21 Vegan Skincare & Beauty Gifts by Latinx-Owned Brands Que Queremos Ya
It’s that time of the year again: when your chunky sweaters come out of storage, officially replacing all those verano-ready rainbow bikinis, and you suddenly feel the urge to sing “El Burrito Sabanero” while picking up ingredients for your coquito recipe at the grocery store. No es por nada, but the holidays will always be one of our favorite times of the year: it’s a time to reconnect with old friends when everyone is back in town, savor abuelita’s epic tres leches dessert, swap gossip with your tía who’s always down to share details on your other aunts’ secret teenage escapades, and yes, have fun with gifting — because why not?
While we don’t expect to rival our moms’ agent 007-esque Christmas gifting strategy, analyzed and decided upon much before Black Friday, we can always try. A surefire Secret Santa idea that never fails? Anything beauty and skincare. Because although beauty comes from the inside, we think the gift of a dewy glow up will take us all into 2022 with an extra pep in our step. Of course, not all beauty and skincare products will do: this year, we’re thinking that keeping it vegan is our best bet, especially when considering sustainability and gentleness on the skin. Even better? This entire gift guide consists exclusively of Latinx-owned brands.
Just Beauty Vegan CBD-Infused Face + Neck Night Moisturizing Oil
We love the idea of a CBD-infused night oil that you can apply luxuriously all over your face and neck for maximum plumping, smoothing benefits while nabbing a dose of mucha, mucha paz. From a Latinx husband and wife duo who once worked in Louis Vuitton and Moët, this vegan oil packs 500mg of CBD per each 1 ounce bottle, plus vitamins A, C, and E for skin-saving superpowers. Regenerating rosehip oil, moisturizing prickly pear, and antioxidant grapeseed oil round out the formula that’s sure to be a hit with mejor amigas and abuelas alike.
It’s no secret that vitamin C is a skin hero, naturally anti-aging with a magical ability to zap away fine lines and dreaded manchas, and make your skin brighter than a disco ball you can catch us dancing salsa under. 100% vegan, cruelty-free, Latinx-founded, Dermlove’s capsules are infused with 10% pure L-ascorbic acid, A.K.A. your new BFF vitamin C, plus vitamin E and fatty acids. Give this to the friend who can’t live without her K-beauty nighttime routine, but doesn’t have too much time in the morning for skincare. These capsules are lo más fácil del mundo.
If you do want to give the gift of great nighttime skincare, look no further than cool girl brand Lendava’s face cream in a súper único sphere-shaped bottle. Founded by Latinx, Miami-based beauty-industry expert Priscila Fadul — a La Mer and Shiseido veteran — this brand comprises just two products: a cream for morning, and one for night. As Fadul explained to mitú, “skincare doesn’t need to be complicated.” With a message that’s all about simplicity, minimalism, and sustainability, this vegan, cruelty-free brand offers eco-friendly refillable packaging, too. We suggest giving this moisturizer to mami: any mom will appreciate the poderoso mix of antioxidants, peptides, vitamins C and E.
We love a hefty dose of CBD, and we can’t think of anything better than unwinding after a long day of work with the latest season of “Luis Miguel: La Serie,” the fuzziest of socks, and this so-creamy, relaxing face mask. Life Elements is Latinx and female-founded, with a backstory we can’t get enough of. Founder Martha Van Inwegen risked it all as a single mother in San Diego in 1979 to become a sales manager, surprising herself as she beat out her male coworkers. Showing how much fuerza she really had, Van Inwegen can now be found making incredible products like this vegan face mask, combining tepezcohuite, beet root and aloe. Gift this to a friend who’s the epitome of una mujer empoderada.
Uviña Skin The Gaby Antioxidant-Rich & Soothing Serum
If you prefer to gift a light serum over a cream, might we suggest this breakout-free, jojoba oil-based option? Founded by a Latina mother and nurse named Jelitsa who was inspired by her daughter Scarlett, past generations and her island of Puerto Rico, Uviña brings vegan, cruelty-free products your whole family will love as gifts this year. Making the perfect regalito de Navidad, this serum blends hero ingredients like fruit-based vitamin C, soothing chamomile, swelling-begone caffeine and coffee seed oil, and calming green tea and cucumber. Fragrance-free, this is a sure hit for anyone with a sensitive, easily-irritated complexion.
Nopalera Cleanse + Scrub + Moisturize Set
It’s no secret we’re obsessed with insider-fave brand Nopalera, founded by musician Sandra Velasquez who grew up in California and was raised by Mexican immigrant parents. Velasquez started the botanical body care brand as a way to celebrate her culture through the use of ingredients like the cacti nopales, eucalyptus, and different plant oils and butters. This set is the ultimate holiday gift, perfect for your self-care-loving cousin or as a way to get your in-laws to love you para siempre. They’ll get seriously excited about the Cactus Flower Exfoliant with shea butter and sweet-scented tangerine oil, and the Noche Clara Cactus Soap’s relaxation properties. Our favorite, though? The Moisturizing Botanical Bar, blending cocoa seed and shea butter with tepezcohuite, a bark tree that heals everything from burns to scrapes.
Lala Polishes The Stars Above Collection
If your mejor amiga del mundo is obsessed with painting her nails (and yours, and your mom’s), then we might think this is the best gift idea in the books. Who doesn’t want a neon galaxy at their fingertips? Latinx-founded, family-owned brand Lala Polishes is vegan, cruelty-free, and 10-free, which means the polishes are made without questionable ingredients like formaldehyde or parabens. This starry collection includes a whopping 6 gorgeous nail polishes, ranging from the deep-navy glitter “Cassiopeia” that leaves us starry-eyed, all the way to the juicy, neon-lime “Draco” that’s muy, muy on-trend. We’re thinking one shade on each finger is a must here.
Vamigas Organic Rosa Mosqueta Face and Body Oil
If you’ve never heard of Rosa Mosqueta oil, prepare to be pleasantly surprised by its regenerating properties your abuelita probably swears by. Derived from rose bushes in southern Chile, this oil is lleno de vitamin C, vitamin A, omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids, making skin smoother and more elastic. Even better? It fades hyperpigmentation, so say hasta nunca to acne marks and sun spots. This will make both your face and body glowy and collagen-enhanced, with a wild rose scent que nos obsesiona. Plus, Vamigas was founded by two women from Mexico and Chile who became Silicon Valley investors for BIPOC-owned companies, so we love to support it.
Rare Beauty Selena’s Faves 4 Piece Mini Set
The super chic brand, Rare Beauty comprises all the things we want in a beauty line: vegan, cruelty-free, dermatologist-tested for sensitive skin, impossibly-cute packaging, and an ethos that’s all about acceptance of our flaws and having self love. Megawatt star Selena Gomez, a third-generation Mexican, founded the line and let’s just say we love it like a love song, baby. While we adore Rare’s glitter-encrusted eyeshadow palettes that are on point for Año Nuevo, and their foundation is already an industry legend with a light-as-air formula and wide-ranging 48 shades, this mini set is a perfect introduction into Rare’s beautyverse. We love the soft rose of the liquid blush paired with the bright poppy lip cream for a festive look this December!
Sanara Skincare Tranquila Body Brightening Ritual
You can’t go wrong with a gift from Sanara, a brand founded by Rebekah Jasso Jensen, a women’s health advocate, breast cancer survivor, and all around-businesswoman of Mexican descent. The line is handmade by Rebekah herself, who started whipping up nourishing skin recipes in her kitchen after being diagnosed with psoriasis. Natural, plant-based ingredients and an ethos that’s all about belleza auténtica make us go back to Sanara, and this body polish and body butter duo is equal parts spa-experience and glow-getter. Anyone on your holiday gift list will love both products, and get envueltos in soothing mango seed butter, aloe, rosehip oil, and açaí.
Tata Harper Skincare Anti-Aging Neuropeptide Lip Treatment in Be True
If you’re still not sure what your gifting-to-friends situation is for these upcoming navidades, don’t fret: Tata Harper’s creamy, lip-saving balm keeps lips plumped and moisturized, so all your girls will love you for this one. This lip balm is impossibly-easy to apply and made out of incredibly-luxe ingredients like green tea seed oil, date seed extract, spanish lavender, açaí and pure olive oil. You’ll get tons of antioxidants and vitamins from this tiny tube, and it can be applied on both lips and the eye area for a wrinkle-free, feliz-navidad-ready glow and tons of moisture (even if you had too many coquitos the night before!). Buy a few for your friend group and prepare for tons of ooh’s and ahh’s – this is the chicest beauty stocking stuffer we’ve seen que nunca falla. Plus, founder Tata Harper is from Barranquilla, Colombia, and committed to all-natural, clean beauty, so we love supporting it.
Becalia Botanicals Charcoal Detox Mask
Remember those charcoal masks that made waves on Instagram a few years back, gripping to every pore and pulling blackheads out? While those masks aren’t recommended for anyone that wants to keep their preciosa piel intact, Becalia Botanicals brings a more refined version that’s the perfect holiday gift. This detox mask is made out of bentonite and kaolin clay to absorb skin’s impurities and start fresh, while peppermint gives you an unbeatable zing of energía. Activated charcoal jojoba oil is purifying and moisturizing (yas!) while the turmeric powder in this formula makes sure you’re left with a slightly-flushed, just-got-back-from-a-run glow. Founded by first generation Mexican-American Jazmin, this brand is inspired by her Abuela Rebeca, mom Otilia, and Tia Celia. Grab a couple of these for your work pals, and prepare for lots of much-deserved brownie points.
Relato Nativo Stardust Glow & Replenish Beauty Oil
A brand we truly can’t get enough of, Relato Nativo comes straight from the forests of Oaxaca, Mexico, deriving their superhero, sustainable ingredients from the thick of nature. Founder Mafer Bretón runs the brand like an apothecary, combining timeworn Mexican beauty traditions from nuestros antepasados with modern technology. Even better, the brand employs Zapotec women and helps support hundreds of indigenous families in the area. Add this beauty oil to your shopping cart to give the gift of glow estas fiestas, bringing your loved ones into a meditative space with its myrrh-lavender scent and vintage-like bottle design. We also love the mix of luxe rosehip, coconut and olive oil for ultimate hydration.
Joanna Vargas Eden Hydrating Pro Moisturizer
Joanna Vargas is the skin savior to the stars for a reason, working her magic as an esthetician on faces like Emma Roberts, Mandy Moore and Eva Mendes. While she’s best known for her iconic New York and Los Angeles spas, this powerful mujer is just getting started: her eponymously-named skincare line is already a best-seller worldwide. While we’re very curious about simple, easy, fresh products like her gentle Cloud Bar soap and rejuvenating Vitamin C Face Wash, this creamy moisturizer has our hearts. This cream lets you finally retroceder el tiempo with anti-aging ingredients like macadamia and abyssinica seed oils, all wrapped in a light rose scent. We think everyone from your beauty-obsessed siblings to bisabuelita will love this.
JLO Beauty That Fresh Take Brightening Eye Cream
It makes sense that the queen JLo needs no introduction, and if she does, we’ll simply lead anyone on over to bangers like “I’m Real” and “No Me Ames,” or you know, just classic works of cinema art like “Maid in Manhattan” and “The Wedding Planner.” With a career spanning three decades, the triple-threat dancer-actress-singer is a powerful businesswoman, too, and her latest JLO Beauty line is todo lo que necesitamos, ever. The brand’s eye cream is vegan, making undereye circles and fine lines disappear with lab-tested components like peptides, a tightening sugar-derived matrix, and a “blurring complex” that makes undereye bags instantly disappear after smoothing it on. As per the brand, proud Boricua JLo is involved in every part of the formula-finding process, and she’s learned a trick or two over the years — so confiamos mucho! This one is a surefire winner with la suegra, trust us.
Brujita Skincare Purple Reina Facial Scrub
Move over apricot scrub from our high school and college years, there’s a new formula in town that’s vegan and packed with luxe skin-preserving ingredients like antioxidant Maqui Berry. Brujita Skincare is a Latinx-founded, LA-based company, and their facial scrub is to die for: in a gorgeous purple hue that’s made for la realeza like you, this packs glow-boosting maracuya oil, vitamin C, hyperpigmentation-fighting hibiscus, and hydrating shea butter and avocado oil for una piel perfecta. This scrub can be used every day if desired, and its light, citrusy blood orange scent will make you or your loved ones feel relaxed — por fin!
Dezi Skin Claro Que C Vitamin C Glow Serum
Did we mention how much we love vitamin C? It’s a morning necesidad, and that’s that. Dezi Skin was founded by makeup influencer Desi Perkins, who has spoken about how proud she is of her Mexican heritage. Working hard to gain millions of fans around the world, Perkins’ line Dezi Skin is a combination of all her beauty sabiduría, and we want all of it. Using natural ingredients designed to pamper your skin and celebrate your individuality, this line is it — especially this vegan glow serum. 15% pure vitamin C packs a serious punch, making skin brighter, tighter, and all-around more youthful. Perfect as a mañana wake-up call, anyone on your gift list will appreciate the glow boost.
Pintá Beauty Parrandeo Nail Gel Collection
It’s no secret Boricuas love a good parranda, so we’re not surprised cruelty-free, vegan, Puerto Rican-based brand Pintá Beauty made a nail polish collection that’s just the thing for holiday parties. Made without 13 of the most harmful ingredients typically found in polishes, Pintá’s gel options are natural, safe, and did we mention the colors are to die for? For the holidays, we think their Parrandeo collection is a must-have, bringing together festive shades like red glitter, bright forest green, gold sparkle and creamy white into one cute package. This polish collection will have anyone singing “Feliz Navidad” Jose Feliciano-style, and we truly suggest painting each nail a different holiday-ready shade. The ruby-red packaging is super-festive for gifting to this year’s Secret Santa pick, too.
Make & Mary Love Note Bath Bomb
So, 2021 has been a year — and let’s not get started on how 2020 was, either. Yeah, cuando llueve diluvia, and let’s just say life has felt more than hectic lately. That’s why this year’s navidades will be all about the gift of relaxation, reminding loved ones to invest in self-care, nurturing their soul after so much locura and mayhem. Make & Mary is a shop founded by first generation Mexican-American Yvonne Perez Emerson, who gets inspired by her abuelitas when making Curandos-inspired concoctions out of powerful herbs and other nature-derived ingredients. A maker of all kinds of salves and bálsamos for family, Perez Emerson is all about empoderamiento through healing, and products like these bath bombs are no exception. Sustainable in 100% compostable wrapping, these bath bombs bring together pink sea salt, white kaylan clay, full spectrum extract, and relaxing ylang ylang and bergamot scents. We suggest this for that primo or prima who can’t keep still — they’ll thank you for the moment of tranquilidad!
Treslúce’s Tres Reinas Eyeshadow Palette
If you’ve ever struggled finding a super-glam, colorful eye palette that’s also vegan, may we direct you to this one? So gorgeous que no lo podemos aguantar, this palette combines 18 matte and shimmer shades ranging from gorgeous metallic bronze and purples, all the way to pops of pink, oranges and midnight shimmery black. These shadows are seriously rich and creamy, and will glide on effortlessly for all kinds of rumbas this holiday season. Plus, Treslúce was founded by the one and only Becky G, a multi-hyphenate megastar and business woman, who is committed to promoting Latinx heritage and culture. A combination of feeling good and looking good, Treslúce is our new one-stop-shop for vegan shadow palettes, lipsticks preciosos, and the softest makeup brushes.
Ouroboros Herbals Raw Cacao Foaming Facial Cleansing Powder
Last but not least, we couldn’t leave you without this all-natural, vegan facial cleansing powder, brought to you directly from San Juan, Puerto Rico. Ouroboros Herbals was founded by esoteric herbalism devotee Mystique, who uses the passed-down teachings of years past and earth-grown rituals to make formulas that are truly lo más mágico del mundo. This powder foams up to resemble honeycomb, bringing together skin-brightening cacao, beet root, and vitamin C. The oats in this cleanser are super-soothing, while kaolin clay makes sure your complexion feel as limpia as ever. Infused with “positive reiki energy,” gift this cleansing powder to any loved one that needs a dose of positivity right now.
