Friday, April 5, 2013

Makeup Diet


Have you heard of the latest food trend? It's tasty, healthy and perfect for lazy people like me. Here's how it goes, grab an avocado, slice it in half and eat it. Ok, great, you are officially caught up!

The key to the clean food trends is keeping food unprocessed and simple. It really made me think about makeup and all the details it takes to create a look, not to mention the bazillion processed items I'm applying to my face daily. The result is pretty, and it looks great, but much like highly processed foods, how much is TOO much?  I decided it was time for a daily makeup detox.

As a makeup artist, I actually had major guilt not using all the products that I loved so much. Their glittery little bottles starred at me from medicine cabinet, surely betrayed. Much like cupcakes, I decided to reserve these items for special occasions.

I started my makeup diet about 2 months ago when I was getting my groceries from Whole Foods. I had to change what would make the biggest difference, so I started with my most commonly used items. I was looking for a daily moisturizer that didn't have a ton of weird chemicals created in large steel vat in some chemical plant made by Homer.
One brand (Avalon Organics) caught my eye because of oranges on it. I am a sucker for marketing, so I picked it up to examine the ingredients 
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Okay, not bad, it had a few things I didn't understand but the major ingredients were Aloe & Water. This smelled so divine, like an orange creamsicle, so I bought it anyways. I told you, I am a sucker for marketing. Luckily, natural makeup lines are catching on!

                                                       
I knew if i was giving up my department-store moisturizer, my liquid foundation had to go too. This was like taking away my morning coffee. Liquid foundation is so fun. The results, as anyone who has used it before knows, is photo ready skin 24/7. It was tough, but I had some bare essentials lying around my kit, so I made the switch. This is a big difference in coverage and appearance, as you might know yourself. I am not sure how chemical free this mineral makeup was, but it had to contain a lot less than my liquid foundation that has 10 ingredients, all containing "-picones" or parabens. I don't entirely know the whole background behind organic or natural makeup, I just know the more items I can pronounce & recognize, the better.

So everyday for the past 2 months, I've waken up with a this creamsicle moisturizer and a light dusting of mineral powder.  It was painful the first few weeks, I could feel the withdrawal symptoms of going without my liquid foundation. My face wasn't light-reflecting, nor photo-ready. I managed and it all seemed very appropriate since most of my days consist of getting coffee, heading to work & hitting the gym afterwards.

At week 3, I got use to it all. I felt clean & refreshed, all day. And just more free. Kind of like when I go to Sweetgreen for lunch instead of Pho. I could go to the gym freely. When I take my makeup off at night, I don't get as red & blotchy as I use to. My skin just feels better. It's a great feeling and just as addicting as my liquid foundation obsession. I can totally see this being even more rewarding in the summer. It's month 2 and I still am keeping up with it.

This experience has opened my eyes to whole different side of makeup. Cosmetic lines are marketing towards a more health-consciousnesses crowd. There are like a TON new, more natural and simple product lines for us to try now. Walk through the isles of Whole Foods your next trip and pick something out that just looks cool. As a daily routine, 'natural' makeup is kinda fun to put on, once you realize all the benefits.

One last thing, we all need some splurges, so I still use my department store moisturizers/foundations, but I now save them for parties & pictures. And: Bonus, somehow, they look even better than before! How's that for a detox plan.




1 comment:

  1. Lauren, What a great time of year to do this! I will definitely be trying it myself. Thank you for the great information! Cheers, Alicia

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