Healthful Beauty // Charlotte’s Beauty Picks

Hey girls! Charlotte here today to share my beauty picks with you all! Lately I have been trying hard to purge my skincare regime & makeup bag, and just healthcare products in general, of nasty chemicals; so I’m excited to share my healthy makeup favorites that work for me and get me looking polished & pretty! Ready to dive in?

So what qualifies to me as “healthy?”. I use the “Think Dirty” app on my phone to scan & get the data on the products that I put on my skin, and I always try to keep the rating below a 5 if possible. The lower the rating, the cleaner the product, the better for your skin and overall health! My collection of products has been a long time coming, and I’m pretty happy with what I’ve come up with over the past months, and hope that I can inspire you to take a look at your makeup bag and think really hard about what those products are doing for you in the long run (here’s a great post elaborating more on that subject).

So first up, my tools! I’m not too much of a snob when it comes to makeup applicators. I know some people swear by certain brands, but I have found that Eco Tools and Real Techniques get the job done for me pretty well. Here’s a list of the tools I love and use the most:

• Eco Tools buffing brush. I love this brush for buffing in powder to finish off my foundation, and setting my makeup.
• Ardell Eyebrow Brush. With having two brushes in one, this is a very handy tool for filling in my brows and keeping them looking spic-and-span!
• Eco Tools blush brush (similar). I got this in one of their kits of brushes, and love it for applying my blush!
• Real Techniques beauty sponge. If there is one makeup tool that I am snobbish about, it’s this baby. I swear by sponges to get your foundation looking flawless and set into the skin (I used one for Brigid’s wedding makeup, and boy but did she adore the finished look! She was positively opposed the idea before, until she saw the result for herself 😉 ). There’s nothing worse than having smears of foundation at your jawline because you failed to buff it in fully *shudders*, and this sponge takes care of that problem beautifully! If you are looking for a tool to up your foundation game, look no further!

Ok, now we get to delve into the fun stuff: the actual products!

• Cowgirl Dirt Rio Grande Foundation. I recently purchased some of Cowgirl Dirt’s liquid foundation after running out of my tried-and-true Physicians Formula BB cream that just wasn’t cutting it in the clean-chemicals side of things. I don’t like layers upon layers of product on my face, but the Cowgirl Dirt liquid foundation does nicely in the light-weight department. If I’m wanting more coverage, I will double up with their concealer, which make for a lovely pair. I also like mixing my DIY face oil with the foundation if I’m wanting a more dewy finish like my previous BB cream provided. (Think Dirty Rating: N/A, but from a reputable, organic makeup brand)
• Cowgirl Dirt Silk Veil. I like to use this powder to provide a smooth base to apply my powder blush to. It works great at setting my makeup and evening out the foundation. (Think Dirty Rating: N/A, but from a reputable, organic makeup brand)
• Bare Minerals blush in Vintage Peach. Gosh, I just love that name 😉 Bare Minerals was the first “high-end” brand I ever invested in, and boy but has it been worth it! Their blush is worth every penny, with its all-day staying power, and ability to give my cheeks a nice, light, rosey, slightly glittery glow. Mmm, but do I love this blush 🙂 (Think Dirty Rating: 3)
• Tarte Lights, Camera, Lashes! Mascara. I just recently invested in my second-ever high end brand for my mascara, after trying out other organic makeup brands and finding their mascaras to utterly fail in every respect. The rating for this product is a bit higher than the rest of my favorites, but since it is just going on my eyelashes and not my whole face (like my foundation), I felt better justifying the rating. Also, looking deeper into the ingredients that gave it the higher rating (Think Dirty app FTW!), I wasn’t too concerned about them, and decided to go for it 🙂 This stuff is definitely better than the other “high-end” mascaras that were selling for the same price, but had the max rating of 10 (yikes!!). It’s a large tube, and it works beautifully (volume, lengthening, staying-power, everything!). And since I don’t like to wear any other eye makeup, I can justify the purchase pretty easily, too. I am SO impressed by this mascara so far, and will totally be purchasing it over and over again in the future! (Think Dirty Rating: 5)
• Ulta Eyeshadow in Mink. My one yucky drugstore product 😉 I purchased this when I wasn’t in full-speed healthy makeup mode and was desperate for something to fill-in my brows with! I don’t use eyeshadow for my eyelids because my skin is too oily, and it just clumps into my eyelid creases oh-so-attractively within the first hour of wear… So yeah, definitely not for me 😉 But I do love to use eyeshadow for my eyebrows! Powder is the only way for me to get full, natural looking eyebrows, as pencils tend to be too harsh for my eyebrow shape. I am probably going to replace this puppy soon, as I have begun to get a lot more acne around my eyebrows as of late, and I know this can’t be helping that at all 😛 Bare Minerals or Cowgirl Dirt will probably be my brand of choice for its replacement, but we shall see 🙂 This Ulta eyeshadow has done its job well for the past year, though! (Think Dirty Rating: N/A, but probably not the best)
• Burts Bees lip shimmer in Cherry. This has been my go-to lip product as of late, as it provides a nice, natural red hue to my lips, as well as that lovely minty-tingley sensation you get with certain lip products. It isn’t a statement product like I might usually go for, but it is a nice, subtle finish to a full face of makeup that keeps me feeling put together and pretty. (Think Dirty Rating: 3)

And here’s the finished look! I hope you all enjoyed reading up on my favorite healthy makeup picks!

What are your favorite healthy makeup products?

xo,

-Charlotte, the youngest sister

CREDITS // Author: Charlotte Boyer; Photography: Charlotte & Jessica Boyer