With beauty shop shelves and sites packed with “the latest and best” products, it can become confusing to know which ones fall into either category. Well, we are here to do the work for you with this list of skincare solutions that have come to our shores in 2022 — and that tick the ethical but effective beauty boxes.
HoliFrog
Clean-beauty platform Powder, helmed by Amina Grimen and Ayat Toufeeq, brought Holifrog to the UAE in February. The American brand does not believe in restricting skincare based on dry, oily or combination complexions; rather, founders Emily Parr and Majeed Hemmat are proponents of “skin strategy over skin type”.
This translates to products created using “holistic-functional formulas” and bioactive ingredients that soothe and repair. Think an adaptogenic mushroom blend that holds up to 500 times its own weight in water; bamboo stem powder that loosens debris; and fatty acid-rich oils such as papaya seed, mongongo seed, cranberry seed and moringa.
The product line includes serums, scrubs, cleansers and Grand Amino Cushion Cream, and ranges from Dh125 to Dh260.
Fun fact: the brand’s name takes its inspiration from frogs that, like humans, have a thin dermis that absorbs environmental toxins and free radicals.
Saltee
The latest brand to launch on the Powder Beauty platform — and just in time for the UAE’s harsh summer, too — Saltee offers vegan, paraben-free and ocean-friendly sun protection products in recycled packaging.
The London brand specialises in formulations that are lightweight yet effective, thanks to ingredients such as jojoba, grapeseed, avocado and neroli oils; hydrating rice extract, birch water and shea butter; and Nordic pine bark, which prevents the hyperpigmentation brought on by UV exposure.
The product line includes a tanning formula, facial mist, and face and body sunscreen, and ranges from Dh190 to Dh210.
Carbon Theory
A brand that focuses on acne-prone teenagers, Carbon Theory is available in the UAE through the clean-beauty platform Secret Skin, founded by cancer survivor Anisha Oberoi.
“From personal experience, I understand how debilitating acne can be to a young adult’s confidence. To dissuade early adopters from choosing harsh medications to treat skin issues, I was actively searching for a gentler, yet effective alternative,” says Oberoi.
A British brand, Carbon Theory offers an AM to PM regimen via products that are natural, vegan and cruelty-free, and promise to keep breakouts at bay by using antimicrobial, antioxidant-rich and impurity-resistant ingredients such as organic tea tree oil, activated charcoal, cranberry particles and antimicrobial silver.
The product line includes a cleansing wash, detox serum, sunscreen and spot paste, and ranges from Dh44 to Dh128.
Cheeky Tint
Beauty mogul Huda Kattan launched her beauty brand’s first blush stick in March, calling it her “all-time fave for creating a juicy monochromatic look in seconds”, one in keeping with the glowy-dewy flush that’s all the rage now.
Ticking various clean-beauty boxes, with its vegan-friendly, non-comedogenic, fragrance and alcohol-free formulation, and FSC-certified and recyclable packaging, Cheeky Tint is available in five shades, so as to be suitable for all skin tones.
It is a buildable blush, in that it can be worn on bare skin or on layered on top of other make-up. Ingredients include moisturising lychee extract and soothing vitamin E, and the product also claims to be water, transfer, humidity, and sweat-proof.
Cheeky Tint is priced at Dh103 and is available at hudabeauty.com.
[Tq] Serum
![[Tq] Serum is derived from the Tetraena qatarensis plant native to the Arabian Peninsula. Photo: De L'arta](https://www.thenationalnews.com/resizer/v2/ROUGYMCYFFBAZFKAE6BI372F4I.jpg?smart=true&auth=06b4e46060bf91a44171c9d22a2e21618b3b4f4bd41127952871dafb1212b82a&width=800&height=534)
Home-grown brand De L’Arta, co-founded by Lina Yousef, an assistant professor of chemistry at Khalifa University in Abu Dhabi, added a serum to its [Tq] product line in February.
So named after the plant it was created from, the [Tq] range is formulated from Tetraena qatarensis, which has wound-healing properties and hydrates, nourishes and protects skin from premature ageing. The native plant not only grows abundantly in the UAE, it’s also perennial, meaning once grown, the shoots can be continuously harvested.
Other than offering farm-to-lab-to-market products, Yousef ensures every aspect of the brand’s production is steeped in sustainability: all products are made in the UAE; the aluminium packaging is minimal, and the team are working on new lines featuring products derived from other plants, including some that grow in the mangrove.
The serum is priced at Dh85 and is available from delarta.com
