Gorgeous ‘Natural’ Makeup Brand Antonym Launches at Sephora

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Sephora has slowly been increasing its natural beauty offerings with brands like Youth to the People, Ilia, and Miranda Kerr’s line, Kora Organics. As of today, it’s adding another one to the roster.

Meet Antonym Cosmetics, the brainchild of makeup artist Valerie Giraud. It’s appeared on the faces of Robin Wright, Keira Knightley, and most recently Emma Watson, who’s become something of a natural beauty junkie herself.

Giraud, who’s a French commercial and print makeup artist, is now based in Miami, though her products are made in Italy and Germany. She launched Antonym in 2010 because she wanted super pigmented makeup that contained natural and organic ingredients. (Here’s my usual reminder that the word “natural” is meaningless when it comes to cosmetics, and is unregulated without any officially recognized definition.)

Photo: Laurent Viteur/Getty Images

Antonym does have a few official certifications to strengthen its claims, though. FSC certifies that the packaging doesn’t harm the environment. Antonym also has Eco-Cert status, which ensures that it uses organic ingredients. But if none of this matters to you, the products are beautiful on both your face and in your makeup bag, since all of the powder compacts are packaged in stunning, chic, totally unique bamboo palettes.

The line is currently pretty small, with 17 makeup products in classic, neutral, non-trendy shades and 20 vegan brushes. Its eyeliner pencil ($19) is a favorite (Emma Watson is wearing it above), as are its blushes ($36) and its new highlighting blush ($42). And its eyeshadow Quattros ($39) don’t contain a single extraneous, unusable color.

Photo: Sephora

All the makeup is now available on Sephora.com starting today. In the beginning of August, a selection of Antonym products will also be included in a special display in stores, along with other natural brands. (Sephora declined to comment on this initiative or confirm the brands.)

With retailers like Nordstrom and Target focusing more on natural beauty brands due to consumer demand, it’s not surprising that Sephora wants to invest in more, too.

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