What I'm Loving Lately: Green Beauty - Introduction

UPDATE 2/13/2016: 
Since writing this post, cleaning up my beauty regime really became a priority when I discovered I was pregnant and that eventually lead me to become a Beauty Counter Consultant!  This line of products is quickly gaining in popularity especially after being featured by Lauren Conrad and on Goop in recent months.  I adore their products and what they stand for and was so pleased to see how well they compared with non-eco brand offerings.   In addition to their makeup and their skin care and makeup line, they also have products for the whole family!

If you are interested in trying Beauty Counter or even becoming a consultant yourself, please shoot me an email at megan.omera@gmail.com and be sure to check out my Beauty Counter store  

Source: Buzzfeed

When I was catching up with one of my besties, Karly, we got to talking about how much we miss being around each other because, among other things, we miss being able to easily discuss great beauty finds and tricks!   She recently did a Christmas Gift post (which I loved) as a way to connect because she found herself wondering what we got for Christmas.  Putting up posts like that is a great way to keep everyone in the loop, so I figured I'd do the same with some of my skin care and make up finds.

The funny thing is, even though we don't connect regularly about this stuff we have both somehow evolved into crunchy, granola hippies :). I suspect her evolution was/is a result of mommyhood. Mine was due to my health (so annoying).

When I became sick, I initially got nowhere with my doctors.  Frustrated, I started to research on my own (thank you Dr. Google!).  For example, whenever I put in my symptoms, I kept getting Celiac/gluten allergy results as well as Hashimoto's Thyroiditis.  I started to experiment with a gluten free lifestyle (and eventually convinced my Docs to test for both the thyroid and gluten sensitivity) and it kicked off a major health overall.  Being right about those major issues definitely empowered me to continue to tinker with other things related to my health.

Around 2011, I started to think more about what I put into my body and focused on nutrient dense, whole foods ( a la the Paleo Diet and WAP).  The changes I've made over the years have really done a lot to make me feel better.  At some point, over a year ago, it occurred to me that maybe I should take a closer look at what I was putting ON my skin.  I mean, your skin is a living breathing organ and they don't make birth control patches for nothing. The fact that you can apply medication topically and it eventually makes it's way into your bloodstream really made me stop and think what crazy ingredients were in my skin care, body lotions, make up, even perfume.  For instance, Karly told me she had to give up Retin A when she became pregnant - another topical medication - because concentrated doses of Vitamin A are harmful to growing babies. So while I'm not sure to what extent we absorb the extraneous chemicals we put on ourselves (60% has been thrown around but I have yet to see any real research to back that stat up), the fact that you have to stop applying certain products during pregnancy is a red flag and indicates that we do in fact, absorb some of the things we apply.

I started slowly and over the last year or so have swapped out nearly all of my skin care products and make up for more "green" brands.  It's been expensive because I have tried more than a few duds and these products are generally not cheap to begin with.  However,  I have found some really great brands and products that I turn to day in and day out.  l have a lot of great finds, so will break this up over several posts.  What I will not discuss is green hair care. I.just.cant.do.it.  I love my keratin treatments and aerosol hairspray too much, ha!

Side note: When I first made the changes to oil based Skincare, I had the best skin I've ever had. Hardly any breakouts, smooth & clear...it was amazing.  However due to a recent thyroid med change, my skin seems to be going through puberty...again...(ugh)....so please do not let any zits you may or may not see on my face sway you from my recommendations. Oil in skin care and make up do not necessarily = zits.  You just have to find what works for you!

Here's an interesting pic from Makeupandbeauty.com outlining several types of beauty products and their potential to do harm (I  think it's interesting that they use the word "chemical" like it's a bad thing, because honestly EVERYTHING is a chemical but I believe they are trying to point out "harmful" chemicals in common beauty products.  I take all of this stuff with a grain of salt, because I haven't really dug up the "evidence".  However, keeping it simple and going green just makes sense to me.

To wrap up this massive post, I also want to say that obviously, I don't believe that if it isn't "natural" it isn't good for you.   Poison Ivy is 100% natural but I certainly wouldn't want to touch it let alone ingest it.  Additionally, Ingredients absolutely can be made in a lab and do excellent things for you (I am extremely thankful for my thyroid med!). I am just focused on doing the best I can to avoid ingesting toxic substances whenever possible.