, Bio Lip Elixir and Skin Tint Serum Foundation are all multiple-time award winners.
Gem
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Former model Georgia Geminder was always obsessed with organic beauty and skincare, so she created her own line of organic oral care. From sustainable toothpaste bites and plant-based floss to an oral shaving kits, Gem is available at a range of pharmacies and Wholefoods stores.
TBH Skincare
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Driven by a passion to help young people, TBH skincare is an expert when it comes to acne. The acne-treating skincare was scientifically designed to work on pimple-prone skin while also fostering a sense of community. With gentle cleansers and creams formulated for young, sensitive skin types, the brand also uses sustainable outer packaging and is cruelty-free, ticking all of the boxes.
Standard Procedure
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Inspired by the nostalgia of Australian summers gone by, Standard Procedure is the brainchild of a surfer, Dion Agius, and the daughter of a long-time sunscreen manufacturer, Zepha Jackson (the SPF duo dreams are made of). Made minutes from the Sunshine Coast shoreline, Standard Procedure products are reef-friendly, water-resistant and hydrating.
Lanolips
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A cruelty-free balm made from sheep’s wool? While it may sound a bit out of the ordinary, it’s the reason Lanolips founder Kirsten Carriol’s grandfather’s sheep farmer hands were so soft. Now, the lanolin-based skincare line is delivering naturally sourced hydration all around the world. Choose from the famous lip balms or its range of facial hydration products.
Bush Medijina
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Run out of shipping containers in the Northern Territory’s Angurugu, Bush Medijina is a beauty brand utilising the power of traditional Indigenous plants. With organic, native-infused body butters and wattle and peppermint oil lip balms, Bush Medijina is delivering high-quality Australian products while also giving back to local Indigenous communities through sales.
Lui
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Co-founded by Australian model Rebecca Harding and beauty and skincare writer Ingrid Kesa, Lui is a razor and body care brand created by women and for women. Aiming to create more considered products for the male-dominated shaving category, its range is 97 per cent naturally derived and Austalian-made (plus the sleek products look great in your shower).
Foile
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Foile is a pioneer in non-binary beauty. A big plus is its blue-and-green blob bottles, which double as playful decorations for your vanity. Once they’re empty, just fill them right back up again with the recyclable refill packets.
Leif
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Championing native ingredients and botanical extracts, Leif makes body skincare that reflects the Australian environment. Naturally, Leif products are made in Australia from cruelty-free and vegan formulations. Designed to be gentle and soothing for all skin types, products like the Lemon Myrtle Body Cleanser can be used every day.
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