Photo Credit: Dmytro Buianskyi/Shutterstock
If you’ve been paying attention to the beauty industry, you already know that natural and conscious beauty is having a major moment. With a 6.7% growth in 2024, this sector is booming—fueled by ingredient-conscious consumers, Gen Z’s rising purchasing power, and the ever-influential TikTok beauty craze.
At this year’s Natural Products Expo West, the Conscious Beauty pavilion was a hotspot for the latest and greatest in clean, innovative skincare. From beef tallow making its way from the kitchen to the beauty cabinet to multi-tasking products streamlining routines, here are three standout trends that prove natural beauty is more exciting than ever.
1. Beef Tallow: The Unexpected Skincare MVP
Once reserved for frying up the perfect steak, beef tallow has officially made the leap into the skincare world—and it’s here to stay. Touted for its deeply moisturizing and skin-barrier-protecting properties, beef tallow is popping up in everything from face creams to balms.
Brands like Moo Elixir are taking the ingredient mainstream with toning mists, moisturizers, and cleansers made from high-quality tallow. Rumina Naturals is making a splash with a tallow cream designed to soothe pregnancy bellies, while Fatworks, a longtime leader in pasture-raised cooking fats, is now exploring skincare applications.
And let’s not forget the power duo: beef tallow + honey. The Vanman Company and Stoked Beekeeping Co. both showcased honey-tallow balms that harness the soothing, antibacterial properties of honey alongside tallow’s deep nourishment. With Stoked sourcing high-quality Manuka honey from New Zealand, it’s clear that conscious skincare is leveling up.
2. Less Is More: Multi-Tasking Beauty Products
Gone are the days of 10-step routines. This year, brands embraced simplicity by creating products that do more with less—without sacrificing effectiveness.
For makeup lovers, ATTITUDE’s Lash Serum Mascara is a dream come true. Infused with microalgae for lash density and flower oils for nourishment, it’s the perfect solution for anyone guilty of dozing off with mascara still on (we’ve all been there). Plus, it’s vegan and EWG Certified, making it a clean beauty win.
Sunscreen also got a serious upgrade. Badger’s Face Mineral Sunscreen SPF 30, which snagged an Editor’s Choice NEXTY Award, feels more like a daily moisturizer than a traditional zinc sunscreen. Meanwhile, Daybird’s 4-in-1 Tinted Serum SPF 50, a NEXTY Award finalist, is a multitasking powerhouse—combining serum, moisturizer, foundation, and SPF into one genius product.
With products like these, beauty routines are getting easier, cleaner, and way more efficient.
3. Beauty for Every Skin Tone
For too long, the beauty industry left melanin-rich skin tones as an afterthought. Thankfully, that’s changing, and brands at Expo West proved that inclusivity is no longer optional.
Mudita Earth, founded by mother-daughter duo Pooja and Jessica Chopra, was one of the standouts. Seeing a lack of affordable, clean beauty products formulated for women of color, they took matters into their own hands. Now, they’re creating skincare products designed with deeper skin tones in mind—without the hefty price tag.
Similarly, Black Girl Sunscreen continues to make waves with its residue-free SPF, designed specifically for darker skin tones. Founder Shontay Lundy created the brand after years of struggling to find a sunscreen that didn’t leave a white cast—proving once again that the best innovations come from those who understand the need firsthand.
From tallow-based skincare to simplified routines and inclusive formulations, this year’s Expo West highlighted the industry’s shift toward conscious, practical, and accessible beauty solutions.
One thing is clear: the future of beauty is cleaner, smarter, and made for everyone. And if these trends are any indication, we’re just getting started.
