I started becoming interested in makeup my freshman year of college after a botched at-home upper lip waxing left me with a new kind of beautiful mustache made out of burned skin. A friend down the hall who was similarly pale (though with radically different undertones, so I can only imagine I looked jaundiced) let me use her foundation. I was hooked. I bought some makeup basics that winter break and gradually accumulated a decent-sized stash, mostly consisting of e.l.f., Make Up For Ever, NYX, and even a Manly 120 palette. It wasn't until the summer after I graduated that I started really thinking (becoming mindful, zing!) about the ingredients in my products. I don't remember the exact moment things started falling into place, but, because I am a slave to my anxiety, as soon as I started thinking about parabens and D&C dyes, I began to panic about all of the horrible diseases my makeup was giving me. The thought of giving up makeup altogether was inconceivable, so I started to look into natural makeup, thinking that it would be like searching for a needle in a haystack to find clean products. I was happily proved so very wrong and went through a several-months long process of replacing the staples in my makeup drawer (although there were a few lipsticks I held onto for more than a year, not actually using them but waiting for the perfect dupe and maybe sometimes swatching them on my fingertips just for fun).
Green makeup led me to an interest in healthy skincare as well. I have always had somewhat problematic skin, and used to rely on what my dermatologist told me to use. This always went the same way: temporary relief from my acne, followed by flaky, inflamed, desperately sad skin, and then the inevitable return of the zits. I even tried an oral antibiotic, which I turned out to be allergic to. At the time when I made my makeup transition, I had pretty much pared my skincare routine down to the barest basics, disgusted with the cycle my skin kept going through. Switching to natural products with nourishing, rather than stripping, ingredients was the best decision I ever made for my skin. It certainly isn't perfect now, but it's the healthiest it's been in a long time, and I feel fairly confident that, with time, patience, and the right products, it will only get better.
Blogs were such an important resource to me as I navigated the new world of natural beauty. I decided I wanted to be a part of that community, so here I am.
My first review is for a product I've been thoroughly enjoying lately. Nourish Organic's Moisturizing Cream Face Cleanser is a gentle, refreshing and unscented product, which those with ultra-sensitive skin (or noses) will appreciate.
I use it before bed, after my oil-cleanse. When used on an already makeup-free face, it makes my skin feel squeaky clean, but is probably the least stripping cleanser I've ever used. I didn't find it stellar for actually removing makeup. It did the job of removing makeup from the surface of my skin, but the real issue was the makeup and whatnot that had worked its way into my pores. I could see that my pores hadn't been deeply cleansed and my face just didn't feel as clean as it does when I oil-cleanse first.
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| This cleanser has a very thin consistency. Definitely turn the tube upside-down before opening the cap. |
The best thing about Nourish Organic is definitely the ingredients. As the name implies, their products are USDA certified organic and I've yet to see a questionable ingredient in any of their products.
Cleanser Ingredients: Organic Aloe barbadensis Leaf Juice, Organic Cocos nucifera (Coconut) Oil, Organic Helianthus annuus (Sunflower) Seed Oil, Potassium Hydroxide, Organic Sesamum indicum (Sesame) Seed Oil, Organic Cyamopsis tetragonoloba (Guar) Gum, Organic Azadirachta indica (Neem) Seed Oil, Organic Cucumis sativus (Cucumber) Extract, Organic Nasturtium officinale (Watercress) Extract
