Australia is known for perfect avocado toast, koalas, and Hemsworth brothers. Something else quintessentially Australian? The seemingly always-on, effortless glow possessed by Aussie women. When it comes to living a clean, healthy lifestyle, our southern neighbors are on to something—and having access to some of the best natural and organic beauty products in the world doesn’t hurt.
“Natural beauty has really become an extension of a healthy lifestyle,” says Fay Halkitis, founder and director of Luna Beauty & Apothecary, a natural beauty shop and naturopathy studio in Sydney. “Fortunately, many skin-care formulators are tapping into the abundance of homegrown plants for ingredient inspiration.” Halkitis’ homegrown ingredients to watch? Kakadu plum from Australia’s Northern Territory, macadamia oil, potent manuka, and lemon myrtle.
Keep scrolling to discover 10 glow-promoting Australia and New Zealand lines that are absolutely worth the overseas shipping.
Jacqueline Evans
Trained naturopath Jacqueline Evans cut her teeth at London’s famous Organic Pharmacy, where she learned the art of blending pure, earth-born ingredients. After moving home to Melbourne and working in a pathology lab, Evans noticed that traditional skin-care ingredients kept popping up in her patients’ blood work as hormone disrupters. That led her to develop a range of simple, fresh-smelling potions and creams with pronounceable ingredients in colorfully chic #shelfie-worthy packaging. Try the Rooibos Tea Facial Toner (approx. $27 USD) for a perfect pick-me-up when 3 p.m. hits. The brand has flat $40 international shipping.
The Beauty Chef
Sydney-born Carla Oates took the mantra “you are what you eat” to a whole new level in 2004, when her fascination with the skin-healing effects of lacto-fermented foods and digestion turned into a book, Feeding Your Skin. While she was busy writing a DIY beauty column in Sydney’s Sunday Telegraph newspaper in 2009, her hobby of making from-scratch skin care seemed like it should become an actual business. And so Oates’ gut health-promoting inner beauty powders were officially born. Seven years later, Oates launched her first topical products, including the Beauty Fix Balm ($35), which is loaded with fermented young coconut.
Go-To Skincare
Zoe Foster Blake, the former beauty director of Cosmopolitan Australia and Harper’s Bazaar Australia, is the brains behind a clean beauty range that’s hailed as the “Glossier of Australia.” The peach-hued branding and cute quips associated with Go-To Beauty is punctuated by products that are free from parabens, sulfates, GMOs, synthetic colors, mineral oil, and petrolatum. Instead, they use jojoba oil, amla berry extract, willow bark extract, and avocado oil. Intrigued? Exceptionoil ($39), a semi-solid body oil is a perennial fave.
Wildcrafted Organics
Herbalist and nutritionist Nicole O’Sullivan’s Neroli Cleansing Oil (approx. $35) will make you a true believer. The lush, just-rich-enough oil smells like the serene natural spa of your dreams. The small-but-mighty skin-care collection is made in O’Sullivan’s idyllic hinterland town three-and-a-half hours northwest of Sydney. At present, international shipping costs—while available—nearly mirror the prices of the products they accompany. But come December, the line will be available on United States-based MindfulLuxe.com. Tick tock.
Grown Alchemist
This non-toxic, beautifully packaged botanical skin-care line happens to hail from Australia, where it was founded by brothers Jeremy and Keston Muijs in North Melbourne in 2008. The brand’s Age-Repair Gel Masque ($79) includes pomegranate extract and peptide complex. With its thin, slick, clear application, it’s bound to become become tour personal long-haul flight savior. Best yet? You can buy it stateside at retailers such as Neiman Marcus and Net-a-Porter.
Wellington Apothecary
In the New Zealand city of Wellington sits Wellington Apothecary, a small gem of a natural beauty store nestled among some of the best wine bars and restaurants in town. Expect to find test tubes of New Zealand kaolin clay (approx. $11) perfect for #FacemaskFriday and a Botanical Eye Treatment roller (approx. $29) complete with fennel seed and virgin New Zealand walnut oils. Shipping to the U.S. runs around $20, but co-founder and herbalist Chantal Cropp says to e-mail the shop to discuss shipping certain herbs, skin care, and teas that aren’t able to be sent via standard methods. Because yes, like their skin care, Cropp and her team are actually that nice.
Tahi Oils
After learning about traditional Maori healing methods, naturopathy and herbal medicine student Jackie Lee started playing with organic, natural botanical oils. The result? Tahi, her line of hand-blended face and body oils with an acne-minimizing, inflammation-lessening, eczema-reducing and overall healing spin. Using a sweet almond oil base, Lee uses locally procured flora to activate her potions’ powers. You can shop the collection online from her one-time employer, Infinite Definite.
Sukin Organics
No Australian beauty brand list would be complete without the inclusion of a drugstore gem, and Sukin fits that bill. This Melbourne-based company sells a selection of products that hover around the $20 mark and can be found at chains across the country, making it a savior when you realize you’ve run out of your nightly rose hip oil and need to find some, stat. With extracts of parsley, spirulina, and chlorella, Sukin’s Super Greens Nourishing Chia Seed Oil ($23) is a great face product to have on hand, even if just to see what Australian beauty buzz is all about.
Nellie Tier
In 1986, friends Sara Sadd and Ann Porter opened Masterworks, one of Auckland, New Zealand’s best-known contemporary art spaces. Today, they’re running Nellie Tier, a hand-blended natural beauty range. The brand’s Hydrating Mask (approx. $31) is a lush yet lightweight, aloe-based and Manuka honey-infused treatment. With $25 shipping to the U.S. and a new teen-focused line of naturals, it’s worth a stock up.
Sienna Byron Bay
Born in one of the glowiest, most magical areas in all of Australia, this cruelty-free nail polish company is 7-free, comes in sustainable wood-topped bottles, and has dozens of color choices in every shine, sheen and finish imaginable. Back in Sydney, Luna Beauty & Apothecary founder Fay Halkitis, who stocks the range, says that the brand not only looks the part but also has the “high-performing” chops to resist chips. Not currently situated for easy access to Luna? Worry not. Sienna offers free worldwide shipping on orders over AUD$150 (approx. $117 USD). Because after all, you can never have enough non-toxic nail polish.
Steal more secrets from Down Under! Miranda Kerr swears by this beauty-boosting fruit, and this site brings you the latest in Oz wellness.
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