nontoxic doesn’t have to mean noneffective:
here are my absolute favorite clean + natural beauty products
my personal nontoxic skincare routine
Switching from traditional skincare products to all-natural can feel straight up overwhelming. But with research, trial and error, and experimenting, I have found the most accessible, affordable brand to help YOU clean up your skincare routine. Enter: Primally Pure. They are truuuuuly my one-stop shop for all things nontoxic + natural skincare, and I’ve used them for over 5 years! My skin has never been better, and I feel so thankful that I’m not exposing myself to unnecessary toxins in the process. I personally follow the balance regimen, but they have different collections for each skin type—you can find yours here.
MY MORNING SKINCARE REGIMEN: I will rinse my face with warm water & pat dry, then I spritz a facial mist, apply plumping serum, and do 2-3 minutes of gua sha.
MY EVENING SKINCARE REGIMEN: I’ll wash my face/remove my makeup by double cleansing (the BEST method for washing your face), sprits one of the facial mists (depending on my skins needs that day), apply the clarifying serum , and apply the baby balm around my eyes.
I could honestly rant forever about this brand. Small-business. Lady-owned. Created with sustainability and the highest quality ingredients in mind. And the best part? Not only are their ingredients 100% pure + all-natural goodness, but they work.
This brand singlehandedly made leaving my old, toxic skincare routine behind so, so easy because my skin instantly got better than when I was using my old, toxic products. My favorite items of theirs are tagged above (you can get your own custom-made holistic skincare regimen with this quiz), but really you cannot go wrong with whatever you decide. Everything that they create is straight-up magic.
Lady-owned, holistic skincare? Sign me up. Explore the entire Primally Pure skincare collection here!
Pssst: my affiliate code “KATE10” will always save ya money. :)
facial skincare extras: face masks
facial skincare extras: tools and rollers
My small-but-mighty lineup of skincare tools and rollers. These tools help me fight wrinkles, limit acne, reduce morning puffiness, get rid of those pesky nose blackheads…to see the full details on these products and how I use them check out my blog post “5 Little-Known (Ahem, Very Weird) Skincare Tools That I am Obsessed With.”
clean skincare: for the body
clean makeup:
my two favorite brands
I’ll be really honest with you—I procrastinated cleaning up my makeup routine for a longgggg time. Cleaning up my skincare routine seemed rather painless, but the thought of changing up the 897298374 different products in my makeup bag seemed expensive, time-intensive…and not to mention, I am very picky when it comes to my makeup. But then I found ILIA Beauty and W3LL PEOPLE—and BOOM, the process was simplified. Two brands that completely transformed my makeup. Clean products that actually work. My beauty bag is 100% a hodge-podge and mix of these two brands. Literally not one other product from any other brand. Yup—everything I need. Two brands have simplified and provided clean products that work.
Full transparency: if I haaaaad to pick one brand, I do prefer ILIA makeup, but it is a bit more expensive. If you are ready to invest, I couldn’t recommend them more! 10/10 would recommend to a friend. :) But…coming in not far behind in 2nd place is W3LL PEOPLE. This brand is a bit cheaper and is alsoooo genuinely amazing. Not to mention, W3LL PEOPLE was the OG brand I used to clean up my makeup bag! Generally speaking, ILIA products gives more of a “dewy” makeup look and W3LL PEOPLE is a bit more matte. I love them both, I use them both, and below are allllll of my ILIA favs and my W3LL PEOPLE favs. These products have completely replaced my old, toxic makeup routine—and I have no desire to look back. Because not only do I loooove that ingredient list—I love how it *actually* works.
ilia favorites
Okaaaaaaay. Setting the intention to not write 837249823732 paragraphs rambling about how much I love ILIA products. I cannot say enough about the products below. I love each + every item, but there are two that absolutely stand out: The Super Serum Skin Tint: I mean, WOW. Hands. down. My favorite item in my makeup bag. Truly. It’s a foundation + serum + SPF 40 all in one. It is soooo lightweight but somehow covers the skin and evens out the tone. If you love the “I’m not wearing makeup” (but lol I’m totally wearing makeup) kind of look, GET THIS. THIS. MASCARA: Guys, a clean mascara that actually works. Do yourself a favor and get it.
Other noteworthy fav items below: The True Skin Serum Foundation is a bit higher-coverage foundation for acne / dark under-eyes and it provides lovely coverage. The color haze is a multi-use color that blends beautifully: lips, cheek bones, eyelids. Soooo versatile and such a buildable hue. (This is like the clean version of Glossier products!) This highlighter stick is my secret to that poppin’ cheekbones gloooooow. Bronzer, baby! We all know I am a bronzer freeeeeak. I loooove using bronzer to contour and give a sunkissed glow, and this one from ILIA meets my semi-diva-ish bronzer standards. Trust me on this—ILIA is the clean makeup brand you’ve been looking for. Peek around their site here and trust me—you honestly can’t go wrong!
w3ll people makeup
Alright, let’s start with FOUNDATION and the one item you NEED. As you know I am verrrrry picky with what I call a beauty “MVP” but W3LL PEOPLE’s Bio Tint Moisturizer is on my list. I use this 24/7. It is a tinted moisturizer that is heavy enough to cover blemishes/discoloration, AKA it’s the dream. This is a lightweight option but it provides thicker/heavier coverage. It’s so hard to describe, but just know that I couldn’t recommend it more! I typically put it on by itself or layer it with the Powder Foundation—but if I need a bit heavier coverage (date night, wedding, bad breakout, etc.) I will also supplement with the Narcissist Foundation Stick. (LOVE. THIS.). To top it off, I use this bronzer and this eyebrow gel (SO GOOD).
What do ya say? Are you ready to clean up your act? Explore the entire W3LL PEOPLE and ILIA makeup line here. Psssst: If you realllllly just want to start from scratch + simplify your makeup bag, I designed a 6-piece “capsule” makeup collection here. There are more details about these products, and I narrow down the 6 MVP-status pieces that I personally cannot live without. This post will cover allllllll your makeup needs—promise.
my natural hair favs:
First things first: if you want allllll the deets on how I approach [mostly] nontoxic and clean(ish) haircare, check out this blog post where I talk about the *exact* products I use to grow my hair quickly, go longer between showers, and curl my hair with zero heat needed.
This flat iron: Okay, to alllllll my straight-haired girls that have their curls fall out after 2 hours, PLEASE consider this flat iron. I spent years convinced that my hair was just not meant to curl—then I went down a YouTube + Google rabbit hole and saw this straightener mentioned a few times for curling straight hair. The reviews drew me in, I purchased on Black Friday, and I love. it. My curls will last 2–3 days now when they used to last 2–3 hours. Definitely an investment, but I 1000000% put my stamp of approval on it! Enjoy!
Primally Pure dry shampoo: This is a powder, all-natural dry shampoo and truly gets rid of alllllll signs of oil/grease but also texturizes very nicely. Lasts forever! I love it for traveling since it’s not a liquid and can be packed into my carry-on.
This natural salt texturizing spray: In addition to the dry shampoo, I spray this natural salt spray after I shower to add body, texture, and grip to my hair. I don’t know quite know how else to describe it, but if you want to liven up your hair and add texture, this is kind of like “salty beach hair” in a bottle, ha! I really like this product + the pep it gives my locks. Also, that ingredient list—so pure! This is a pheeeeenom natural product.
5-in-1 curling iron: This is the curling iron I used to use in attempts to curl my hair before I found the godsend of a flat iron above. It honestly worked better than other curling irons I had tried—but I just don’t think it was a match for my abnormally-straight hair (curls would last 6–7 hours before falling flat). The reason I am still recommending it is because this is five curlers in one—there are different sized barrels that you can attach + detach. AKA you only need one curling iron for every size curl. My friends (with more easily curl-able hair than me) have tried it and loooooooved it! So I thought I’d recommend this curling iron to all of you people with hair that holds curl well. If you hair doesn’t hold curl well, I very much recommend the flat iron method!
Collagen: I first bought collagen in September of 2017 to help with my gut health (#guthealthQWEEEEN) but I wasn’t opposed to it helping me obtain shiny, long hair either. Collagen helps with your connective tissue, and I had heard it helped grow your hair, eyelashes, nails…I didn’t expect much (I thought the difference would be subtle), but WOWZA. My hair. My eyelashes. My nails. Growing so fast, so strong…it is absolutely crazy what your body can do when you give it the right tools. My favorite brand of collagen is this one! (You also can take collagen as a pill-form supplement if you prefer!)
lips: my fav natural nontoxic products
grow those eyelashes long and strongggggg
the nontox girl’s toolkit to growing your eyelashes...naturally :)
Above are 6 things I implemented that took my 6/10 totally average lashes to as long as they’ve everrrrr been. I am honestly kinda proud of my eyelashes, because they are PROOF that you don’t need chemicals upon chemicals to accomplish a beauty goal. Most of the time—nature already has all ya need. :) :) To see the full details on these products and how I use them check out my blog post “The Natural Girl’s Guide to Growing Your Eyelashes.”
random clean beauty favorites
Those “can’t live without ‘em” beauty items. I could rant about the above products foreverrrrr—but I’ll save you the word count. :) These are my tried + true natural beauty favorites—ya know those rare buy it + rebuy + rebuy again products? Yup. these are just that good. But don’t take my word for it—try ‘em yourself!
clean products for the fella in your life
because men deserve quality nontoxic products too
