From Beauty Pie and Lixir to The Ordinary and Niod, when it comes to great beauty brands, we're already spoilt for choice here in the UK. But you might want to push your holy grail products to one side and make a little more room atop your bathroom shelf, because the Indie Beauty Expo has just brought an avalanche of shiny new launches.
The brainchild of aesthetician Jillian Wright and entrepreneur Nader Naeymi-Rad, the Indie Beauty Expo is a global event, recently established to shed light on all the niche, independent and totally unique beauty brands and buys trickling into the industry. Serving up everything from skincare and haircare to makeup and wellness products, it's a beauty circus meets marketplace, and last week, it came to London for the very first time.
Ahead, you'll find all the brands and products worth stockpiling – before anyone else catches on.
Hailing from Barcelona, Alex Carro is a natural and cruelty-free brand, which harnesses herbs, essential oils and fruit acids to provide powerful skincare with a wellbeing twist. The Balancing Facial Oil is probably the most popular product in the collection – it feels warm and silky on the skin, moisturises deeply thanks to the addition of vitamin E and soothes the senses with lavender and rose.
Alex Carro Balancing Face Oil, $59, available at Wolf & Badger
Free from nail-stripping acetone, indie beauty brand Nailflix & Chill (great name) brings us a nail polish removing cream. Simply apply a thick layer onto your nail, let the formula work its magic for 1-3 minutes, massage it in and then wipe off with a dry cotton pad or tissue. We can confirm it's just as effective as any 'normal' liquid nail polish remover, and thanks to the added vitamin E, it won't leave your cuticles dry or ragged.
Nailfix & Chill Nail Polish Eraser Cream, $12.95, available at Beauty Mart
ikoo is a brand dedicated to all things hair. Taking inspiration from the clever Korean haircare trend of 'steam hair masks', they recently launched the Thermal Treatment Wrap – a hair mask meets shower cap. Infused with sea kelp, plant extracts and proteins, it locks in the heat and moisture of your just-washed hair so the ingredients work twice as hard to hydrate and reinforce brittle strands.
ikoo Thermal Treatment Wrap, $6, available at Harvey Nichols
Made in France, Bon Parfumeur's 18-strong, unisex fragrance wardrobe – including floral, woody, spicy and citrus scents – was created for those with a penchant for layering or mixing and matching perfume. The aesthetic is minimal, but you can personalise the label to read whatever you'd like.
Bon Parfumeur 101 Rose, Sweet Pea, White Cedar, $85, available at Bon Parfumeur
Like many women, S5's founder, Laura Rudoe had acne for many years and created the brand (which consists of serums, creams and cleansers) to combat things like excess oiliness and pigmentation or skin staining left behind by spots. For us, the hero product is the cleanser. Unlike lots of face washes formulated for oily skin, this is non-foaming, so it won't strip your skin of the good stuff as it mops up shine.
S5 SKINCARE, $24, available at Content Beauty Wellbeing
This cute brand was cooked up by NYC-based aesthetician and herbal medicine expert Victoria Leung, and the Sea Salt Scalp Purifying Anti-Dandruff Shampoo is our top pick. Okay, it doesn't smell as great as a regular shampoo, nor does it lather up, but it does the trick of eradicating product build-up, minimising flakes and making hair feel squeaky clean and soft thanks to the sea salt and sweet almond oil extract. It's free from SLS, so even those with allergy-prone scalps and coloured hair can use it.
Elvis + Elvin Sea Salt Scalp Purifying Anti-Dandruff Shampoo , $31.23, available at Elvis + Elvin
Certified cruelty-free and vegan, this creamy (read: not sopping wet) sheet mask by Insta-worthy skincare brand Milu is like a drink of water for skin prone to dehydration, usually characterised by a tight, taut feeling. Rose water shuttles moisture back into the skin and olive extract helps nourish sans greasiness.
Milu Say Hi To Hydration Moisturising Sheet Mask 28g, $11.5, available at Feel Unique
If the Instagram-worthy packaging and sunny, citrussy fragrances don't sway you, the philosophy behind Girl Undiscovered will. The New Zealand brand is owned and run by a female collective who sniff out natural, sustainable and ethically sourced ingredients for each product. The brand also places more of a focus on the ritual of skincare, so think of this velvety, aromatic body oil as self-care in a bottle.
Girl Undiscovered Soaked In Sunshine Body Elixir Oil, $46, available at Free People
From cleansing oils to natural deodorants, the products in Joji Natural's skincare range boast organic, cruelty-free, gender-neutral and zero-waste credentials. Frankincense, lavender and rosemary feature heavily in the line and provide a calming and comforting touch through aromatherapy.
Joji Natural Moisturiser - Hydrate, $19.86, available at Joji Natural
All of Verdant Alchemy's products are vegan, certified COSMOS Natural by the Soil Association and made in small batches in London. These bath salts are high in Epsom salts, known to ease stiff, weary muscles thanks to the component magnesium; white kaolin clay, which gently absorbs grime; and lemon, eucalyptus and bergamot to invigorate both the skin and senses.
Verdant Alechemy Breathe In Bath Salts, $26, available at Verdant Alchemy
Thanks to the likes of Verso and L:A Bruket, Scandi beauty is taking over, and the latest brand on our radar is Eleni + Chris. The packaging is a little more fun than others and, according to the brand, ingredients are sourced directly from the fields, fjords and glaciers of Scandinavia. This sheet mask takes dull, dehydrated skin and imparts a dewy glow that lasts.
Eleni & Chris Glow face mask - single, $7.99, available at Eleni & Chris
The crystal skincare trend is going nowhere. Awake Organics' 100% natural, certified cruelty-free and vegan exfoliating cleanser is infused with one carat of finely milled clear quartz powder (some believe this crystal provides healing properties), as well as antioxidant-rich spirulina and hemp seed oil. Bright green, it isn't at all harsh on the skin but sloughs away dead skin, sebum and excess makeup in next to no time.
Awake Organics Sea Quartz Crystal + Algae Cleanser, $26.5, available at Awake Organics
Probably the most luxurious product to come out of the expo, Le Prunier's Plum Beauty Oil is void of sulphates, unnecessary fragrance and essential oils, which irritate some skin types. Instead, the contents are made from plum pits – what's left over when plums are processed for the food industry. Non-greasy, it's incredibly high in antioxidants and so provides protection against pollution and other environmental offenders.
Le Prunier Plum Beauty Oil 30ml, $55, available at Feel Unique
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