Clean Beauty

As a person who's always been obsessed with cosmetics, the idea of trying to switch to "nontoxic" products was making my head spin. I have spent a lot of time and money over the years on different products, trying to find the ones that give my skin the perfect dewy glow or put my hair in the ideal volumized yet conditioned state. It's hard enough to find the things that don't have something wrong with the way they match your skintone, last throughout the day, or how they apply let alone the ingredient list that resembles a science test. The truth of the matter though is that even if I finally find a product seems perfect in all the usual ways I consider, most of the time I neglect to consider the ingredients. Not to be a buzz kill, but there are a LOT of products out there that are downright bad for us. I'm no expert on this topic but I'm just starting to delve into it and learn more about what I'm applying directly to my face and body on a daily basis. These days, there are easy ways to learn if a product is filled with unsafe, cancer causing ingredients and steps we can take to clean up our beauty act. SO here goes...

1. Download the Think Dirty app to your phone. You can search any product and it will tell you how toxic it is.

2. There are a lot of great articles about this topic that can help you sort out how to start transitioning your beauty products over to clean ones. Start here and here.

3. Check out the products that I'm trying out as of now, listed and shown here in this post! Some are misses but some are major hits...

If I'm being 100% honest, the only real reason that got me to start paying attention to this is the fact that nontoxic beauty products no longer suck. It used to be something that only Josie Maran was paying attention to, but now there are a LOT of brands who are making it their mission to not only provide safe and earth friendly products, but make them just as good as the "designer" cosmetics we are used to thinking are the best. So now I'm all ears, and I'm starting to try to switch out my products one by one. I've only dipped my toe in, but so far so good.

Gressa Minimalist Corrective Serum Foundation + Gressa foundation brush - Jury is still out on this foundation. The coverage and color range are awesome, and I love how it applies. However it hasn't stayed well on my face throughout the day and I feel like it's better fit for someone with oily skin. I might give it a try as a summer foundation though.

Agent Nateur deoderant - I've talked about this before so you guys already know that I am OBSESSED. I've tried so many nontoxic deodorants and none of them work. This one works like a charm, smells amazing, and looks pretty on the counter. An overall win. PLUS, I hear that deodorant is the #1 toxic product to switch out immediately.

Cocovit coconut oil - I've been learning a lot about coconut oil and its many uses. I love how it applies as a body oil BUT I recently learned from a doctor that it doesn't moisturize your skin on its own. Instead it just locks in moisture that's already there. So if your skin is dry and flaky, the coconut oil isn't going to give it any long term help. Now I use it over a layer of lotion and it gives me the yummy smelling sheen while also adding a barrier to lock in the lotion I applied first.

Glycelene Beauty Oil - this is a lovely anti-aging oil that smells divine and is perfect for the whole chest and upper body. I have tried a few products from this line and I really love them.

RMS highlighter - SO GOOD! This product gives the perfect finishing glow to spots on the face without that whole disco strobing sparkly effect.

Gressa Luminous Complexion Fluid (cheek/lip stain) - This is a bit of a high maintenance product as it's very prone to overapplying, which can get messy and ruin your whole face for the day. But I do really like it as a summer blush option. It only comes in two colors but they are really good colors and could be mixed together as well.

Shiva Rose Face Oil + Shiva Rose Face Balm - I'm into this line. The products smell soooo beautiful and are luxurious to apply. I really want to get the body cream.

Los Poblanos Lavender lip salve - Picked it up at Midland and loved it so much I went back for a second one to keep in my purse. This comes after I was using a $60 La Mer lip balm. This one is $5 and works just as well.

So that's where I'm at with clean beauty right now. I would LOVE to hear your recommendations if there are any good products you guys have tried!

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Photography by Ashley Burns//