“The result is something you really, really want to wear.”

When it comes to makeup, the list sounds simple enough: foundation that makes your skin look wildly better; lush color that shows up and stays on; an inky black mascara that doesn’t run down your face. But add in formulas that meet cruelty-free and environmentally responsible standards, and omit an extensive list of relied-upon cosmetic standbys, from talc and silicone to nanoparticles and synthetic fragrance, and the task gets taller. Much taller.

Enter Vapour Beauty. It’s not just that the foundations and lipsticks and pencils and powders meet and exceed every clean marker there is, but that the result is something you really, really want to wear. 

Vapour’s founders Krysia Boinis and Kristine Keheley, a plant alchemist and fine artist, respectively, live in Taos, New Mexico. There, majestic landscapes serve as a muse of sorts, offering inspiration for what they call Fine Art Infused Color, hues that come naturally and deliver an incandescent glow on skin. 

There are shades for every skin tone, and sophisticated lip and cheek pigments that range from barely-there Lip Nectars to ultra-pigmented High Voltage Lipsticks. The Luminous Foundation stick has already converted a discerning clique of clean beauty skeptics (and won two Allure Beauty Awards–one from editors, the other from readers); we anticipate the new spate of products is poised to do just the same.