Looking your best can definitely be part of a healing lifestyle.

In fact, I think it is an important part, since when you look good, you tend to feel better.  Just another aspect of that mind-body connection. I do think it is crucial to choose products that won’t place a greater toxic load on your body, so I choose the purest products I can find and keep it simple.

I don’t have a lot of money to spend on makeup and beauty products — buying the best quality food I can afford takes priority. While, yes, the makeup I use does cost a bit more than most drugstore brands, it is very reasonable compared to a lot of the higher-end beauty brands that cost a lot and are loaded with questionable ingredients. And I tend to save money when it comes to other beauty purchases, as you will see as you read on.

To be honest, I’m pretty lazy about my “beauty regime.” In fact, calling it a regime is definitely an exaggeration. I used to make all my own beauty products – delicious little elixirs, exfoliating scrubs you could eat they were so pure, heavenly toners. Sounds good, doesn’t it? Wow, just writing about it is kind of inspiring me to get back into that! I promise a second post soon with some great DIY beauty recipes, but for now, here is what I am doing now…

To expand on what I mentioned above, I don’t think expensive products are needed to have a good complexion, but I do think using very pure products without chemicals is absolutely necessary for good health. Most products (like those you find at drug stores and grocery stores) are loaded with toxic chemicals that put a burden on our bodies and our environment. There is a lot of information available about this topic. If you are still using chemical-laden beauty products (not just makeup, but moisturizers, shampoos, toothpaste, deodorant, etc.), then I urge you to do some research and learn more about the consequences. Here is a good place to begin: http://www.ewg.org/skindeep/2011/04/12/why-this-matters/

My teenage daughter used to get annoyed with me because I took such pride in the fact that I don’t wash my face. I still don’t wash my face. Soaps are just too drying. And I think my skin looks good. Of course, a good diet and being active really helps. The expression “beauty comes from within” has multiple meanings.

So what do I use on my face?

Usually I just do a water rinse, then I rub some oil into my face and neck. Whereas before I carefully mixed a variety of oils with particular essential oils selected for their claims of supporting a youthful complexion, now I keep things simple – I reach for some sesame oil or coconut oil.   If I am wearing eye makeup, I gently rub the oil around my eyes and maybe take a tissue to remove any makeup residue. If you wear more makeup, you might need more cleansing, but then again, what I’m doing now (read next paragraph) might be enough, too.

A few weeks ago I bought some witch hazel and cotton rounds for my son who struggles with teenage acne. I decided to give it a try myself (I was about to go to my 25th college reunion, so I had a renewed interest in looking good. Haha. Plus my 47th birthday just past. While feeling good is definitely my priority, looking good isn’t bad, either.) The witch hazel actually worked quite well, so I have added that to my almost daily nighttime routine, followed by rubbing oil into my face. This is the brand I am using. Note that it does not contain alcohol, which can be drying.

Around the same time I got the witch hazel, I was placing an order with my favorite natural makeup company – Rejuva Minerals – and noticed that they were having a promotion on their facial oil – buy one, get one. Since I love their makeup products, I figured I would try their oil. The price was right, and it was convenient. It’s been working great, too. I’m not sure if it is the witch hazel or the Rejuva oil, but my face has seemed to have more of a glow to it the past few weeks and has been very smooth.

In the mornings I don’t do any cleansing, just take a shower and rinse my face, and follow that with applying oil, making sure that gets absorbed before applying any makeup, so that the makeup stays put.

Here are some of my favorite natural makeup items. I always try to choose products that score low on the EWG Skin Deep website. Check out your favorite brands to see how they rate.

Concealer:

I’d love to say that I didn’t need concealer, and I guess I don’t, but really I do. At least, I choose to use it because I feel better when I look in the mirror and don’t see dark circles under my eyes. While I am still working on improving my sleep – through pain management and treatment of sleep apnea, for which I recently was diagnosed, I choose to cover my under eye circles, and this product from W3LL PEOPLE works great, has good coverage, and is only a “2” at the skin deep website, in other words, low toxicity.

Powder Foundation:

This loose powder foundation is from my favorite makeup company, Rejuva Minerals. They are the purest mineral makeup company I have found, they are affordable, and they have monthly promotions and coupons. They are also an “earth-friendly” company. Visit their website to learn more about them. And I am NOT an affiliate – just a fan! I don’t get any commissions from them for promoting their products. I just want you to look AND feel your best!

I use this foundation because, as I said, it is the purest I have found. I’m no expert in applying mineral foundation. If I were, or if I tried building up coverage with multiple coats, maybe I would have more to say. But basically I just do one coat of the powder to even out my skin tone and call it a day.

But I really LOVE Rejuva’s lipstick and mascara!

I can’t even believe the mascara is EWG Verified because it works so well! Goes on perfectly, makes my lashes look great, and is easy to remove – yet it doesn’t give me raccoon eyes. I highly recommend it!

And their Pur’ Lips lipsticks! They go on like lip balm, so moisturizing and smooth, yet the colors last and are saturated. My favorite is Red Red Wine. The color is great! I also have Berry Bliss, which is also nice, though a bit frosty for my tastes. My only complaint is that there aren’t enough shades, but they are planning to add more.

I haven’t tried the lip gloss yet. That will have to be next on my list, along with the eyeliner. I really need a new eyeliner, so I will keep you posted when I try that one. I don’t even know which brand I have right now – that’s how old it is. Which isn’t good, because they should be replaced pretty frequently. Oops.

So I hope this information helps. Stay tuned for Part 2 of this post, where I will share some of my homemade beauty recipes. It’ll give me a good reason to get creative again, and an at-home spa day is always great for self-care.

If you have any questions about natural beauty products, makeup, or anything else related, let me know on my facebook page: www.facebook.com/sheswingsonastar