Hello makeup lovers! I’m Kelly and Ems has bravely entrusted her blog to me today. You can normally find me over at Our Little Organic Life, my organic lifestyle blog where I talk about all things to do with healthy eating, natural living and conscious parenting. But just because I’m a bit of a crunchy mama, doesn’t mean I don’t like to look good. Being ethical and environmentally conscious does not mean dressing like a charity shop reject and smelling of old hemp oil. But with a 2011 report finding cadmium, arsenic, nickel and lead all present in leading brand cosmetics (including L’Oreal, Clinique and Maybelline), it was pretty important for me to put a little more thought into what I was smearing onto my body’s largest organ: my skin.
So I’m here to share my top ten natural mama beauty products. A lot of them don’t come cheap, but I can promise you (speaking as a former conventional product junkie of many years), it’s such a fantastic feeling to open your makeup bag and you just see a few really luxurious products in there – things you don’t need to feel bad about owning and you know you will use every day and that are safe to use. And I’m spending far less now than I used to on ‘cheaper’ conventional skincare and cosmetics which were filled with cancer causing parabens, heavy metals and other toxic chemicals.
1. Goldfaden MD Doctor’s Scrub
Okay, this isn’t 100% natural, as its got some paraffin (an oil industry byproduct much like Vaseline) in it which I wish they wouldn’t use, but I only use it to exfoliate once a week or so and it’s so luxurious. It’s made with actual ruby dust and then seaweed and red tea extracts provide antioxidant protection and hyaluronic acid and jojoba oil moisturise the skin, leaving it feeling so soft and after regular use, yes, I think my pores do look smaller. It’s also the only exfoliating product I’ve used which actually deals with those horrible little tiny blackheads on the side of my nose. I know it may seem expensive but it lasts forevvvvvvvvvvver!
Available from Space NK for £65
2. Young Living Orange Blossom Face Wash
Young Living are the real deal. There is nothing nasty in this product, no ‘greenwshing’ and it’s worth every penny for the sheer volume of better-than-organic botanicals and therapeutic grade essential oils that they use. It removes dirt and makeup without stripping skin of its natural oils and it contains MSM which promotes healthier and clearer skin. It is so uplifting to use every morning. No, the packaging isn’t fancy, but I don’t care. It doesn’t need to be when it smells so stinkin’ amazing.
You can buy it retail from the Young Living website for £47.76 or you can set up your own wholesale account with Young Living and get it for £36.30.
3. NUDE Progenius Omega Treatment Oil
Packed with 10 different plant oils rich in omegas 3, 6, 7 and 9, this oil absorbs into the skin quickly, making it instantly look nourished, healthy, smooth and radiant. I’ve been using it for a while now and can’t say enough good things about it. At £58 a container, it doesn’t come cheap, but it’s completely worth it as there are days when I put it on and my skin looks so good that all I need is a bit of mascara and I look good enough to go out just like that!
Available from Space NK for £58.
4. Antipodes Kiwi Seed Oil Eye Cream
I’ve got super sensitive eyes but I have no problem using this light cream made with 100% pure avocado oil and carrot seed (which has been proven to stimulate synthesis of collagen production by up to 82%) and vitamin C from New Zealand kiwi fruit which repairs any damaged tissues. So, while most eye creams on the market contain collagen, which you artificially smear on top of your eye area skin (it’s been scientifically found that the collagen molecules in these creams are actually too big to go through the skin and be of any benefit), this one actually helps you make your own collagen, while the kiwi fruit is repairing any existing skin damage. It’s also quite affordable at around £25.
Available from Nutricentre for £24.99.
5. Organic Pharmacy Double Rose Rejuvenating Face Cream
I often don’t use a face cream on top of my face oil but there are some days when I will wear one instead of or as well as my favourite NUDE omega oil. The cream I tend to use is this light rose cream from the Organic Pharmacy. It’s quite popular in my family, as my mother uses the ‘ultra’ version they make of this cream. While it is rich, it has a light almost gel-like feel and a really appealing pale pink colour which always reminds me of Paris in Spring for some reason. What I don’t like about this product is that it has ‘perfume’ listed on the label, which is one of the reasons I don’t use it on a regular basis. But I do like that it contains aloe, shea butter, rosehip, bilberry, gotu kola and marigold botanicals. It is organic and it’s a beautiful product which suits many skin types. If you’re used to the toxic chemical filled face creams from pharmacies and department stores, then this is a great product to wean you off them.
Available from The Organic Pharmacy for £39.95.
6. Chantecaille Future Skin Foundation
This NY based skincare company isn’t 100% natural, but their plant based formulas are all free from synthetic colours and fragrances and don’t contain any sulfate detergents, phthalates nor petrochemicals. And none of their products are tested on animals. I don’t use foundation very often, but I’m very fond of their Future Skin foundation which I have been using for nearly ten years now. I like that it’s water based and is made with natto gum (a phyto-collagen) and that it contains aloe, chamomile and arnica (all of which soothe the skin and reduce redness) as well as
immune boosting antioxidants rosemary, green tea and rice bran. It provides quite a good coverage but still leaves the skin feeling light and natural.
Available from Space NK for £60.
7. Dr Hauschka Kajal Eyeliner
Do you have any idea what’s in normal eyeliner? Mainstream eyeliners have been found to contain lead. You won’t find it red flagged on the label because they don’t have to. It’s considered to be an ‘impurity’ and exists in the product in miniscule amounts, only as a byproduct. Dr Hauschka’s eyeliners on the other hand are coloured with mineral pigments, they contain anthyllis, witch hazel and black tea, to soothe delicate eye skin and the pigments are fused with quince and carnauba wax which make this a very smooth eyeliner. It’s very easy to apply for a flicked eye, or to smudge for a smokey eye.
Available from Dr Hauschka for £14.75.
8. Tarte Amazonian Clay 12 Hour Blush
Yes, this blush is made from clay harvested from the banks of the Amazon then baked in the natural sunlight. Really. Well, apparently anyway, if their marketing is to be believed. The ingredients are as clean as you’re going to get with a commercial blush. I’ve just discovered some disturbing ingredients in my old much loved Chantecaille blush which I thought was fairly natural…so have given due consideration to this gorgeous Tarte blush, as they have a great reputation in the ‘crunchy mama’ community. But…I’m going to go one step ‘crunchier’. I’m actually going to head down to Borough Market on the weekend to pick up some beetroot powder and make my own blush from this recipe I found in Cosmo.
But…if you can’t be bothered with all that, Tarte’s Amazonian Clay 12 Hour Blush is available from Tarte online for £21.
9. Benecos Lipgloss
These organic Benecos cosmetics from Spain have been popping up all over the place at health food stores, Whole Foods, etc. And they’re offputtingly cheap. And inexplicably great, in my experience so far, offering a wide range of organic, vegan makeup, including nail polish. I bought their lipgloss a while ago when I was a bit desperate, and was pleasantly surprised. It’s now part of my daily makeup routine. I added a couple drops of food grade peppermint essential oil into my lipgloss tube and now it feels like one of those fabulous lip plumping glosses from the early 2000’s…but without the dodgy ingredients!
Head down to Whole Foods or order from Ecco-Verde online for £3.59. (Yes, £3.59 for organic lip gloss)
10. Benecos Natural Duo Eye Shadow Set
Okay, so they don’t have a really wide variety of colours, but this Noblesse duo is inexpensive and has the basics for a great daytime look with a shimmery pale base and a darker almond colour for blending near the base of the eye.
Again, its available from Whole Foods or online from Ecco-Verde for £2.89.
So, you’ll notice something important was missing from my list…mascara. And that’s because I’m still not married to a particular natural mascara. Dr Hauschka’s is very good. And very expensive at £20.75 a tube. Given how frequently mascara needs to be changed, this mama on a budget needed something a bit cheaper. Lush makes a mascara called Eyes Right which contains wheatgrass and looks like it should be natural, as it comes in a little glass pot. But…it contains parabens. Which is one of the reasons I no longer shop at Lush. Their products are filled with these cancer causing substances. And I find their mascara gets clumpy pretty quickly too, leading to a tarantula eye look after about a week of use. So I’m now trying the Benecos Natural Mascara which I’d like to reserve judgment on until I’ve been using for a couple of months…but so far, so good after 2 weeks of use!
Be sure to check out my 5 minute mama makeup routine in the video below so you can see all these kittens in action. I’d love if you’d subscribed to my YouTube channel and also please do come visit me at my blog www.ourltitleorganiclife.com for more tips & tricks on living a more natural life.
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