Thoughts On Health… Cosmetics

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Clara takes a few pictures of me plucking my eyebrows… and plucking my brows to open up the eye area is my favorite “beauty secret” by far!

Although there are many types of preservatives and artificial colors and scents in make up that I’d prefer to avoid, I don’t have any set rules. I prefer not to use formulas with parabens in them, or petroleum products… but at the same time, I have a huge amount of respect for the human body and it’s ability to take in what is wanted, and filter out and excrete what is not.
Yep, I prefer organic foods. Yep, I prefer mineral colors to artificial colors in my make up. Yep, I prefer unscented to *perfume* scents, and yes, I prefer natural oils to petroleum by-products. At the same time, if you run the list of make up I am going to list on the Cosmetic Safety Database, some will score in the low hazard range but I’m fully aware that some are in the moderate hazard range. And yet I still feel good about the products I use. Here’s why.

Just like with the foods I eat, what I put on or in my body has to *feel* right to me.

I am the ultimate decision maker when it comes to what is good for me.

We all are the ultimate decision makers, because how we feel about a product, and our vibrational relationship with that product, is the biggest factor in determining if it is *good* for us or not.

If I pick up a product, and it doesn’t feel good to me, no matter how pure it is and how many wonderful the ingredients are revealed on the ingredient list, I’m not using it.

And while I have a few no-no’s that I like to avoid, if I love love love a product and it feels right to use it, I might. I go with my gut. I have a deodorant that I love (by SpaTherapy) and although it uses fragrance instead of pure essential oils for scent, I use it joyfully. I have discovered that this is the best brand for me. Not an anti-perspirant (that is one product I’d never touch with a ten foot pole) this deodorant uses no aluminum, no anti-perspirant ingredients, no stinging my skin, and it keeps my pits smelling as good as they are gonna get living in “The South.” It just works for me.

Since how I feel about the products I use holds as much importance to me as the ingredients, you might not choose to use these products yourself. Only you can know what products sit well with you in your gut. What products are both natural enough to make you feel confident using them, and look beautiful on.

These products are my list… all a great hybrid between being natural to fit in my comfort zone, yet actually working to help me feel my best.

Because why wear make up at all if it isn’t to make you feel truly and deeply good about yourself? Yes you have to feel good about what is in it, but if it doesn’t make you feel lovely and pretty and beautiful, why put it on at all?

Here is a blog post that I really enjoyed writing, where I talk more about beauty and my stance on it all.

I have no problem at all going without make up entirely, and looking horrid. I don’t put it on if I’m not doing it with the intention to lovingly care for my body. On grumpy days, bad days, or rushed days, instead of piling the make up on higher to compensate, I use none at all.

Just ask my friend Stacey… how many times have I run to meet up with her at a playdate not having showered in 4 days, with a huge rats nest in my hair and not a stitch of make up on. We were just joking the other day about how even though she was in the middle of moving, transitioning between two houses, hadn’t showered all day and had been packing and unpacking for the past several days… ummm, honestly, she was still cleaner then I was 🙂 And had fresher hair and actual make up on.

So I don’t say it lightly… I would rather put absolutely nothing on my face or in my body then put something there I don’t use with joy.

This is exactly how I feel about food as well… it’s gotta bring me joy or it ain’t going in this body of mine. In this blog post, I go into more detail about my attitude on what foods are *healthy* and why.
In that vein, I’d rather skip a meal entirely and later pig out on junk food then eat health food I don’t adore. And I’d rather go bare-faced at my PMS-pimple-infested-worst then use make up that I don’t put on with pleasure and joy.
So with this premise… that the way in which you use a product has ever as much to do with the health of the product as the ingredient list… let’s start!

1. My favorite “sorta natural yet not 100% perfect” make up range is Tarte. Is it all natural? Holy Moly no. Does it avoid most of the things I’d like to avoid? Yep. My favorite is the cheek stain. I think if I had to take one thing on a deserted island with me, it would be a cheek stain. I know most women say mascara. I could survive with no eye make up on (I didn’t say it would look good… mind you, just that I could survive) but I really look pale and washed up without a good pinch on the cheeks.

2. My favorite “really natural and even getting some of the highest safety ratings in the cosmetic safety database” make up line is Suncoat. I absolutely hate foundation, and refuse to wear it. But… I do need to use a good tinted moisturizer once in a while because my undereye circles just seem to get more and more raging the older I get. What? You say a tinted moisturizer is a type of foundation. *ahem*… no it’s not. Just because it happens to be skin colored and cover up my skin doesn’t mean anything, right? Or the fact that it’s called foundation right on the bottle. Don’t let that fool ya. It’s not a full on foundation, or so I keep telling myself. Where was I? Oh yes, my favorite product that Suncoat makes is the founda… I mean, tinted mositurizer. Try it out!

3. My favorite eyeshadows are from Herbs of Grace, love their stuff. They make a great face powder too, if you like face powder. I prefer a dewy look and hate when my skin looks matte… but it is great, high quality stuff, nonetheless. I love the eye shadow and also mixing the shadow with a tiny drop of water to make a stays-all-day-long liquid eyeliner.

4. I don’t usually emphasis my lips, as I like to focus on the eyes and cheeks, but I am thinking of trying some of Tarte’s lip stains next. Right now what I usually do is smear a bit of Tarte’s cheek stain on my lips, which probably amounts to just about the same thing.

And there you have it, folks. What are your favorite brands? I’d love to hear, I think we all benefit when readers are willing to leave links and tips! Thanks so much! See you back here on Wednesday, my friends! xoxo