I'm definitely the type of person who checks out inside the medicine cabinet of friends. I love peeking into the everyday world of people. Observing others is fascinating to me and I love seeing how different everyone is from one another.
Although I think I would cringe if anyone would open any cabinets or drawers in our house, because I'm a mess. I mean, that's why we have doors right?
But, here it is, an open invitation to take a look into my makeup bag. And I will be honest, as with all of these self-care posts, these are a little different for me.
I wear makeup most days, but there are also days where I don't bother to even look into a mirror. Its definitely not something that high up on my list of things to talk about, for sure.
I also don't know much about makeup. I know I enjoy using it, as an artist I can appreciate a little color theory and embellishing. I just don't really do much more than the basics, so I guess I never really thought this would be interesting.
I also haven't been the most confident in the choice of my makeup items. I always try to buy quality makeup and can tell a difference between drugstore finds and department store makeups. And I guess I just never thought too much about the ingredients used. I definitely ask questions when buying, but am quickly satisfied with the 'we use quality ingredients' bit. I never looked at the ingredients of the makeup I've used.
And I am very conscious of ingredients in everything else I use, except skincare items. I don't know what it is, but I know I'm not the only one. It's easy to make excuses and to not use more natural skin-care items and cosmetics, because there isn't much of an option.
And makeup is expensive and not easily replaced. I remember hearing about EWG's Skin Deep a cosmetics database that lists ingredients of cosmetics and rates them. I felt so overwhelmed that I was using products that were rated high (not good) and that most of these products I thought were natural or healthy. Instead of fixing the problem slowly, I didn't do anything, because the answer wasn't obvious.
I heard about Beautycounter about a year ago and couldn't quite get it out of my head. After a friend sent me some products to try earlier this year, I was hooked. While I loved everything I tried, my favorite part of Beautycounter is their mission. They're working hard to change the beauty industry. They're authentic and honest, and don't claim to know everything, but they are learning, researching, and working on changing what ingredients are used in skin-care. And that's something I can get on board with.
This year, instead of getting overwhelmed and not doing anything, I'm slowly working on adding safer products to my lineup, ones that rate a little lower on the EWG scale. Ones that I've personally looked through the ingredients and feel comfortable using.
It's easier to swap out your products as you need more of something, and I've found it to be much simpler than I thought. Deciding to become a consultant with Beautycounter was definitely a big catalyst in this process.
And since I somehow managed to talk about everything, except what's in my makeup bag, I'll add a part two to this post next week with some more photos and reviews. But, for now here's a list to get you by until then...
What's in my makeup bag?
I'm interested in hearing what you think about all of this. Am I the only one just catching on to looking at the ingredients of my skin-care and makeup products? Have you heard of Beautycounter?
I'm Katelyn, a creative who finds beauty in the little things. I like the windows open and vases filled with flowers. I photograph and write about the mostly small but sometimes big adventures we find in our daily lives.
