7 Of Our Favourite Minimal Make-Up Brands

The term ‘minimal make-up’ covers not just the light touch application approach, but also the pared-back formulas new make-up brands are using in their products.

Defined by their vegan, ‘clean’ ingredients lists, free from unnecessary fragrances and chemicals, minimal make-up products are often multi-use and come in sheer, skin-enhancing shades. Contouring, statement lashes and bold lips are out, while flushes of healthy colour, groomed brows and polished skin are in.

Here are seven of our favourite make-up brands and the products we are loving to get that summer minimal make-up look.

By Lydia Mansi
July 2023

Merit Beauty

Merit Beauty’s well-edited luxe essentials range is kind to the skin and the planet with skin-loving formulas, all created with Hollywood facialist, Biba da Sousa.

Jones Road

Twenty-five years to the day after selling her eponymous beauty line to Estée Lauder, Bobbi Brown launched ‘clean make-up’ line, Jones Road. The considered edit of products is a distillation of Bobbi’s make-up artist career, creating singular, superlative products such as ‘the mascara’ and ‘the bronzer’.

Refy

A pared-back make-up brand from model and influencer, Jess Hunt, Refy is designed to complement all skin types and skin tones for an effortless, natural beauty look. Great for enhancing, whilst still allowing skin to shine through, the brow range has already reached cult-status for fluffy, groomed yet natural brows.

Rare Beauty

Vegan and cruelty-free make-up collection, Rare Beauty from Selena Gomez should not be dismissed as a ‘celebrity line’. The pretty, pearlescent hues bring skin to life, with a soft, skin-blurring finish.

Saie

Powered by superfood ingredients at their core, Saie’s clean formulas use eco-conscious ingredients that have been carefully sourced for their potent skin benefits – all wrapped up in sustainable packaging.

Rose Inc

With the tagline ‘clean beauty powered by science’, Rose Huntingdon-Whiteley’s refillable make-up and skincare line delivers natural, vegan formulas with powerful, science-backed ingredients to raise the bar for ethics and efficacy in the beauty sphere.

Ilia

If you don’t want to compromise on high-performance formulas yet want a natural approach to your make-up look, US beauty brand, Ilia’s innovative, conscious range includes skin-enhancing complexion products for a healthy glow and beautiful sun-kissed tints for a veil of easy to wear colour.