Verde Lusso: A BHAM Clean Beauty Boutique We Love

Store Highlights

Tucked inside MAKEbhm in Avondale, you'll find Verde Lusso, Alabama's first clean beauty retail shop. If you're a lover of non-toxic beauty products — or if you pride yourself on giving fabulous gifts — this spot should be on your radar.

August 1, 2023

Clean. Curated. Luxury. Three words to describe Verde Lusso, the clean beauty boutique flourishing inside Avondale’s creative haven, MAKEbhm. Boasting tall ceilings, breezy decor, and shelves stocked with a luxe lineup of non-toxic beauty lines, Verde Lusso is the passion project of owner Mary Frances Dale.

After growing up in Columbia, TN, and spending several years in Washington D.C. and New York City, Mary Frances made her way back to the South when she and her husband moved to Birmingham in 2020. They fell in love right away. “Birmingham feels like a hidden secret that offers many of the things I loved about living in a big city — fabulous food, bars, great art museums — with the charm and ease of a small town,” says Mary Frances. Cut to fall 2022, when Mary Frances made her own mark on the city with the opening of Verde Lusso.

We caught up with Mary Frances for a Q&A session to pick her brain about the inspiration behind the shop, Verde Lusso’s product lines, their event lineup, and what’s coming next!

The serene, natural-light-flooded space at Verde Lusso makes for a relaxing shopping experience — an ideal “treat yourself” moment!

We are grateful to all our sponsors:

The idea for Verde Lusso was born in 2008 during a personal shift to a healthier lifestyle when I discovered that most beauty products were toxic. After college and while working on the East Coast, I started blogging about clean beauty and wellness as a passion project. Knowing that I wanted to take the next step, I needed to learn about the industry, so I worked with a successful clean beauty retailer in Washington D.C., and then launched a clean beauty subscription box. This process taught me about the brands, customers, and where there were voids in this market.

In the fall of 2022, I opened Verde Lusso as Alabama’s first clean beauty retail shop, and we’re proud to be pioneering the clean beauty movement in the state.

Passionate about non-toxic beauty, owner Mary Frances Dale opened Verde Lusso in the fall of 2022.

When I was going through my own personal health journey in 2008, I discovered that the beauty industry is broken. In the U.S., beauty products are virtually unregulated, and the majority of products are full of toxic ingredients banned in other countries.

To date, the E.U. has banned 150 times more beauty product ingredients than the U.S. (e.g., E.U. law prohibits the use of 1,328 chemicals, while the U.S. restricts just 11). Harmful ingredients like lead, formaldehyde, and PFAS are found in most beauty and personal care products in the U.S. market. These unsafe ingredients are directly linked to increased cancer rates, endocrine disruption, fertility problems, and overall poor health outcomes.

When I began switching to clean products, it wasn’t trendy yet, and there were very few places to shop for non-toxic products. I often shopped at the “hippie” grocery store in town with “earth mama” vibes and smelled of patchouli — but I craved the performance and glamour of prestige beauty lines like my Dior mascara or a La Mer Cream. This truly informed how I curated Verde Lusso.

Our products have to be safe, high-performance, and luxurious to use. Out of hundreds of brands tested, we currently only carry 20. Verde Lusso typically does not carry the full brand portfolio; we only select the very best products, and all products must pass rigorous ingredient safety standards (typically a 0-2 score on EWG, the nation’s leading standard for ingredient safety).

We are grateful to all our sponsors:

Synthetic fragrances and perfumes are some of the worst offenders for hormone disruption, skin irritation, and general toxicity. If you could quickly eliminate one ingredient, let this be it!

Beware if you see “fragrance” or “perfume” on the ingredient list, which are catch-alls for 3,000+ undisclosed chemicals that can be highly allergenic, including phthalates (which are stored in fat cells and are hormone disruptors and potential carcinogens). Instead, choose products that are fragrance-free or use essential oil-based fragrances. Verde Lusso only sells products free from synthetic fragrances.

You’ll find a variety of product lines for a variety of purposes — peels, serums, and moisturizers, yes, but you’ll also find high-performance makeup products!

Verde Lusso sells its own line of gua sha tools. Keep an eye out for Verde Lusso workshops on this invigorating practice.

My goal is for Verde Lusso to be a wellness and clean lifestyle hub. We often do free yoga and barre classes at the shop to spotlight our favorite local teachers. I’m also leading a series of Gua Sha Workshops to teach attendees how to use this natural face-sculpting technique.

We’re planning an upcoming floral workshop where we’ll craft wildflower bouquets and learn about flower remedies, a holistic healing remedy that is based on the healing properties of flowers. We look forward to offering more masterclasses with brand founders and makeup artists. One offering that I’m most excited about is that we hope to offer holistic spa services soon — stay tuned!

Stop in with friends and enjoy the ambiance while you shop! The Verde Lusso team LOVES to talk clean beauty and is happy to answer any of your questions.

We are grateful to all our sponsors:

My favorite spots to eat are Automatic Seafood, Bottega, Pizza Grace, and The Essential.

To shop, Devore Vintage for museum-quality antique clothing with an expert eye for what’s chic. This shop feels like something you’d find in the lower east side of NYC, and it’s tucked away in Pepper Place. Lé Weekend for amazing contemporary designers like the Australian label Alemais (a personal fave). Lacey, the owner of basic., curates sustainable fashion like no one else, and this is my go-to for closet staples like my everyday basics. And Swaddle for the best European baby clothes and gifts.

I often take my 1-year-old to the Birmingham Zoo and for walks around the Botanical Gardens. We also enjoy taking long walks around my neighborhood, Forest Park, and playing in Triangle Park.

For drinks, I love getting together with friends at Aviné or Juniper.

When I was in my late 20s, I traveled throughout Southeast Asia and found Ubud, Bali, to be an endless source of inspiration for how I want to live my life. The wellness and holistic healing scene there was next level — from deliciously prepared raw food dishes, detoxifying green juices, healing facials, and spa treatments to just being in tune with nature.

I also love the scene in California for healing, clean beauty, and holistic, sustainable living. We Care Spa, this little spa in the desert outside of Joshua Tree, is a celebrity favorite and offers the most comprehensive and effective holistic spa service I’ve found in the U.S. I spent a week there in 2019 and learned so much. It’s definitely informed my approach to crafting Verde Lusso’s mission and offerings. I also love keeping up with Goop, CAP Beauty, and all of the top clean beauty brands to stay on the pulse of the industry.

Finding and building a team as passionate about clean beauty and holistic living as I am.

Rejection is protection. I used to get so sad when something didn’t work out, but now I remember this quote, and it brings me peace while something better always comes. Desiree Pais, an NYC-based kundalini yoga instructor and founder of Benshen, always says this during her classes, and I’ve taken it to heart.

Last delicious meal: Last night, I had a vegetarian pizza from Bottega with mushrooms, fontina, and Castelvetrano olives. The fontina’s nutty creaminess paired with the smoky mushrooms and the buttery Castelvetrano olive was unexpected and unique. I enjoyed it with their baked feta appetizer; it was divine!Favorite vacation spot: St. BarthsBook(s) on your bedside table: You Can Heal Your Life by Louise HayYour go-to gift (to give): I love giving a luxurious botanical hand soap from Sangre De Fruta. It’s in a chic black bottle and looks fabulous in the powder room. I shop from my own store and get it at Verde Lusso.Three things you can’t live without: My silk eye mask, my daily green juice, and a good face oil.

Be sure to stop into Verde Lusso next time you’re in Avondale!

All photography provided by Verde Lusso.

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Alissa is StyleBlueprint's Managing Editor. She's a Tennessee native and a lover of travel, red wine, and unlikely animal friendships.

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