Green Beauty Basics for Grown Women
There’s a new kind of natural beauty in town, and we’re not talking about the perfect no-makeup makeup look.
First up — what is green beauty, exactly? And what’s the difference between eco, organic, natural, clean? Like with most rapidly growing industries, the labeling can be confusing. Green means the product does no harm to the environment. Organic products will have an official USDA Organic Seal, which means that it will comply with certain regulations when it comes to the production of the project. Eco has to do with the packaging. Natural generally (though not always) means there are no synthetic chemicals involved, just all-natural ingredients.
Too much to remember? No worries. Just flip your product around and make sure that none of these ingredients are listed: parabens, petroleum, sodium lauryl, formaldehyde, and mercury are the top five no-nos. Beauty Heroes founder & green beauty expert, Jeannie Jarnot gets even deeper with her villains of “must avoid” ingredients. These are the ingredients that, when used over and over again, can become toxic to our bodies and even cause cancer. Of course, experts aren’t 100% sure that beauty products cause harm, and “the dosage makes the poison”. But if you can be more natural, why wouldn’t you be?
That doesn’t mean that you have to shell out the big bucks for green beauty products.
And look, skincare and beauty are personal, okay? As we’ve learned by now, probably from that time we got bangs, what works for one person doesn’t always work for another. We’re not experts, but we’re not Goop either. [That means we recommend speaking to a doctor or dermatologist if you have further, more scientific questions.]
Here are a few of our favorite skincare products. We’re starting with skincare because the best canvas for your new favorite makeup lewk is the healthiest skin possible. Right?! And the right moisturizer.
But this is the first of our Green Beauty series. And our BRAND-NEW Clean Beauty #101 Masterclass just launched & it’s under $30 so do sign up for that as we do a deeper dive into makeup, haircare, and even deodorant and fragrance .
If you want to learn more on your own, check out No More Dirty Looks: The Truth About Your Beauty Products. Maybe even start a book club with your fellow grown ass women.
The Top Five (okay, SIX)Natural Beauty Skincare Products
1. Weleda Skin Food. This is a $12 tube of moisturizer that is so luscious, it will banish winter skin and leave you looking as fresh and dewy as humanly possible. You will GLOW. Celebrity makeup artists also swear it’s a La Mer dupe.
2. Sun Bum Original Moisturizing sunscreen: my mother used to say the only thing that’s truly anti-wrinkle is SPF. Special shoutout to Sun Bum’s affordable pricepoint ($16!) and sheer formula. Women of color — that means you can wear this without walking around looking like an ashy ghost.
3. Ursa Major Fantastic Face Wash— This is, by far, our favorite face wash. Its an exfoliator and face wash in one that doesn’t dry your skin out or have weird, harsh grains that scratch your skin. #Magic. It lathers but not too much. Smells delightful AND it removes mascara. What more do you need?
4. Drunk Elephant’s Virgin Marula Oil is the nutrient-rich splurge-worthy face oil of your dreams. The stuff you can buy yourself when you want a treat and skincare is your self-care. Or the stuff you stock up on at Sephora’s half-off sale.
5. True Botanicals Vitamin C Booster is expensive. It’s 90 dollars a bottle, and we’re not talking about monopoly money. But it also works. It comes in a pure powdered form, because Vitamin C degrades in water, so you have one whole bottle of pure Vitamin C that you can mix and match with anything in your skincare. Moisturizer, water, maybe some other serum you have laying around.
6. And finally, our all-time favorite beauty steal is the Beauty Heroes Subscription Box. If you haven’t heard of this, you have to check it out. It’s a [highly curated] clean beauty subscription box that delivers some of the coolest Indie clean beauty brands in the world at pricepoints so much more affordable than you’d ever be able to pay from the brands directly. And yes, they are FULL-SIZED. This is where we discover so many of the brands we’ve come to trust and love over the years. Win-win.
Enjoy beautifying… cleaner.
WANT MORE? And remember, if your goal is to holistically live more GREEN, do take our Clean Beauty #101 Masterclass taught by green beauty expert + founder of the Sacred Beauty Movement, Rebecca Casciano. This class is chock full of valuable content in under 1-hour . It will change your entire beauty routine. #Boom.
**Written by Brianna Porter for Dear Grown Ass Women™
