Why We Carry Clean Beauty

The thinking behind our self-care selection.

Eons ago, before owning a shop, I was a magazine editor. After college internships, my first “real” editor gig was at a magazine rebranding itself from “New Age Journal” to “Body + Soul.” At 23, it felt like hitting the big time. My beat? Green lifestyle, with an emphasis on food and beauty—those product-filled editorials we needed to produce to garner the advertising that would keep the magazine alive.

It was a good fit. A southern California native, I was not unacquainted with the idea of living sustainably. As a ‘90s teen I volunteered for beach cleanups, wore vintage, learned yoga, and ate alfalfa sprouts at a vegan shack on the weekends.
 

But a green life was still pretty fringe in the early aughts, the archetype a dusty food co-op smelling of oats and damp cardboard. And the “clean” beauty industry in particular was not ready for prime time. I wandered the aisles of big natural-products expos, searching for story-worthy finds.

It was so disheartening. The brand messages I heard were, by and large, angry: bitter diatribes on the toxic and carcinogenic compounds in lotions and shampoos, and how evil mainstream companies were for leaving them in. Left out were any promises of radiance or results. 

What’s more, most of the products were flat-out ugly, with names like “Essence of Nature” or “Demeter’s Delight.” Everything smelled like tea tree oil, or hay. I stewed in my hotel room at night as I slathered on Burt’s Bees.

Oh, the poor advertising team that had to deal with me in those days. “You need to show the packaging in your stories,” they’d plead. “Can we please fit this brand in somewhere?” I’d counter: How are we supposed to motivate anyone to toss their luxe-but-possibly-toxic products when this is what’s being served up instead? 

I was young and stubborn. An unnecessary pain in the ass. But I wasn’t wrong. And finally, decades later, it’s here: Clean beauty as luxuriously curated and effective as the stuff that’s bad for us, if not leagues better. It looks good. It smells good. You’re happy to see it out on your bathroom counter, a little reminder to indulge, to take care.

At Monroe, our limited selection focuses on skin, hair, and body care items that work for all types, and can be layered into an existing regimen. Beautiful packaging, presentation, and scents are a must—no sacrifices for us!

Here's a look at some of the lines you'll find in the shop.