My TOP 5: The clean-beauty edition!

For those of you who have known me a hot minute or two, you know I’m a fan of the “tom boy who likes to look pretty” school of thought when it comes to make up. I basically get mesmerised by these queens on instagram who seem to have a 385 step routine they post online. And this contouring business?! What is life even?!

I dabbled in a blue eyeliner obsession in my younger days (anyone else?!), have never understood how to apply eyeshadow without looking like I’ve been in a punch up, and using your fingers is the way you are supposed to apply liquid foundation right?!

As part of my own journey to becoming a WELLBEING I have consciously changed all my beauty and household products to be non-toxic, vegan and as natural as possible.

(Full disclosure… I spent way too many hours on Pinterest trying to find recipes to make my own 'natural' make up products - but we won't go into that spectacular fail. Huge kudos to those people who can make their own makeup, you women are powerful witches!)

Your skin is your largest organ, so what you are putting onto it can have enormous repercussions for your health if you aren’t careful about the products you are using every day.

“After all, I thought, we live in a country that regulates everything. So imagine my surprise when I learned that when it comes to the personal care industry, that's simply not the case. Companies are allowed to use harmful ingredients and make their own judgments about safety.”

#TOTALGIRLBOSS Beauty Counter Founder & CEO, Gregg Renfrew

If you’re interested in learning more about the science behind how perfumes/beauty additives/general cleaning products can really mess with how our organs function I highly recommend watching “Stink!”

https://stinkmovie.com/

So, I digress… here’s my TOP FIVE: The Clean-Beauty edition

1. Sukin Argan Oil: I use this stuff all over my smug little mug at night, and on no-make-up days I’ll use it in the mornings too. It smells delish, is really light weight, and according to Sukin “helps to revitalise the complexion, while the added rosehip, jojoba and maracuja oils help prevent the visible signs of ageing and soften the skin”. I’m down with that! Also they really are a beautiful brand that embodies environmental sustainability, cruelty free and natural beauty products

2. Essential Oils: This could really be all items 1 through 5 … but I’ll condense them into one category for now. I bloody can’t say enough about essential oils! I use them literally every single day for everything – deodorant, perfume, confidence, public speaking, chilling out, antiseptic… I chose to use the doTERRA range because they source from premium growers world wide, and have a strong commitment to giving back on a global scale. (Which you know I’m all about). Coming from my Environmental Management background, I’m also a firm believer in growing crops/botanicals in their natural environment (rather than artificially trying to create those conditions somewhere else through using fertilisers/irrigation etc which can cause huge environmental impact)

My favourites that I always have are Tea Tree (I use this for antiseptic, on any spots/pimples, and as a deodorant); Lavender (I use this at night time, on my pillow, on the inside of each wrist, and under my nose to breathe in – also to throw at my grumpy teenager); Geranium & Rose Blended (as perfume); and Frankincense in my diffuser *almost * 24/7 … because of my work with women’s holistic health coaching this is one of my JAMS, so if you’ve got any questions or want to look at getting some for yourself, or want to try a free sample, pop onto this link here and I can hook you up!

3. Coconut Oil: The memes floating around the interwebs are true. Coconut Oil literally is the answer for everything my love! I buy a big tub (being careful to choose organic or no additive pure oil) & use mine as a make up remover (warm it up in your hands until it turns liquid, slather all over your face & then wipey, wipey… hey presto, make up free face!); Full body moisturiser at night time (day time can get a little risky if you don’t want it to seep onto your clothes); Add coffee grinds or salt to it for an exfoliating scrub before you shower … honestly, this really deserves a whole blog post to itself. It has uber antioxidant properties, has been used for centuries (yup, not a new fad) It also helps in treating various skin problems, including psoriasis, dermatitis, eczema, and other skin infections. So I’ll stop there…… but you get the point. 

4. Make Up: In an average week for me I only wear make up about 3 times – so if you’re an every day wearer, my first tip is to look at ways you can limit how much you usually wear make up as a starting point to clean beauty!

At the moment my range is Natio. This is mainly because I can go into my local store and try testers for the right shades, consistency etc. As I don’t wear a lot of make up, I’m hesitant to spend much money on buying products online, I want to be sure I am buying something I will use and enjoy.

For my *only* look I have (how do women have more than one ‘look’ ?! I bow down to them). I use Natio Primer, Mineral BB Cream for a base foundation, followed by a light layer of Mineral Foundation Powder or blusher as something I am told is a “setting coverage”. I use their Mascara, Blusher, Gold Eyeshadow and a dark brown eyeshadow to fill in my eyebrows. (I haven’t yet graduated to be a proper adult and buy a proper eyebrow kit! But they do have them and I will totally buy their product when I next have the chance) I have a few different lip colours in their range, and some Beeswax based tinted lip glosses.

The main way I “glam” these products up for a special occasion is to use them more liberally, use more eyeshadow, go over my mascara several times for a thicker look and use more of a contouring effect with my blusher. Nothing fancy here! (Happy to take tutorials from any of you makeup queens please and thank you)

5.  Nailpolish: Do you get your nails done regularly? Make sure to think about what the fuck is going into those little bottles of colourful liquid. For the most part a lot of nail polishes feature things like formaldehyde, toluene, DBP, camphor, formaldehyde resin, xylene, parabens, fragrances, phthalates, ethyl tosylamide, triphenyl phosphate, animal derived and animal tested ingredients.  UM, NO THANKS.

 I only use Kester Black, a wonderful #girlboss brand who are campaigners for cruelty free and safer nail polish products. Based in Australia, but with NZ roots… they’re my go-to. In their own words “we never use ingredients that we wouldn't use on our mums or our daughters.” WORD.

Do you practice clean beauty? Are you a conscious shopper when it comes to beauty brands? Lets get chatting on the GRAM or FACEY

Rose

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