Credo is Latin for “I believe,” and an early Sephora hire believes so much in the power of natural skincare that he that he wanted to create a “Sephora for Natural Beauty.” And that’s what he did. Shashi Batra launched Credo Beauty this past January as a site that offers dozens of natural beauty brands like Vapour, Ilia, One Love Organics, Lily Lolo, Acure and more.
Credo believes that “natural beauty is essential, not ‘alternative.’” And that “everyone deserves products that are exquisite, effective, modern, and good — in every sense.”
Totally natural. Super good. Absolutely beautiful.
Sold.
In June, they opened their first brick and mortar on Fillmore Street in San Francisco. As I’m sure you can imagine, I wanted to get over there as soon as possible. I’ve always tried to purchase skincare and beauty products comprised of ingredients that I understand and can read, but sometimes marketing gets the best of me. But, I wanted to learn more.
A couple weeks ago, I ventured to Fillmore for lunch and a natural beauty shopping date with a good friend of mine I actually met through my work with Sephora. She’s absolutely radiant and is a huge proponent of natural skincare. While at lunch, she introduced an app to me called Think Dirty — an app where you can learn more about the ingredients in beauty products and the environmental impact many chemicals in our everyday products have on our health. Needless to say, it’s a pretty addictive app (I’m pretty sure I spent two hours that same night scanning everything in my bathroom to see its toxicity).
Think of it like the food industry as of late. We all want to know what goes into our food, how the animals are treated, if the produce is organic or sprayed with chemicals. We’re conscientious about what goes into our bodies, but we may not think too hard about what goes on our bodies. We should. After all, our skin is the largest organ in our body, right?
Needless to say, I walked into Credo with my phone in hand, ready to scan some products! First of all, the store is absolutely gorgeous. It’s not cluttered, sorted by brand, makeup on one side and skincare on another. There’s not an overwhelming amount of products, but there’s plenty to meet your needs.
The Credo team chooses the brands they carry based on their authenticity and how transparent they are about their product ingredients. Credo has a pretty extensive list of banned ingredients (including some of the usual suspects like formaldehyde and parabens). Brands also cannot test their products on animals and they must use 100 percent biodegradable, recyclable or reusable packaging.
Of course, I had to get a few things to try out.
Aquareveal Satin Bright Soft Water Peel for Face
This peel is a water-based gel that provides adjustable exfoliation from light to deep while not drying out skin. It’s specially formulated with Hyaluronic Acid and nourishing botanicals to maintain the skin’s natural moisture levels while effectively and visibly sweeping away dead skin cells.
I tried this on my hand in the store and could feel the dead skin cells! Obviously I had to buy it and I’ve tried it several times since. It’s wonderful. Really, you can feel the dead skin! And it leaves your face completely radiant and not dry at all.
I have a slight obsession with lip balm and the cinnamon scent of this Kari Gran Lip Whip was irresistible. This is certainly one of the most luxurious lip balms I’ve purchased. All ingredients are organic, non-GMO and wild harvested. It doesn’t feel sticky or heavy and as I said, the fragrance is heavenly (and light!). They also have peppermint for those of you who don’t like cinnamon..
W3LL PEOPLE Expressionist Mascara
Mascara that’s made with organic moisturizers and mineral pigments to naturally darken lashes. I’ll be honest, I didn’t have high hopes for this mascara, but I’ve been super impressed! No, it’s not a “false lash effect” but the mascara does a great job of separating and lengthening lashes.
The tagline: “Multi-Tasking Wonder Balm” couldn’t be more true. This is my favorite purchase from what I picked up at Credo. It can be used to remove makeup, moisturize and completely repair and restore your skin. You can even add some to powder mineral foundation (which I haven’t done…) for a foundation treatment.
Made up of an antioxidant-rich blend of organic coconut oil, mango butter, jojoba and chia, it’s the perfect solution for just about any of your skin’s needs. Plus, it smells all citrusy and vanilla-y and delicious.
Acure Brightening Facial Scrub
Okay, I know I just said that the Skin Savior was my favorite, but this scrub is a close, close second! And with a price point of $10, it might just bump up into first place… This scrub is amazing. It uses organic sea kelp and dehydrated lemon peel to gently exfoliate and soften skin. I’ve been using this about three times a week and it leaves my skin feeling so fresh and radiant. It’ll last a while because a little goes a long way!
There are so many benefits to using natural skincare, and with stores like Credo popping up (Acure is even sold at Target!), it’s easier and easier to make better choices with what we’re putting on our skin. Not to mention, my skin has never felt or looked better!
Thank you for your wonderful review of Credo Beauty and Aquareveal!