My Favorite 2018 Green Beauty Buys

It's crazy to think not just the year being over, but how my clean beauty journey is hitting 2 whole years. While I still haven't tried a ton of new brands, I did test a few new products and from all that testing I found products that reach for continuously all year that I wanted to share with you. And if you can't tell from above, I'm going to need to be restocking a few of these. If you're thinking of switching out your makeup to cleaner brands (or just keeping your options open), I would say this is post I wish I would have read when I was transitioning. So here are old and new favorites I cannot live without:

1. 100% Pure Fruit Pigmented Water Foundation

While I have been a 100% Pure fan for a long time, I never could find a foundation I had that "Ahh-ha" moment. That is until they came out with their Water Foundation this year. It gives enough coverage, but leaves a light, dewy girl you're glowing finish. It's one of those foundations that makes you wonder how you lived without this stuff. 

2. DERMA E Radiant Glow Oil

With oils being all the rage, I definitely tried one or two here and there. I never really gave one a chance, but with so many ways the Radiant Glow Oil can be used I got hooked. It's affordable. It's generous in size. It's a do it all-add it to foundation, use it in your hair, use it as a body moisturizer. I have been simultaneously been using it with my W3ll People Bio Tint (that'll be #3). It does have mica, which gives it a shimmer, but promise you won't end up looking like a glitter fest.

3. W3ll People Bio Tint

For those everyday looks, I'm all about this tinted moisturizer packed with zinc oxide sunscreen. I mix in 2-3 drops of Radiant Glow Oil and apply with a brush for a flawless application. I have every intention of repurchasing this one.

4. Honest Beauty Mascara

There was a ton of hype when this came out and even more hype when they rebranded/relaunched. Truthfully, I debated countless trips to Target over this one. And if you can't tell I already had a favorite mascara. Well, I found out I can have more than one favorite mascara. Totally not a bad thing, right? This has a two step application to give you some volume. One side is a primer and the other side is mascara. While I always want the best lashes, I don't have enough time to use this everyday, so it's my evening and weekend mascara.

5. W3ll People Expressionist Mascara

One of my very first green beauty products and still a favorite. I actually think my love for this mascara has grown. From the wand to the formula, it's just the perfect extra something, something for daytime lashes.

6. W3ll People Bio Bronzer Powder

Okay, okay I clearly have A LOT of W3ll People favorites. They haven't disappointed and you just can't beat how clean the ingredients are. They are also EWG verified and rank 0-3 in the Think Dirty app. But now back to this bronzer. You won't catch me without it and has lasted over a year-so it's gotten it's money's worth. They came out with a baked bronzer that I'm going to be testing soon. 

Let me know if you have any questions about these items or have a favorite green beauty product you couldn't live without! Here's to a cleaner 2019!

5-Minute Natural Makeup Routine

Happy 1st day of Spring! While it might not feel quite like it (currently raining here), I thought it would be good to show you a quick 5-minute makeup look that's Spring ready. If you're anything like me, you might have been deprived of the sun these past months and need add in some color. Not only is this quick, but gives you that natural and fresh look that says Spring to me.

STEP 1: FOUNDATION

While I'm not big on liquid foundation for everyday, I do love a pressed powder. My current favorite is by Portland brand, Alima Pure. It gives enough coverage for everyday and has nourishing rosehip in it. 

STEP 2: EYES

Nothing says awake like the eyes and I pay a little more attention here. W3ll People's Expressionist mascara gives your lashes a nice coat that still looks very natural. I'll usually do 2 coats for good measure. Then, I add their liquid eyeliner. Now for a natural makeup brand, I have to say I'm hooked on this eyeliner. The texture and brush make it so easy to apply. Does it stay on like a regular brand? No. It just becomes a tad faded if you wear it all day, but you'll still have eyeliner on. 

STEP 3: CHEEKS

Now here's where you're going to fake that color! Wake up that Winter skin with some bronzer. This is another one of W3ll People's star products and it's not just me who agrees. Allure gave it the seal of approval. Beside having clean ingredients, I love that it's a loose powder allowing you to use as much of it as you need. Whether you're lighter or darker, you can always build up the color for the desired glow. 

STEP 4: LIPS

I'm normally a lipstick gal, but recently picked up this new lipgloss by Kjaer Weis from Cos Bar and has made me fall back in love with lipglosses. It's not sticky and has just enough sheer color to punch up your lips. 

Hope this tutorial helps freshen up your look!

3 Easy Steps to Transition Into Natural Beauty

When we think of skincare and makeup, our minds think of the beauty and appearance aspects. Both are completely valid. Who doesn't want to look their best? Except you might have heard that there's a lot of weird ingredients that beauty brands use and how all these ingredients can be absorbed into our skin impacting our health. I know, it's scary to think about. Sadly, the US doesn't regulate the beauty industry and there are way more ingredients banned in Europe than the US. So what can you do to take matters into your hands? After a year of detoxing my skincare and makeup I use, I found these three things made it easier to transition.

1. Think Dirty App

First off, get your mind out of the gutter. While it's a work in progress, this is the app you need to download ASAP! It has a database of thousands of products that you can enter by name or scan the SKU to give you a rating of how clean or dirty it is. Is every product in there? No! But you can submit the item for review. The best part is if something does rate dirty, it will give suggestions for cleaner options and breaks down the ingredients. Not going to lie, it's addicting and shocking.

2. Swap Your Deodorant

If there's one thing I wish everyone would swap, it would be their deodorant. Is it freaking hard (not to mention stinky)? ABSOLUTELY! But not only starting with the hardest swap in this whole natural beauty journey, it's the one I find extremely beneficial to our health. The reality is we are meant to sweat. That's healthy. It's normal. We have been conditioned into thinking we shouldn't sweat there. These conventional deodorants are just plugging up our pores and not allowing our bodies to detox. Deodorants are applied so closely to our lymphoids, which carry blood into our entire bloodstream, that it makes sense to try to use the most natural ingredients we can. If I can do it (girl with the worst armpits ever), you can do it. I shared my absolute favorite natural deodorant here.

3. Replace As You Run Out

Once you start scanning your items on Think Dirty, you might panic and want to throw everything out. That's normal. I just wouldn't encourage that. That will create overwhelm and that's not the goal here. So look at what you're running out of, do some research for alternatives and then toss and replace it. Repeat until you swap everything, which could take months. You might even shed some tears for your beloved item (or was that just me?) What can I say, but I get attached to products that have been working for a decade. Here are some of my go-to brands and places to shop:

• Skincare: OSEA Malibu, The Detox Market, 100% Pure
• Makeup: 100% Pure, W3ll People, Burt's Bee, The Detox Market

I hope these tips help simplify transitioning into natural beauty! It is a process, but starting this has been empowering to take responsibility of my health. If you have any questions, please feel free to reach out because this is something I could spend hours chatting about and wish I had someone to help me through the process. You don't have to do it alone. 

W3ll People Review

bronzer // Universalist multi-stick

While I haven't been on this green beauty train very long, I have been slowly finding new brands to replace my beloved decade long favorites. This has been going at turtle pace if I'm being real. It's like breaking up with your longtime boyfriend who you wholeheartedly love and nothing is wrong, but you just know it's not going to work in the long run. Too dramatic? Maybe.

BUT after a lot of searching, I've found a brand that I feel really great about. Have you heard of W3ll People? Besides the minimal packaging (complete sucker here), they put equal focus on items being safe, non-toxic AND effective. A lot of concern with natural beauty lines is the fact of it actually going to work. Rest assured, the line is designed by an established makeup artist. It's even won a few Allure Beauty awards. Oh, and you can factor out the price. This line is reasonable ranging from $20-$30.

While I picked up three items (bronzer, universalist multi-stick, and mascara), I have just tried the mascara. It's verified safe in green beauty terms and won an Allure award, so best of both worlds. It's the perfect everyday mascara and will do another post with a full review.