Here’s where to shop for the best natural beauty products, no matter where you live.
I found them after I moved from Los Angeles to Wilmington. I wasn’t used to living without awesome natural beauty boutiques in my neighborhood. But now I’ve been out of a large city for a few years, and I’ve found my new favorite places to shop:
Follain
Follain feels like an elegant uptown boutique. They carry nearly all of my favorite brands–Ursa Major, May Lindstrom, True Botanicals, Meow Meow Tweet, etc.–and have a discerning approval process for all products they sell.
Credo Beauty
Credo Beauty is being touted as “the next big thing” in bringing green beauty to the masses, with a website that is cheerful and easy to navigate. They believe that natural beauty is essential, not alternative, and that’s a doctrine I can get behind. They offer free shipping on orders over $50. At Credo Beauty, you can find mainstays like W3LL People and Suntegrity, or explore indie brands like red flower, Whish and Eir NYC. I could spend hours just perusing their collection.
Integrity Botanicals
Integrity Botanicals is run by an adorable husband and wife team. They’ve curated a beautiful collection of skincare, hair care, makeup and baby items. A few brands you’ll find at Integrity Botanicals: Antonym, de Mamiel, Josh Rosebrook, Nudus, Meow Meow Tweet, Strange Invisible Perfumes and Treat Collection nail polishes. They offer free shipping on US orders over $50. As an added bonus: their packaging is lovely, with a personal touch.
True Botanicals
True Botanicals has distinguished itself as the premiere natural anti-aging skincare brand. If you’re drawn to luxury names like La Mer and La Prairie, but are looking for natural alternatives, check out True Botanicals. Their products are made with safe, nontoxic ingredients of the highest quality. And their innovative formulations are undeniably effective…their Deep Repair Eye Serum alone is a game changer.
Your local Co Op or Whole Foods
Whole Foods has a solid selection of hair and skin products, if you’re lucky enough to have one in your city. Whole Foods carries a wide variety of brands like Juice Beauty, Nourish Organic and Weleda. For better prices, and perhaps a few quirkier choices, check out your local co-op. Here in Wilmington NC I’m a member of the Tidal Creek Co Op—find out if there’s a Co Op gem in your own town. That said, I generally avoid the makeup in health food markets; the selection and quality is sometimes disappointing.
Pharmaca
Pharmaca carries a wide range of natural, sorta-natural, and not-so-natural brands. But if you know what you’re looking for and how to distinguish the “sorta” from the truly natural, you’ll get free shipping on orders over $35 and your pick of brands like Andalou Naturals, Juice Beauty, Evan Healy, and One Love Organics.
