Hello Lovelies,

Welcome back! And welcome if you are new here xoxo

How are all of you, I hope you are well?

Today I will do a bit of a different post, a Clean Beauty tag one. I was watching Andie’s The Green Queen Clean Beauty Tag video (here) and it turns out the tag was created by the Conscious Bee (see her video here) whom I just discovered in a series of serendipitous moments. Loving what I saw, I self tagged  into it, because that’s how I roll 🙂 Both ladies did Youtube videos, Get Ready With Me style, but since I am a blogger, not a Youtuber, I will improvise a bit – I will answer questions first and will link to some of the make up post after, pretending I was sort of doing make up all along. There are quite a few I’ve done lately, what can I say, I have rediscovered my love for make up 🙂

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It is ten minutes to Monday, so let me present you with my latest #blogpost – I am continuing Natural Beauty series and I want you to meet someone special – @andiethegreenqueen ! Please go and check out my interview with this adorabe fern fairy who makes these awesome and so informative green beauty videos on YouTube! She has a blog too and she went on and introduced me to Eathwise Beauty products, I feel addiction coming up ? Seriously, go and watch one of her videos and you will want EVERYTHING too ? She is battling some serious health conditions but isn't letting that to affect her life or slow her down, and I have so much respect for her, my dermatitis pales in comparison to that.. And don't get me started on her hair – Gorgeous from a capital G!! I think you will enjoy the interview with her, her answers are raw, truthful to the core and funny too, the whole package! I wish I could join her in her walk in the woods one day ?

A post shared by ?Green beauty blogger, Renata? (@green_life_in_dublin) on Dec 4, 2016 at 4:01pm PST

See my Natural Beauty interview with adorable Andie here and let’s get into the tag, shall we?

CLEAN BEAUTY TAG:

1. When did u switch to green beauty and why?

That was around a decade ago, after accidentally discovering Janey Lee Grace’s book Imperfectly Natural Woman – I was looking for some light read for the weekend and that book changed my life! Many years later I managed to get Natural Beauty interview with Janey Lee Grace, see that post here. Funny story with that book, I had to buy it not one, not two, but four times, because after reading it I  started lending the book to everyone around me and I didn’t get it back a couple of times. So I had to buy it for myself again and again, and it was the exact same book I did my very first Instagram giveaway with 🙂 Before that I was naively assuming that all the products on the shelves go through rigorous testing for safety and ingredients aren’t harmful for humans in any way shape or form- oh boy, how wrong I was! I was sick to my stomach to find out how many harmful ingredients are in our skincare (formaldehyde in babies products for God’s sake, don’t get me started on this!!) and I started switching out my products there and then. But the trouble was, clean beauty products were soooo hard to find back then – most people (millennials) will have a hard time believing this, but there were NO online shops back then, so I was having the hardest time switching my products. Yes, you read that right, no Detox Markets, no Love Lula or anything. In fact, I can credit Janey Lee Grace for my blog too – I was having the worst time finding not only my best natural products, but any natural products around me at all, so I remember thinking to myself “this is nuts, what if someone is going through the same transformation and does not know where to start or where to go, I better blog about this to let people know”. So that’s how my blog started, out of desire to help out fellow green beauty sisters – and that’s still a driving force behind my blog to this day! I was here before it became popular and way before PR and marketing was happening. Up until two years or so ago I was purchasing all the products myself, so if that doesn’t prove I am not in it for the money, then I don’t know what will. Fortunately the green beauty scene exploded since – and that makes me very happy! I kind of made it my mission to help all the ladies (and gents) to switch to natural and organic products. Clean beauty world has an answer to any conventional product out there, and it is a proven fact the products work – and they work even better! Just check my post on more than 20 natural dupes for Nars Orgasm here for example – I worked really hard on that post 🙂

 

2. Do you remember your first green makeup product? Did it work well for you?

Yes I do – it was a Dr Hauschka mascara and for then-unemployed me it cost me eye wateringly amount of money, I remember wincing when parting with my cash – and to make matters worse, it didn’t do anything apart from making my lashes black and it started crumbling in the first week. I remember thinking “oh no, what if all the natural products are so expensive and work so bad?”. Fortunately I was able to find a  Holy Grail product in every single category since, you can see them here. I sifted through a ton of products to find good ones that work amazingly well.  And they are at all price points too – you don’t need to spend a ton of money in every single category. I choose to splurge on skincare (I am five minutes to forty after all, I kind of need to) and am quite happy to save on body care for example. No money? No problem, use coconut oil as your body moisturizer! Make up? I have it at all price points starting from just 2.50€ going to up to 50€ for a palette. I think that is quite reasonable, no?

 

3. Have you noticed a change in your skin/overall health since the switch?

Yes! My skin was a disaster before the switch – dry, super sensitive, reactive to every single product I have tried and more and more adult acne as the time went by – and amazingly I never attributed my skin’s conditions are caused directly by the products I was using. I guess I was blindly falling for the “I am worth it” marketing hype – oh the naivety of me! Insert face palm emoji here 🙂 I see history repeating itself with my elder daughter, who’s is convinced she needs certain ingredients and products for her skin to look good. She buys her own products (oftentimes conventional, resistance to parents, sigh) but she reacts to them more often than not, so I am strategically suggesting natural alternatives and am doing a happy little dance every time she does not reject something. I have to say she and I started on the wrong foot with all things natural – I gave her my own DIY deodorant and it burned her pits – turns out she is allergic to baking soda! not only in deodorants but in toothpastes and dry shampoos, everything 🙁 She rejected all natural products for a couple of years since then, and I can’t say I blame her. Slowly but surely she is coming to our side, but we have a long way to go. I do not push her in any way shape or form, I am not one of those green beauty bullies with scare mongering tactics, you might notice that in a way I blog too –  I simply let people know about amazing natural stuff and let people think and choose for themselves.

Whoops, Renata, get back to the question, will you? Yes, my skin balanced itself in a month when I switched to natural products and the acne never came back – amazing or what?

 

4. Is there anything you wish was different about the green beauty space?

Yes, a few things come to mind. Price points for one (a whole topic on it’s own, for another time maybe, there are few things worth their price point, but not all) limited shade ranges when it comes to make up; scare mongering tactics needs to go, as well as greenwashing.

 

5. What is the nr 1 ingredient you avoid in cosmetics?

Fragrance, parabens, bismuth oxychloride, phenoxyethanol – although the latter is increasingly hard to avoid, it is everywhere!

 

6. What are your favorite 3 make up products you discovered thus far?

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How gorgeous is Inika's Peachy Keen blush? Total coral peachy fabulousness with gold shimmer coming thru it ? For swatches check out my blog post titled "Nars Orgasm Dupes" where I talk about this and 13 other products, making the total of 14 dupes. Yes, you read that right, I have 14 suggestions for natural Nars Orgasm dupes ? Go check this out: Http://greenlifeindublin.blogspot.ie/2016/02/natural-nars-orgasm-dupes.html . . . #naturalnarsorgasmdupe #narsorgasmdupe #narsorgasm #peachyblush #coralblush #inika #inikablush inikapeachykeen #gorgeousblush #blushmakesmehappy #blushporn #blushismyhappyplace #cleanbeautypicks #cleanbeauty #naturalmultiple #naturalbeauty #cleaningredients #irishnaturalblogger #irishblogger #irishbloggerdublin #irish #greenlifestyle #greenlifeindublin #100percentpuremimosa #100percentpure #inika #zuiiorganicblush #zuiiorganic #purcosmetics #pureanadablush

A post shared by ?Green beauty blogger, Renata? (@green_life_in_dublin) on May 5, 2016 at 7:10am PDT

Well, if we are talking about make up only, my first love would be Peachy Keen by Inika – it is a natural and more gorgeous version of Nars Orgasm, even though it does not look like much in most of online shop photos. Trust me, it will get you all heart eyed once you will get it and put it on. Very concentrated, so the jar will last you for years, I promise! Nars Orgasm was the last product I switched, but having found Peachy Keen, I haven’t looked back.

See this post on more than 20 natural and organic dupes for Nars Orgasm, if you want to of course. I worked hard on that post 🙂

 

Next would be my trusty workhorse for many many years, a product used and appreciated daily; I have stuck with it going through branding and packaging changes – please step forward Hynt Beauty Duet Perfecting Concealer! By far the most full coverage concealer in the green beauty or not green beauty and it is something I keep coming back to no matter how many other products I have tried. I have not one but two reviews of it on my old blog (see here and here) so I won’t be going into too many details here. So well worth the money, I have my last jar for well over the year and I am yet to hit pan or see a change in the formula (as in going bad) when my newer concealers are starting to smell a bit off after six months. I can’t praise it enough, really. Just one teeny tiny thing, dear Hynt Beauty, if you are reading this, please introduce a shade in between of Light and Medium – those two shades need to have a love child, pronto! You have introduced a shade in between for the darker shades, now please do so for the lighter ones too, pretty please? As you can guess, I happen to be in between the shades and would love to be able to buy just one jar instead of two at a time. The formula is very impressive, so that’s why I keep buying two shades, but I have heard many and many ladies say the same thing. Once again, Hynt Beauty, pretty please?

 

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You asked, I reviewed it ?? Duet Perfecting Concealer by @Hyntbeauty is live on my blog, please feel free to check it out ? Spoiler alert – you need this awesomeness in your life! It is my Holy Grail status concealer that I never want to be without ? See that teeny tiny piece of the product on the spatula? That is all you will need for both under eyes and face concealing, l swear! http://greenlifeindublin.blogspot.ie/2016/05/hynt-beauty-duet-perfecting-concealer.html . . . #greenbeauty #cleanbeauty #cleanbeautypicks #cleaningredients #nourishingmakeup #nourishingingredients #nourishingconcealer #bestnaturalconcealer #naturalconcealer #hyntbeauty #hyntbeautyconcealer #duetperfectingconcealer

A post shared by ?Green beauty blogger, Renata? (@green_life_in_dublin) on May 15, 2016 at 5:19pm PDT

and last but not least I am tossed up between two products, W3LL People Biotint SPF30 Moisturizer and Hynt Beauty Aria Pure Lipstick in Pinkibelle.

Maybe let’s go with Pinkibelle, as W3LL People isn’t available in EU, which upsets me to no end!

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#greenbeautyswatches – ladies and gentlemen, say hello to my new favourite signature lipstick ? ? – please step forward #Pinkibelle from @hyntbeauty! Two absolute faves from one brand, not bad at all, huh? (You guys know that Duet Perfecting Concealer is my long standing favourite) I was on forever search for that perfect 'your lips but better' kind of nude, and this came into my life by happy chance, because I overlooked it on my own. Last time I purchased #hyntbeautyduetperfectingconcealer from @eminessences, Emilie was kind enough to throw in a sample of Pinkibelle. I got so many compliments on my lips ? when wearing Pinkibelle, and after I couldn't stop thinking about it, I went on and got it ? You can see it #swatched next to #bellininude (which is also so lovely, hmm, hmmm ☺️) and swipe to see it on! If it makes you smile when you put it on, that's how you know you are onto a winner ? . Don't forget to check out my #greenlifeindublin #greenbeauty #swatchgallery on FB and Pinterest, and please make my day and follow me there xo . . #Ilovemyfollowers #greenlifedublin#greenlifeindublin #greenbeautyblogger #greenblogger #beautyblogger# #swatched #swatch #greenbeautyswatch #swatchyswatchy #hyntbeautypinkibelle #hyntbeautylipstick #hyntbeautyswatch #eminessences #mynewfavourite

A post shared by ?Green beauty blogger, Renata? (@green_life_in_dublin) on May 23, 2018 at 12:48pm PDT

SEE MORE OF NATURAL AND ORGANIC PRODUCT SWATCHES HERE

 

7. Name your 3 top favorite skincare products?

Do you guys know how hard this question is?? I have to say both moisturizers and Antioxidant Booster by Bella Aura Skincare (review) – I can’t live without them!

*Update on why I no longer stand by this brand, even though I still think their products are fantastic here, scroll down to the very end.

 

8. What brands do you really want to try but still haven’t?

My wishlist is probably two miles long, haha! The first brands that come to mind are Okoko Cosmetiques, Lovinah, Osea, Live Botanicals, Blue Beautifly, De Mamiel, Odacite, Mayia Chia, Aether Beauty, Laurel, Antonym, Amly – do I need to go on? 🙂

 

9. What type of product do you buy the most of?

Toothpaste, rinse, body wash (mostly soap, Black African soap preferably). Body Oils. Shampoo. From beauty products, mascara. Same like a regular person, really.

 

10. Do you like trying new skincare products or do you keep a certain routine?

A bit of both really. My uber sensitive and dermatitis prone skin does not allow me much room for wriggle, I am most likely to react to any product, even to the ones everyone is raving about. Having found my perfect skincare in Bella Aura, I kind of don’t want to test or try anything else, plus having put my skin through a marathon (and burning it more than once!) for the sake of judging in the green beauty awards (see more on my IG), I don’t really want to try anything else for the time being. But still there comes a product from time to time that calls my name organically and I get that magical experience – I am talking about May Lindstrom Blue Cocoon as an example, see more in my recent Favourites post here.

 

11. If you could only buy from one brand, which one would you choose? Pick one for makeup and one for skincare.

Skincare, easy – Bella Aura! Make up, it would have to be between Inika (amazing blushes and mascara) and Hynt Beauty (concealer and lipstick Holy Grails), but W3LL People are also very high up there – oh, what to do??

 

12. What do you love about makeup?  What about skincare?

I love that make up lets me create the best version of myself – isn’t that amazing how much more confident you feel when you look great? Skincare is my everyday treat to myself, my “me time”, my self care. What’s not to love, am I right or am I right?

 

13. Name your favorite thing about the Green Beauty community?

The support! I am so so grateful to green beauty community for welcoming me with open arms. Up until then I was kind of not belonging or should I say not feeling welcome anywhere really, and this is where I feel at home and feeling like I am contributing to a great cause. Andie’s comment about other women struck a chord with me, all the backstabbing in my life came from other women, even close friends, so I was kind of floating around in life not feeling that love, support, girl or sister power, up until I discovered the green beauty community. Huge thanks each and every one of you!

(ps. catty behaviour still happens in the green beauty world, this is an industry like any other industry. Fact of life)

 

Now that all of the questions are answered, let’s pretend I was doing make up at the same time 🙂 I will link three of my last make up posts, so check out the one which look you like the most – I didn’t mention any make up in my recent Favourites post, but any product from those posts below is still a strong favourite to date. Or skip them all together. Your call. Thanks for reading anyway!

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Eeek! I am going #allnatural #withoutfilters for you – not that I use any fiters, or retouch my photos – I felt that you guys need to see real photos of this #naturalmakeuplook using #naturalandorganic #creamproducts. So easy to do, finger paint really – if I can do it, you can too! It takes about five minutes only and lasts for majority of the day without any touch ups, setting or baking. please step forward #w3llpeople #rmsbeauty #inikaorganic #alverde #hyntbeauty #ereperez with a bit of a help from #hurraw and #bellaauraskincare! . www.greenlifeindublin.com/2019/01/natural-make-up-look-using-cream-products-natural-organic-beauty/ . What are your favorite natural cream products? . Oh, @w3llpeople if you are reading this, please come back to the EU!! We need you here and I'll start a campaing if it needs to be ?

A post shared by ?Green beauty blogger, Renata? (@green_life_in_dublin) on Jan 8, 2019 at 3:14am PST

SEE ALL NATURAL MAKE UP LOOK WITH CREAM PRODUCTS HERE

 

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I came, I saw and I tried @saryacouturemakeup ? My first impressions #review and make up look is live #ontheblog: . www.greenlifeindublin.com/2019/02/sarya-couture-make-up-first-impressions-review-make-up-look-ad/ . link in bio ? . Check it out in #lovelula: . https://bit.ly/2GwxYtR . Have a great day Lovelies ?? Have you tried #saryacouturemakeup? What are your thoughts on it?

A post shared by ?Green beauty blogger, Renata? (@green_life_in_dublin) on Feb 19, 2019 at 3:07am PST

SEE SARYA COUTURE MAKE UP LOOK (AND A REVIEW) HERE

 

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Really enjoying #pureanada #lipandcheekrouge in #Isabella – thank you @liveinthelight3 ??? Post coming up really soon ☺️ . . . . #greenlifeindublin #cleanbeauty #naturalmakeup #naturalproducts #greenbeautybrands #discoverunder5k #liveinthelight #pureanadanaturalcosmetics #crueltyfree #naturalbeauty

A post shared by ?Green beauty blogger, Renata? (@green_life_in_dublin) on Mar 24, 2019 at 11:55am PDT

SEE A PURE ANADA MAKE UP LOOK USING LIP & CHEEK ROUGE (& REVIEW) HERE

 

So that’s all for now, see you here next Tuesday if not sooner. Once again, thanks for reading! Oh, before I forget – tag! You are it 🙂

 

Please like and share my posts on social media, it really helps to get the green beauty word out – and you will forever have my gratitude!

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Lots of Love,

Renata.

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