Struggle to find your perfect match when it comes to foundation? If your skin tone is more mocha than vanilla, then you’ll probably be nodding even more vigorously. Let us take away some of the leg-work with these impressive non-toxic foundations for dark skin.

The beauty industry is fair, but in all the wrong ways. It’s not surprising that cosmetics can be way more toxic for dark-skinned women, but there’s one essential piece of makeup kit which can make switching over to the clean side an utter nightmare: foundation.

We’re all familiar with the fifty shades of beige you see at conventional cosmetic counters – on this occasion, many eco makeup brands don’t buck the trend.

This isn’t necessarily because the green beauty formulators out there are colorblind. It turns out that the cornerstone ingredient for formulating everything from concealer to BB creams, titanium dioxide, doesn’t lend itself easily to darker shades. It’s basically as white as white can get!

There’s always someone working on the issue though, and we think we’ve found the brands that have the answer.

5 Naturally Beautiful Foundations for Dark Skin

1. Alima Pure Liquid Silk Foundation & Cream Concealer

This duo has us so excited that it would be a crime not to put both on the list. Coming in matching shades, this liquid foundation and concealer provide the perfect natural looking base. If ten colors to choose from isn’t enough, then take a peek at the powdered Satin Matte Foundation which comes in an even bigger variety.

2. Zao Compact Organic Cream Foundation

For those with the deepest skin tones, this medium-full coverage foundation will give you the most choice for a skin-perfect match. The inclusion of nourishing babassu oil also allows it to melt into the face beautifully, avoiding that heavy look you can get with many cream foundations.

3. 100% Pure Fruit Pigmented Tinted Moisturizer

After a lighter, fresher finish? Look no further than this cult tinted moisturizer. Coming in three shades that are ideal for darker skin tones, it blends in beautifully without a trace — the only clue is the glowing complexion it leaves behind!

4. Gressa Minimalist Corrective Serum Foundation

Although there are only two colors suitable for women of color, this serum foundation is worth a look in. The unusual serum formula makes it look incredibly natural, allowing you to build it up from sheer to a higher coverage look, all while disappearing seamlessly into your own skin.

5. NU Evolution Complete Coverage Foundation

Matte finishes can be hard to come by in natural beauty, especially with foundation. NU Evolution offers that and so much more with this little number, providing a familiar, comforting texture of a high-end foundation. Who ever said green girls couldn’t have it all?

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As the spotlight grows on clean beauty, it’s not just your average beauty junkie switching out their products, but professionals, too. Meet the makeup artists that are making natural beauty look better than ever.

Getting your green beauty fix on Instagram has never been easier, with plenty of pretty accounts from brands for some social window shopping to picking up all the best hints and tips from industry experts.

When it comes to makeup and hair inspo though, many of us still fall back on the endless sea of looks on Pinterest or our favorite celebs. The drawback for eco beauties is that it takes a lot of research to know how to recreate the mainstream trends minus the nasties.

This is where clean beauty MUAs with a penchant for posting gorgeous snaps step in.

6 Clean Beauty MUA Instagram Accounts About To Become Your Faves

1. @sheristroh – During her years of experience, Sheri Stroh has gotten fresh-faced natural makeup down to a fine art. Look after look throughout her feed celebrates glowing radiant skin, and exactly the kind you’ll be dying to try at home. It won’t be difficult either, as Sheri takes the time to share all of her secrets in her post descriptions. Sharing is caring!

2. @khandiz – Being edgy and editorial doesn’t stop international makeup artist Khandiz Joni from keeping her kit clean. On her Instagram you’ll find plenty of collaborations with other conscious practitioners in the fashion, art and beauty industries, alongside many natural beauty product recommendations.

3. @kateydenno – If you live for red carpet beauty, follow Katey Denno like, right now. Her client list is a who’s who of Hollywood’s finest faces, on which she proves natural and organic beauty is equally worthy of the limelight. Scroll through and you’ll find that besides starlets, there are plenty of perfected red lips and smokey eyes.

4. @loudartford_mua – Leading the way as one of London’s first professional makeup artists with a clean and green kit, Louise Dartford’s work has been featured on the pages of many top glossies. While her feed flaunts her beautiful work, it’s also full of amazing how-to tips on makeup application demonstrated through cute illustrations.

@kristenarnettbeauty – When Kristen Arnett’s job as an international makeup artist isn’t keeping her busy enough, you can find her spreading the green beauty gospel as the editor-in-chief of Green Beauty Team. Her feed is the ultimate backstage pass to the runway, and she’s always sharing her latest and greatest clean beauty discoveries.

@depthsofbeauty – Aussie Emmily Banks is not only a source of eco beauty inspo, but has a feed full of serious clean living eye candy that will make you want to hop on the next flight down under. Although not as makeup-focused as all of the above, Emmily keeps her followers in the loop about her favorite clean makeup finds and gives sneak peeks into her regular makeup masterclasses.

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As we hurtle towards Labor Day, the sweaty summer season is only going to get well, sweatier. Here at EcoSalon, we’ve given you wardrobe and make up ideas to beat the heat, but how about some tips to tame your tendrils?

There has been a notable anti-straightening iron movement for the past few years in hair in favor of more natural-looking textures. The loose and beachy waves du jour are the perfect accessory to summer’s carefree looks, but when it gets truly hot and sticky out there, even the most perfect waves experience wipeout.

It’s tempting to want to chop it all off. But there’s an undeniable predilection for repunzel-like long locks right now. Thanks to layered cuts that add movement and volume to longer hair and celebrities, like Demi Moore, turning the ridiculous notion of age-appropriate hair length on its head, hair that reaches the mid-back is beautiful for all.

If you’re determined to remain sane and hang on to your mane in this summer’s epic battle of hair versus humidity, how about trying herringbone or fishtail braids – a sophisticated, on-trend solution to keeping your hair out of your face.

There are lots of tutorials on how to do fishtail braids online, I liked this sexily-voiced one. The trick to keeping the effect cool girl – not school girl – is to wear them deliberately loose and messy, teasing out volume on top and a few strands to frame your face.

A side swept style complements every face shape by helping to offset unsymmetrical features. A deep, statement making, retro part will perform the same trick. For a finished look, pull a piece of hair from the underside of the tail and wrap it around the elastic as many times as you can, securing it with a bobby pin or adorn jauntily with eco hair accessories.

I’ll attest to finding it a bit fiddly at first – it’s one of those things that gets easier with practice, which is just as well because come fall, those braids are getting decidedly more polished (check out hair guru Orlando Pita’s guide to creating Doo Ri’s fall catwalk look seen above) along with a return to sleeker hair textures.

It seems that fashion’s frisky self-referential cycle has become so short that even the pin straight hair of the mid-nineties, straightened then to accompany Tom Ford’s seventies redux, is now considered vintage and ripe for reinterpretation.  So before you arm up with your straightening arsenal – dryer, irons, paddle brush – dressed in high-waisted flared pants and once again wrestle your locks into long, straight, face drapes à la Jerry Hall (pre Mick), it’s time to embrace your natural texture, twisted, twirled and braided into summer’s hottest trend, tended tendrils.

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