Cleaning Up My Makeup Routine

In the past few years, as I’ve been cleaning up the rest of my life, I’ve become more and more interested in the chemicals myself and my family are using in our homes and on our bodies every day. As a mom and general human being trying to leave this planet better than I found it, I was horrified to find out how much toxic crap is in EVERYTHING we use on a daily basis. From home cleaners to hairspray, the more I learned the more I wanted to do something about it. But there is one problem…I’m not an A+ mom! Sure, I have the best intentions to feed my kids organic kale, but then they throw a fit and it’s late and we end up ordering pizza instead. Sometimes you have to pick your battles!

So any time a brand comes along that offers me the ability to get the toxic chemicals out of our routine, but is also EASY to use and implement, I’m all for it! I was so excited when a friend started working with the incredible company, Beautycounter, and offered me the opportunity to test out their products for a few days. I was super impressed with the quality of everything Beautycounter offers, and their mission is pretty incredible. Did you know there are over 10,000 ingredients used in personal care products…but only 10% of these have actually been tested to ensure they are safe for human health?! And many of these ingredients have been linked to health problems such as cancer or reproductive health. That’s insane. Beautycounter was started by a mom who was sick of the risks she and her family were taking by not knowing what was in the products they used on their bodies. Their mission is to get safe products in to the hands of EVERYONE.

The issue that I’ve often found when using more natural products, especially makeup, is that it doesn’t work as well as my regular products. So I decided to put the Beautycounter line to the test! Many of you know I’ve been asked to come on a few morning shows in the Kansas City area lately, and that is probably the time when I wear the most makeup. My daily routine is pretty tame, but when I’m on camera I pull out the big guns! So I decided to do my last appearance wearing only Beautycounter products…and it went great! The makeup not only looked awesome when I applied it, it didn’t melt under the big studio lights!

I put together this little comparison of the products I generally use when I’m being filmed versus the Beautycounter products. The numbers are from the Environmental Working Group, which ranks products based on what chemicals are used in them and how safe they are. Anything from 1-3 is considered very good, 4-6 is medium and 7-10 is highly hazardous. My regular products are on the left and Beautycounter is on the right…check out how they ranked.

Yikes, right? Pretty scary stuff. After I experienced how well the Beautycounter products worked, I immediately started replacing my makeup stash. It’s definitely an investment, but as long as I’m only replacing an item or two at a time, I can make it work. I’m so grateful a company like Beautycounter exists and is making it easier for moms like me (ahem, B+ moms) to better our health!

If you’re interested in learning more about Beautycounter and Young Living Essential Oils (which I’ve talked about on the blog here) and you’re in Kansas City, I will be co-hosting an open house event with my sister next Wednesday, April 20th! From 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., and then again from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m., you can come sample all the wonderful skincare, cosmetics, body, kid and baby products by Beautycounter and the awesome oils and health products by Young Living Essential Oils. I will also be providing iTovi scans, which will provide you with an analysis of your body chemistry and tell you what you need more of to live at your healthiest! If you’d like to join us, please send me an RSVP at megan@crazybananas.com for location details and more information. Hope to see you there!