Before the holidays, I met with Lauren (@greenbeauty_stl) to clean up my make up routine— meaning, remove the unhealthy additives and chemicals that come along with so many beauty products these days and replace them with something a little healthier. True “green” beauty products remove the chemicals and carcinogens from their list of ingredients and replace them with non-toxic and usually more sustainable ones, often these are ingredients that work with the body to restore itself. Green beauty is definitely a trend lately, as people, especially women who typically use more products than our male counterparts, realize the harm chemicals can do to our body. And as Lauren reminded me, “skin is the largest organ of your body and it absorbs everything we put on it, so keep this in mind when choosing personal care products.”

Before we got started, Lauren and I sat down to discuss my current beauty routine, problem areas and any products I couldn’t live without. I explained I’m oily in the T-zone, usually don’t wear more than tinted moisturizer, mascara and blush, and rely on my tinted green pencil to eliminate redness. She found a green beauty product to replace everything in my current arsenal! She used foundation, highlighter, bronzer, concealer, pressed powder, eye shadows, eye liner, mascara and more from popular green beauty brands like RMS and Alima Pure. Blissoma products were used to prep my skin before applying the makeup.

All of the products Lauren used on me are available at Blissoma (located in St. Louis just off Jefferson on Lasalle St. As an aside, Blissoma offers more than just makeup… there is a wide selection of green beauty products ranging from makeup, skincare, haircare, toothpaste and more! It’s like a natural beauty destination.

Not only did Lauren introduce me to a slew of new products, she also gave me many helpful tips and tricks about applying makeup in general. She is a wealth of knowledge in an area that I could definitely use help. Here are some of my take-aways:

• Apply moisturizer right before you are going to apply your foundation if you don’t have a primer. if you get out of the shower and put it on, then wait hours to apply your makeup, reapply your moisturizer again… hydrated skin is key to getting foundation to go on smoothly.
• She used an angled brush to apply a clean line of blush from apple of cheeks to hairline blending it in well along the way.  I don’t currently own an angled brush but it’s now on my list.
• The power of a highlighter! Lauren highlighted the down the sides of my nose and that little dimple above my lip to create depth and contour. Here is the highlighter she used on me.
• Make-up your eyes and then your face! This avoids a lot of clean up and re-doing in the event that any eye shadow or mascara drops onto your cheeks.

Lauren does green beauty makeovers and works with clients to transition them from conventional beauty products to natural ones. She offers these green beauty consultations at Blissoma. E-mail her to schedule yours at lauren.staebell@gmail.com or contact Blissoma at customerservice@blissoma.com.