Green Beauty Trials: Mascara for Day & Night.

Why I Decided to Make the Switch.
I've been using the same conventional mascara for over 10 years. I have loved it because it has given me that bright-eyed and bushy-tailed look that I have come to count on. And come to need, especially in these past 3 years of transitioning into motherhood (and lack of sleep-hood). My sister is a green beauty advocate and convinced me to look into the toxic chemicals that are laden in most makeups on the market (including my beloved mascara), and after a few years of me trying to ignore her, I finally did my own research and was appalled. Did you know that the FDA doesn't have to approve ingredients in our makeup? I didn't. This means that manufacturers can put any ingredient in the formulation of cosmetics, with the exception of color additives. Don't believe me, do your own research, friends! It's kind of insane.

The cosmetics we buy at the makeup counter at Macy's or at the drugstore contain parabens, phthalates, PEG compounds and even formaldehyde-releasing preservatives. These chemicals are harmful because they can cause disruption to hormones and have been linked to a variety of cancers - and I wear makeup almost everyday! I've always heard that skin is like a sponge and soaks up everything we put on it. So if you do the math... I've been caking my spongy-skinned body with harmful chemicals for years, all in the name of beauty. That's kind of depressing. But you know what's also depressing? Having to start over with research on natural makeup brands. That just sounds exhausting. And expensive.

Where I Turned.
I was honestly at a loss for where to begin. How do I know which brands are "good"? How do I know which websites carry everything I need? I'm guessing Sephora isn't going to be carrying the hippie-dippie hemp-laden makeup I would probably have to turn to (I'm a little heartbroken about having to break up with my twice-yearly Sephora purchases - I loved all those samples and reward points!) But after consulting my sis, she pointed me in the direction of The Detox Market, an online retailer that carries a range of mid-to-luxury beauty products. She also directed me to Fig & Flower, an Atlanta beauty boutique specializing in natural, vegan-friendly products. These two sources were a game changer for me, and this is where I was able to find most everything I've been trialing for the past two months. I'll share more about them in the coming month with my other makeup sampling, but today I want to focus on the mascara hunt.

Natural Mascara? Is that a thing?
I learned pretty quickly that it's challenging to find a green, non-toxic mascara made with naturally-derived ingredients that actually performs well. Boo. But after some frustrating searches (and trials) I finally landed on some satisfying options!

Mascaras I Tried:
- 100% Pure Fruit Pigmented Mascara - While I have come to love this brand for other products, this mascara did nothing for me. When I say nothing, I mean nothing - other than bum me out.

- Kjaer Weis Mascara - I really wanted to like this mascara, mainly because this brand's aesthetic and packaging are super luxe and chic (I mean, check out this and this. Oooh la la.) But you can't like a mascara just because it comes in a pretty tube! This mascara provides extremely minimal bright-eyed and bushy-tailed-ness, which is really what I'm looking for. Moving on.

- Lily Lolo Mascara - Ding ding ding ding! We have a winner! This mascara is the gold standard for green makeup for a reason - it performs just as well as a conventional lengthening mascara. The brush is full and gives my lashes a really great wake-up, lengthening, separating and ever so slightly thickening. I love wearing this mascara without any other eye make up because it really makes my eyes pop. I'm super pleased and you will find me wearing this most days.

- Beautycounter Volumizing Mascara - I didn't really want to like Beautycounter makeup because everyone is talking about it these days, but gosh darn it, this stuff is spectacular. This mascara does everything Lily Lolo does along with an extra va-va-voom of thickening. This is the perfect mascara for a smoky eye and a more dramatic evening look. The one drawback to this mascara is that you have to remove it with makeup remover. I'm kind of lazy and like the ability to wash off makeup with regular face wash, but with this mascara I've been using these Pacifica Cleansing Wipes and they do the trick. If you're interested in giving this mascara a try, reach out to my girl Hannah Tanner and she will hook you up (and probably throw in a few samples because she's awesome like that :)

My Recommendation:
I love the Lily Lolo Mascara for an easy daytime look. Think the 5-minute face. I love the Beautycounter Volumizing Mascara for a more dramatic look, like a date night or super pulled-together look. I'm honestly surprised that I found these options that performed so well, and this gave me hope and excitement for the rest of my makeup trials! During the month of September I will be sharing more green beauty finds, including foundation, concealer, blush and lipstick, so stay tuned friends!

Just as an FYI, this is not a sponsored post. While I sometimes use affiliate links (which means I may earn a commission if you purchase a product through the link I provide), I personally paid for every product I sampled during the past two months of the beauty trials. I want you to know that even when posts are sponsored, I always share my honest opinion of the product/service. If you have questions about this please check out my disclosure policy or feel free to shoot me an email. Thanks for letting me share my heart with you!

Upside Down Braided Topknot.

It's practically a jungle here. The beating sun and sweltering humidity are quite a force to be reckoned with. Georgia is just so hot. I've vowed not to cut my hair off even though my baby yanks on it whenever he can grasp a handful. Which leaves me to my imagination for finding different ways to get it off my face. I can't have a sweaty neck or keep getting my hair pulled out - I am already losing so much hair with all these postpartum hormones swirling around in my bod. Please, I need to keep all that I have!

This is my latest favorite updo, and I thought I would share it here since I've been wearing it so often. It's a twist on a regular topknot, and it's best styled with extra dirty hair. I usually do this on day 3 or 4 after a shampoo :)

Upside Down Braided Topknot:
1. Starting at the nape of your neck, gather three sections of hair and start a dutch braid.
2. Begin the braid at the bottom of the head and continue gathering hair (as you would a normal french braid), and braid upward.
3. Once you've reached the crown of your head, do a few extra turns of the braid without adding any extra hair.
4. Twist your hair, as you would for a normal top knot, and secure with a hair tie.
5. Gently pull at the sections of the braid to loosen and give it a fuller, more lived-in look.
6. You shouldn't need to secure anything with bobby pins - the messier the better!

Are you all interested in more hair posts like this? If so, I can work on photographing a few more looks, especially updos for summer. Let me know in the comments! xx

Going Green with my Beauty Routine.

My sister has been telling me for years now. She's the queen of trying new products and has been slowly transitioning over to an all-green, non-toxic beauty routine. It's super inspiring but also intimidating. I am almost 30 years old - that means I've been doing this beauty thing for a while now. I've found the products that I like, that seem to work for me, and honestly... it's hard to teach an old dog new tricks. I haven't wanted to embark upon a taxing journey of finding new, cleaner products because, ugh. The expense. The work. The research. I'm a tired woman, yall. My babies exhaust me.

I've done this in other areas of my life - my pantry is stocked with healthy staples and my cleaning products are mostly non-toxic and free of harsh cleaning agents. Though I admit, there is a time and a place for bleach. But my passion for greenery hasn't extended to the beauty-licious part of my life, until now that is.

What changed? Well, there's the aging.

Graying.

The wrinkles, they're appearing.

I've had this epiphany lately. I am living in the time of my life where the most aging occurs. I think that these years of running on lots of adrenaline (and coffee) and very little sleep and taking care of everyone else's needs before my own - I think these are the years where aging begins to take its toll - even if it starts showing up a little later in life. I am doing my best to drink lots of water and exercise regularly and eat (relatively) healthy. Most of my household products, from cleaners to air fresheners and detergents are all composed of non-toxic ingredients. But the next step is cleaning out my bathroom cabinet and makeup bag from the products that are downright bad for my health. At the encouragement of my sister, I've started looking up my tried-and-true products on the EWG Skin Deep Cosmetics Database and the Think Dirty app - these rate the ingredients found in millions of products and offer research, education and guides on how to make cleaner choices.

I'm testing a few new products and I will keep you all updated on what actually works. I am a little apprehensive about this whole trial period but I finally feel the conviction that this is important. I am kissing all over my kids every day - do you know how many toxins are found in regular lipstick? It's appalling that this stuff is allowed on the market. It's appalling that I've spent so much money over the years on chemical crap. So here we go, friends!

Currently testing:
Makeup:
Ilia Multistick in At Last
Ilia Lip Crayon in Red Coral
Loli Lolo Mascara
100% Pure Liquid Eyeliner in Black Tea
Galaxy Milk Illuminating Beauty Oil

Body:
doTERRA Essential Oils (for face, hair and skin - I've been creating my own concoctions)
Aveda Shampure Composition Body Oil
Piperwai Deodorant

Any of you have non-toxic beauty products that are outstanding that you recommend? I would love to hear from you!

P.S. - The Nordstrom Anniversary sale is going on right now and there are some seriously good finds on super sale if you're looking for Fall staples. Just sayin'. :)

My 3 Wavy-Hair-Don't-Care Products.

My hair is one of my favorite things about myself. As I am in a season of unearthing what's going on in my heart, I'm trying my best to be intentional about meditating on things I like about myself. When it comes to this postpartum body of mine, I can easily get distracted by focusing on the things that aren't what they used to be, but I don't want to focus my energy on being negative towards myself. My hair is one of my favorite things about my body because I feel like it fully represents me - kind of crazy/relaxed/free/unique. What do you like about yourself, friends? If you're finding it hard to pick something out, I encourage you to spend a little time today finding something you really appreciate about yourself. It's a reeeeeal good exercise. Like giving you a good hug.

I would hug you right now if I could.

So, as for this mane - I love this time of year when the weather warms up because I don't have to blow-dry my sometimes-mangy gigantic hair. I have really thick long hair, so when it's cold outside, it's necessary to blow dry it or else I walk around with a sopping head for 3/4 of the day and it makes me super cold. But when the weather warms up, I like to forgo all that time (blow drying takes forever!), and just let my hair air dry with the help of a few products that keep it tamed down AKA beaten into submission. For those of you who like to give your hair a break from heat styling (and save time!), I thought I would share a few products that have consistently worked for me over the past few years.

I don't like using a ton of products. Like everything else in my life, I have very little time to spend on fussing with my hair/makeup/clothes, so I try to keep things around that perform excellently and do the work for me.

1. Honest Company Detangling Conditioner
This stuff works like a charm and, actually, Everett and I share this product equally. I use it right after I get out of the shower, and he uses it after his nightly bath. I never really imagined I would share hair products WITH MY SON, but it works so well for both of us and smells really good without having that annoying, fragrance-y scent like so many beauty products. I've raved about my love for Honest before, but this is one of those products that just works, so I keep working it. I spritz it on my towel-dried hair after I shower and it does a great job closing the cuticle and giving my hair a little extra moisture.

2. Biolage Whipped Volume Mousse
This is the first mousse I've even used that doesn't harden the hair in an annoying way. I like my hair to still feel like hair, and this one does a great job of taming it and capturing the waves in the nicest kind of way, without actually hardening them into a sculpture. You know what I mean? I put a ping-pong ball sized dollop in my palm, flip my head over and distribute this throughout mid-shaft to the ends of my hair, avoiding the roots entirely.

3. 12 Benefits Healthy Hair Treatment
This spray gives my locks a little bit of texture and helps separate my waves so they remain touchable. You know how some texturizing sprays can be sticky/tacky/waxy feeling? This one doesn't do any of that - it feels like you've been on the beach for the first hour of the day and your hair is just getting some good breezy salt mixed all around. It's just really, really nice. I keep this one in my Amazon shopping cart and re-order it periodically. I spritz this on when my hair is still wet, and once I do, I'm done!

And there you have it! I use these in the order listed on the days that I wash my hair, then let it air-dry. If I want a little extra oomph or I don't want to give it the time to air-dry, sometimes (only sometimes) I will use my hair dryer with the diffuser attachment and blow dry it on medium heat. This zaps some of that extra moisture and works if I have to be somewhere looking "put together" soon. But most of the time I just have to be at my son's play table, making play dough or dolling out the pb+j or something of that kind. I try to let my hair go for a few days like this before washing it again - by days 2,3 and 4 I am usually braiding it or throwing it up in a top knot. And here is a really fun post from my friend Lauren on how to work that dirty hair for all it's worth.

Happy warm weather hair to you, friends! Now tell me - what attribute do you really really like about yourself. I want to hear! I really do.

P.S. - Wearing this tank, which is my favorite new thing. How often can I wear it without it being too often?

3 Ways to Style Unwashed Hair.

I am so grateful to the lovely Lauren, blogger over at Blissful Happenings and momprenuer at Rocco+Norah, for guest posting here today. As I take some time with my new baby love, I am sharing some posts from esteemed and treasured blogging friends, and Lauren is one of those! So excited to feature her witty voice (+ hair hacks) here!

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As a general rule of thumb I only wash my hair once a week. I'd like to say that it has something to do with creating texture and not overworking and drying out my hair... and while that's got some to do with it, the whole "keeping a toddler and infant alive" is really more to blame. Also, did I mention I'm lazy and tired?! Yeah, that too.

Now I know your thinking this boo is cray, she must wear her hair up all the time and to that I say a resounding NOPE. In fact, I rarely wear my hair up even on the dirty and oiliest of days. Don't get me wrong I love a good mom bun, but here are my 3 go to styles.

1. Dry shampoo and side swipe.
My dirty flipped hair would make Kristen Stewart herself proud. This is my go to with hair that's a little bit oily, but not yet a hot mess. So the key to using your dry shampoo is spraying said shampoo into small flipped over sections of hair at least a foot away. Then let set and pat out any residue. Continue on to the next flipped section. Then choose a good section to make a hard part and flip over. The whole point is to have it look like you didn't try. If you must, throw on the curling wand and touch up the front pieces, but remember this is not about looking perfect. Think quinessential French messy hair!!

2. Half up top knot.
So once I can no longer handle the greasy side swipe I graduate to a Lil' top knot. I've recent chopped off all of my hair, but I loved this when my hair was waist length too because it was out of my face without the weight of 300 pounds of hair. I think this is the cutest and so easy to do. Take a section of all of the hair that gets in your way, you can make a small triangle from the crown of your head if you wanna get fancy. Twist. Secure with 2-3 hairpins. I prefer them to bobby pins. The trick is that you don't just toss in a pin straight, you start at a 45 degree angle pointing down and then once in the hair pull the pin up and wiggle it in so it gets lodged in the hair! Magic.

3. Hair Accessories.
Lastly, I would be remiss if I didn't include my beloved turbans and hats. I love a good hair accessory and I couldn't do life without them. Hats. Hats. Hats. I love hats. I know some people get nervous at the thought, you just can't "pull them off"... my response, pish posh. Everyone can wear hats you just have to find one that fits and fake it until you make it. I promise a handful of times out of the house in a hat and you too will be hat person. I love ball caps, fedoras, wide brim, etc. basically all hats. I also love a fab little turban. Rocco + Norah mama turbans are basically my jam. (shameless plug) they look adorable and give you that I'm so chic and bohemian vibe that no one will be noticing your less than vibrant (ahem, dirty as all get out) locks.

Thanks for checking out my post. Hope this can help you through those trying days where your hair is the least of your cares or worries. #momlife, you've got this boos!!! To see more of my messy hair check out my Instagram and my (sometimes) blogging over at Blissful Happenings.