my clean beauty + self-care favorites
THERE’S A LOT of buzz these days around ‘self care’ and I think it’s awesome. Any ‘fad’ that urges people to carve a few minutes out of each day to honor themselves, breath and prepare for whatever comes next is brilliant as far as I’m concerned. It’s so important to take that time to refresh, get a new perspective, be quiet [or loud]. Any shift in focus toward your own health + wellness, whatever that looks like for you, is a total bonus. Walk, call a friend, doodle, journal, stretch, play loud music, meditate, howl at the moon, binge Emily in Paris, read a magazine, dance, cook, light a candle, bedazzle something, stare out the window for a minute, put in some ear plugs to block out your sweet kiddos for just a sec… WHATEVER feels good and refreshes you and that you can actually pull off each day is perfect and so beneficial. My daily self care always includes moving my body, even if it’s just a gentle 15-minute walk. And when I have the time to spend, I hide out in the bathroom and take a looong shower with ALL the stuff. I dry brush + shave + scrub + deep condition + mask and just focus on caring for my own strong body for an hour. It always refreshes me and, in turn, makes me a better mama and wife and sets me up for whatever is coming my way [which, let’s face it, could be ANYTHING these days].
I’VE ALWAYS been passionate about beauty products [man, I loved that giant Barbie head that you could make up], which is a little ironic because, while I’m pretty darn high maintenance about my skincare, I’m quite low maintenance about my makeup, especially these days. My social functions now most often involve a hike in the woods and much to my 7-year-old self’s serious disappointment, I’m just not a gal who bothers to gussy up for the squirrels [sorry, girl]. And while I’ve long been interested in ‘clean’ or ‘green’ products [I DID grow up in Boulder], having babies totally sealed my commitment to making sure that the beauty products we use [and all of our household and cosmetic stuff] are as clean and toxin-free as possible, which, I’m not gonna lie, takes effort and can sometimes be a bit confusing.
THE TERMS ‘clean’ or ‘natural’ or ‘green’ beauty have become marketing buzz words and get thrown around A LOT. It can make a person bananas trying to decipher it all [if you’ve ever gone down a DEEP dark rabbit hole trying to figure out what’s in your laundry soap, you know what I’m talking about]. So for the most part, I just stick with retailers that I trust to shoot me straight, like Beauty Heroes [they have the strictest standards in the business] and The Detox Market and let the rest go, giving myself grace when necessary [I assure you there is no perfection happening here]. I also follow a few clean beauty experts who really dig in and help make sense of all of the madness. I find it interesting and enjoy the learning process, but if you just want to get to the good stuff without having to master a whole new vocabulary, my advice is to just stick with those companies that you know are striving for gold and ENJOY.
I’M ASKED so often by friends which clean beauty products I really LOVE, so I thought I’d share my current favorites with ALL of you and find out yours, too. Enjoy this peaceful little moment, lovelies, and don’t hesitate to reach out if you have any questions, I’m always here for you. And please do share the clean beauty products you’re loving in the comments so we can all plot our next haul. I hope whatever you have going on today, you can carve out even just a few minutes for yourself to refresh and shift perspective, you totally deserve it. GIFT A LITTLE HAPPINESS [to yourself, too]. xo
Psst! You guys, I’m obvs not a skincare expert, so if you have particular concerns about your skin or skincare, you should for sure consult with an actual professional.
You can JUMP TO: Cleansers + Toners + Mists | Serums + Oils | Moisturizers + Sun Care | Lips + Eyes | Masks + Scrubs | Makeup | Beauty + Wellness Tools | Body + Hair | My Wishlist
Maya Chia
OK I don’t want to sound dramatic or anything, but Maya Chia has changed my life. Ok, my skin, which in turn impacts my life. I wasn’t able to use anything active on my face for a few years [see below] and when my skin was finally ready, I sort of reluctantly, but hopefully, splurged on a bottle of The Straight A Serum assuming it would totally freak out my skin. But instead, it became maybe my favorite beauty product ever.
MAYA CHIA’S mission and dedication to using science and painstaking research to create all of their truly innovative skincare pays off in a huge, beautiful way in every product I’ve tried. They have an intense method for extracting chia oil, the base of all of their products, in its purest and most potent form, which combined with the other organic, wildcrafted and consciously-sourced ‘super ingredients,’ makes really superior formulas. The Straight A has both encapsulated retinol [a safe derivative of vitamin A] and two forms of ‘botanical retinols’ that combine to make a seriously powerhouse formula. My skin was undeniably brighter and more radiant almost immediately and over time, The Straight A has also helped reduce some pesky hyperpigmentation that’s been bothering me for years. I also love The Super Lift Vitamin C More, which has a temporary tightening + lifting effect that I can see after my morning skincare routine, but the long-term impact of this vitamin-packed treatment is even more impressive. I haven’t been disappointed in a Maya Chia product yet and basically ALL of their gorgeous things are on my list.
Odacite
A FEW years ago I was really struggling with my skin [and my gut health, which was literally showing up on my face]. I was breaking out way more than usual, mostly around my mouth and chin, and was super reactive. My aesthetician thought it was probs perioral dermatitis. My dermatologist thought it was maybe mild rosacea. Whatever the case, it forced me to scale things WAY back. I packed up ALL of the lovely, clean stuff I was using and handed it over to a friend for a fun spa night. And for the next couple of years I used only 4 Odacité products on my face. They were all super gentle, with no real active ingredients. I also had semi-regular red light treatments through my aesthetician and my skin healed really well [along with my gut biome].
WHEN IT felt safe to start experimenting with skincare again, I was kind of eager to move on from the products that I’d been using for so long, wooed by all of the sexy choices out there. I have since tried LOTS of other things, many that I really love, but I keep many of my tried and true Odacité products in rotation because they’re just so good and gentle. I love the Blue Aura Cleansing Water and have hooked several friends on it. And the Aventurine Kiss Lip Serum is so key to my happiness that I’ve dragged it on a raft down 80 miles of river in Idaho and consider it an ‘essential’ part of my travel kit. Odacité’s founder, Valerie Grandury, is a French breast cancer survivor living in California. She set out to marry the best of expert French skincare with a health-minded California sensibility and she succeeded really beautifully.
Beauty Heroes
REMEMBER those ads in Seventeen Magazine where you could mail-order a 72-color eye shadow palette for just a penny [and then get a bill for $30 later]? I know my dad does because he had to write more than one stern letter to whomever advertised that pyramid scheme to naive tweens [sorry, dad]. Well, this is the 100% legitimate grown-up version of that totally amazing ‘too good to be true’ fantasy. And instead of hot pink eye shadow that’s ALL kinds of wrong for me, my Beauty Heroes Discovery Subscription sends me the creme de la creme of THE cleanest beauty products every month. I have ‘discovered’ new favorites that I probs never would’ve tried otherwise and I just get giddy when it shows up. It’s such a great way to learn about new brands and to #giftalittlehappiness to yourself on the regular without even thinking about it. Learn more about why I love it here. PLUS, you get 15% off EVERY Beauty Heroes purchase while you’re a subscriber. It’s just awesome.
My Skincare Favorites
THESE are all products that I love and am currently using or are in solid rotation. I’m pretty sensitive to smell and can’t handle lavender in any form, so you’ll see a trend there. If you have any questions about my experience with any of these things, reach out, I’d be happy to share what I know.
Cleansers + Toners + Mists
Serums + Oils
Moisturizers + Sun Care
Lips + Eyes
Masks + Scrubs
Makeup
Beauty + Wellness Tools
My Body + Hair Favorites
On my wishlist
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