Argan Love

Argan Love

I have been wanting to post a blog about Argan oil for a looooong time! I know Argan oil has been a huge buzz word in the beauty industry (hello Moroccan oil hair products!) but, I've just started to notice this ingredient in Skincare just recently (and by recently i mean a year, I'm just way behind on blogging lol). I have always been a fan of Josie Maran. She was in Maybelline makeup ads back when I was just discovering my love for makeup. Now, she's this badass #girlboss with a hugely successful Argan oil Skincare & makeup line. She has major standards for her products, the ingredients, how their harvested, what her brand gives back, and of course she wants result-driven products that don't harm you or your health. So, the Josie Maran line is a total win in my eyes! Of course I HAD to try her products out!

If you've read this blog at all, you know I don't use toxic ingredients and I use my handy dandy "think dirty" app or the EWG website to check all my beauty & body products before I buy. So of course these babies I'm going to write about have checked out & are truly sitting on my bathroom shelf right now!


Josie Maran Cosmetics standards are:

-they use organic Argan oil
-all products are made with love
-they're vegan (woo hoo!!)
-no synthetic fragrances
-all natural ingredients
-cruelty free (another must for me)
-paraben free
-organic ingredients
-recyclable (gotta take care of Mother Nature people)

I love these standards! Not only do we have a choice to take care of our skin & our bodies & make sure we do not harm ourselves-now we can choose to support brands who also want to take care of our planet and those living in it! These are huge steps to making the world a better place!

Josie Maran Cosmetics main goal is to enhance natural beauty in all of us while enhancing the natural beauty of the world we live in. From harvest to production, Josie Maran makes sure they are consciously protecting & enhancing the beauty of our planet & ourselves. This company is also about empowering women. I mean how could you not want to support this brand!?!

Josie Maran Cosmetics gets all their Argan oil from an all-female co-op in Morocco. This gives women in Morocco an opportunity to get a job with a steady income with a fair wage in a decent working environment all while providing them literacy and other education opportunities to have the freedom to stand up against the traditionally male-dominated society.

Josie Maran Cosmetics also preserve the Argan forests where they harvest their Argan oil. The co-ops they work with provide responsible harvesting of the Argan oil to protect these forests. Josie also works to save the polar bears in a campaign she has with her Bear Naked Wipes. Every pack sold donates a portion to the Natural Resources Defense Council's Polar Bear SOS Initiative. She also donates 10% of sales from a limited edition product to the JMC's Model Citizen Campagin which highlights a different person who is out & about raising awareness. The proceeds will go to whoever that selected person's cause may be.

So as you can see, not only is she giving back to us. We do not need to worry about products we use harming us & potentially causing health issues. But-she also cares about the environment, empowering woman, making woman feel & look amazing, she cares for other causes & animals, and even the easiest act of us supporting this brand will help out too!

Josie Maran became more aware of toxicity of beauty products being a model for over 17 years. She got to work with the best hair & makeup artists around, but she also got exposed to the scary ingredients used in cosmetics. She wondered, did beauty products have to be bad for us? Well, apparently yes. She was told there was no way her products would be affective & have a luxurious feel without chemicals. Well, she didn't quit there. She continued to figure out a way to make this work and while she was in the South of France she was introduced to Argan oil. Josie referred to Argan oil as "liquid gold." And in 2007 Josie started her brand, Josie Maran Cosmetics & used her "liquid gold" as the staple to her products.

Like I said earlier, I had wanted to try her products because I was such a huge fan of her. But, like everyone else, I was worried about oils being too heavy for my skin. Now this was a while ago. These days I'll put plain extra virgin olive oil on my skin if I have to. Oils don't scare me one bit! But, to most people, putting an oil directly on the skin seems pretty scary. But trust me! It's not! It'll be one of the best things you can do!

I finally made the plunge and purchased a couple of Josie Maran argan oil starter kits at sephora while in Miami working last year. I was in Miami, my skin was really not acting right, and I was so over it. I was working for a high end Skincare brand at the time and was there to train & educate the counters and aestheticians. I have to admit, at about this time last year I wasn't eating great, wasn't sleeping enough, traveling like crazy, and my skin was majorly stuffing. I've had breakouts. I've had dry skin. I've had congested, oily skin. I've had redness & irritation. I've had dull skin. Well all of that put into one was basically my skin in miami. It was so dry, but so oily all at the same time. Being an aesthetician it's rare that I feel out of control with my own skin & in Miami, i did. My skin was just, blah. That's the only way I could describe it.

So last day of my Miami trip I'm shopping with my friend Tiffany. I hate to fly so spending lots and lots of money shopping was my coping mechanism. We went into sephora (which I never go to! I tend to avoid cosmetic stores because I am always in them working!) & I decided ok, I'm finally in one of these things-let's go check out Josie Maran's line! Made a straight run for it & immediately started playing. It was November while I was in Miami so all the holiday sets were out & I racked up! I was loving the lightweight consistency of the cheek tints & the foundation. The colors were beautiful, the finish of the makeup was beautiful. It was Like you had an immediate youthful glow. I loved it! Grabbed up one of the color kits immediately. Then I ran over to the Skincare side. I never use testers because I have seen first hand the lack of care & sanitation people use on these. But I couldn't help myself with the Argan milk from her line. I put a drop on the back of my hand (totally ok with that, I do that all the time) and I fell in love. My hand looked amazing! It felt amazing! So then I got the dropper, poured more in my hands & put it all over my face (totally not ok with that, I never do that at a store!). Immediately my face felt like it came to life. My inflammation calmed down, I felt soothed, I felt hydrated, it had a glow, it was soft, it was plump, it just felt amazing! I picked up that Skincare kit as well and the next thing I knew, I had spent $75 at sephora. Bam! That fast!

That was almost a year ago. I still use so much of her line. I'll write blogs in more detail highlighting one product at a time because they're so good. I just wanted to give you an overview of the brand as a whole first. I can't wait to share all my favorites from the line!!

Where to buy-www.josiemarancosmetics.com

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Why Natural Beauty?

Why natural beauty?

Hi guys! It's been a while. I have had so many changes in my life and I just now feel like I'm getting back into the swing of things. A couple of major changes have been my jobs! And yes, I say jobs. If any of you know me, you know I juggle about 7 different jobs. I worked as an aesthetician for about 5 different Skincare lines & a makeup artist for 1 line. I worked for all those lines in high-end department stores & high-end cosmetic boutiques and would travel all around the region to do facials and makeup for beauty events at the shops. It was fun, I loved educating, I loved my co-workers, it was fun seeing new cities but it was time for a change. I hated leaving home, I love being at home and being able to sleep in my own bed & actually see my husband as much as possible! I hated leaving my dogs, my garden, my regular routine. It's hard to take care of yourself on the road too. Eating is tough, traveling is tough on your body & my body especially doesn't handle travel well for some reason. I knew this was a job I loved & I was lucky to do for a long time. But it's a tough job. It can get stressful, it's hard to be away from home, it's unpredictable, and it's wearing on you. I knew this wouldn't be a job I would do long-term and I knew it was coming to and end soon. So, I decided to check out some different options and I was still scared to death to take a leap of faith and try something new. Even though my job as a freelance aesthetician and makeup artist was unstable & crazy & took me away from home, it's what I've done for 4 years now. I was told numerous times that Skincare & beauty is "what I was meant to do." My passion shines through when I talk and educate people. So why was I leaving again? On paper the job sounded great. Ooohhh travel! Oooohhhh makeup and beauty! Oohhh meeting new people! Yeah, all good. But, it was time to step down. I could tell I was done.

But now! Now I can truly write about brands. Any brand I want to! I don't feel torn or like I'm bound to a certain company. Now I can truly write about what I want to! I can focus on the good, the bad, and the ugly! I can actually write about toxins in Skincare and beauty and not feel like while I'm educating you on this knowledge that I'm also going against brands I represent. So now I have more freedom and can really educate y'all on everything!
One main principle I have on Skincare & beauty is toxins. The United States hasn't updated their FDA requirements for cosmetics since 1938....umm you guys. A LOT has changed since then. And I'm not just talking about changes in our country, think about all the new wacky ingredients and chemicals that we have developed since 1938. I think we might want to look back into these regulations folks. Europe has banned over 1400 ingredients. Guess how many we in the US have band?
11

Yes, 11. Guys. This is serious. And I don't want to hear people tell you that Skincare, body care, makeup, hair care, any type of cosmetics don't absorb into the blood stream. Because they do! If I can't perform a chemical peel on you while you're pregnant-then these products penetrate into the bloodstream, period. I have been approached by certain Skincare brands (that shall remain nameless) to represent them & sell their products. But-I do not believe in their chemically created ingredients to force cells regeneration. I've politely declined and told them I like more natural ingredients and I have been answered back to very condescending responses and talked down to because "it might not be linked to cancers" or it is "most likely not able to penetrate into the blood stream" and the response has been loaded down with a bunch of filler to basically trick you into thinking "wow! They used a lot of technical cosmetic words, they must know what they're talking about" nope! Not going to fool me!

I'm sorry. If there's a possibility that a product can cause cancer-I'm out. I don't care if you think I'm an idiot or not. I love my life, I'm not going to risk it to try some product that will thin out my skin and make me look like glass by the time I'm 35. Yeah, I'll pass.

I know this sounds harsh but it's the way I feel and these are just my personal thoughts on Skincare. There's too much false advertisements out there tricking people into thinking that what they're using is natural or good for them. Aveeno is not natural people. Kiehls is not natural. Aveda products (which are owned by Estée Lauder) aren't so great either folks. It's so deceiving and it's so unfair. They know how to package everything to look clean & pure and market it like it's "all natural." I get it, you don't want to look through ingredients and study harmful names to look for. That's why I'm here! I'm here to help. I love this stuff and there's new information everyday coming out. Hell, I just read about 2 brand new ingredients that companies have made up to basically combine tons of toxic ingredients into one super toxic name. What the heck is going on people????!!??? This is pure craziness that companies are literally making up names of things to hide more toxins behind it! It's time to start studying up on what we put on our bodies, face, skin, hair & nails & I'm here to help you!

I've got lots of blogs waiting in the wings here that I've already written giving reviews and info on some of my favorite natural brands! Stay tuned and I'll be sharing these every couple of days!

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad