Naturalla Beauty

Makeup is always the tiniest of empties categories, but since I've been collecting these for so long, I've actually accumulated a fair number of products to share!  

It's been several years since I switched over to natural makeup and I've tried out a lot of different products in that time.  After a recent decluttering and organization spree, I thought it'd be fun to show my most used, everyday essentials, as well as a quick look at how I store them.  Some products change, obviously, but a lot are consistent, long term favorites.  

Many of these items may be familiar from previous posts, but if you have questions or if there are specific products you want to know more about, I'm happy to answer in the comments or follow up in future posts.



I use sterilite drawers to hold the remainder of my makeup - mainly lip products and more loose eye shadows - but I like my everyday items to be accessible and easy to grab.  I found this tray for $1.99 in the kitchen section of Value Village and it works perfectly.  It's a sturdy, thick acrylic and the divided sections make it super easy to keep everything visible without turning into one huge messy heap.  

Section #1: Blush

It was only a couple years ago that I owned maybe two blushes, but I'm gotten more into blush recently and this section has filled out quite a bit!  

Pure + Simple Glow + Gabriel Color Vibrant Pink* - My two favorites over the summer.  Both are highly pigmented and give a beautiful vibrant pop of color, but can also be toned down for a more subdued look.  Glow is a bright watermelon pink with the prettiest sheen and Vibrant Pink is, as the name suggests, a matte hot pink.  

Lippy Girl Wall Flower - A matte pale pink.  I'm not sure how it would work on darker skin tones, but it's beautiful on fair skin.

Bare Minerals The Adrenaline Rush - Technically this is an All-Over Color Boost, but I can't imagine using it as anything other than a blush.  With the three colors swirled together, it's a light peach with a satin finish.

Ecco Bella Hibiscus* - The lighter of Ecco Bella's two bronzers, Hibiscus leans very peachy/orange, which I didn't love as a bronzer, but it makes a beautiful bronzy blush!

Silk Naturals Abstract + Lovelace - Silk Naturals blushes are some of the most blendable and easy to wear I've found and I love both these colors.  Lovelace is a bright coral and Abstract is a unique light plummy-pink.  

The All Natural Face Tequila Sunrise - A pretty pinky-coral.  It's not the most longwearing blush - the cream version is much better in that regard - but it's a great everyday shade.  

Gressa Aux Rouge - Aux Rouge makes for a beautiful red lip and I like it a lot on the cheeks too.

Section #2: Everyday Powder Face Products + New Blush Overflow

This section houses all my everyday powder essentials like mineral foundation, finishing powder, and powder concealers, as well as some Brija Cosmetics products that I bought over the summer and am still trying out.  

Everyday Minerals Foundation - I've been working through a sample pack from Everyday Minerals and trying to figure out which color and formula I like best on my skin.  I plan to purchase a full size of the Semi-Matte in the future.

Lauren Brooke Cosmetiques Finishing Powder - A good basic, translucent finishing powder.  I like dusting something like this over my forehead as a last makeup step to blur any fine lines I have up there.

Silk Naturals Light Peach Sleep in a Jar + #2 Brightening Concealer + ELF Mineral Eye Brightener - I use one of these everyday that I wear makeup.  All three are great to set a cream or liquid concealer under the eyes and I like them all.  ELF's Mineral Eye Brightener brightens without any real coverage, Sleep in a Jar brightens with a tiny bit of coverage, and the #2 Brightening Concealer, which is supposed to be a dupe for Anastasia's Banana Powder, is a little less brightening than the other two, but offers more coverage.  

Brija Cosmetics Mean Girls Blushes + You Know Who Highlighter - You Know Who and Regulation Hottie blush, a beautiful nude pink, have been getting a lot of love recently.  I'm not quite as smitten with the other two blushes, though they're both pretty colors, and I've yet to try the sample of Hoola Hoop Bronzer.   

Section #3: Loose Eye Shadows

Favorites - Darling Girl Blitzen + Moondust, Pollen Cosmetics Future Sunrise + Saddle Up, The Chequered Lily Apothecary Neverwhere, and Madd Style Cosmetics Mune Glow.  (I'm realzing now how many of these are either discontinued colors or from companies that are no longer around.  Sorry!)

Random Others - SweetPea & Fay British Accent (makes the prettiest indigo blue eyeliner), Shiro Cosmetics Master Sword, Concrete Minerals Blitzkrieg, Sassy Minerals Dry Martini, Noella Beauty Works Mango Berry, Persephone Minerals Pegasus, and Cheeky Cosmetics Blonde Brow Powder (works great as a matte crease/transition shade).

Silk Naturals Splendid Perfecting Glow - I keep this in with the eye shadows because I like using it to blend out other shadows.  It's sheer to begin with and blends away to nothing, but in the process, it helps soften other, hard to blend colors.  

Section #4: Pressed Eye Shadows

Pressed shadows without silicones or talc used to seem like the green beauty holy grail, so it's awesome to have so many choices these days!  

Pure + Simple Taupe - Probably my most used pressed eye shadow.  It's a fantastic medium brown crease shade that works with virtually any eye look.

Jane Iredale Eye Steppes in goWarm* - This palette has everything you need for a peachy/neutral eye.  Most Jane Iredale pressed products are made with silicones, but the Eye Steppes are not.

Bare Minerals Ready Palettes - I like the Ready eye shadows a lot, especially the matte and satin finish colors.  The ingredients aren't the absolute cleanest, but they don't have anything I'm particularly worried about.  The formula is also sturdier and less fragile than a lot of other natural pressed shadows, making these great for travel.  

Lily Lolo Laid Bare Palette* - This is basically a natural alternative to the Naked palettes and I love it for how compact and portable it is.  These aren't the absolute most pigmented shadows ever, but they do the trick, especially with a good primer underneath.  

Red Apple Lipstick Palette* - This holds my four Red Apple Lipstick shadows, as well as my one Honeybee Gardens shadow.  The eye shadows from both brands are great: pigmented and very easy to blend.  

Section #5: BB/CC Creams/Tinted Moisturizers, Bronzers + Highlighters

Most days I just wear mineral foundation, as my skin tends to prefer powder products over liquids and creams, but periodically I like using a BB or CC Cream, which is where this section comes in.

Andalou Naturals Sheer Tint Beauty Balm - I love how healthy and glowy this makes my skin look, but the color is a little dark for me.  It's workable with a lighter powder on top, but probably not something I will buy again.

Juice Beauty Stem Cellular Repair CC Cream in Natural Glow - A better color match than the Andalou, but everything else about this CC Cream leaves me a little underwhelmed.  It has super light, barely there coverage and smells pretty strongly of petitgrain.  

Suntegrity 5-in-1 Tinted Sunscreen in Fair and Light - I've held onto these samples because of the many great reviews I've read for this product, but I'm still on the fence about whether I'm actually going to try them or not.  Suntegrity contains cetyl dimethicone, a silicone which I usually avoid. 

Mineral Fusion Bronzer Duo in Luster - I don't wear bronzer anywhere near daily, but when I do, I really like the matte shade in this duo.  It looks dark in the pan, but it's not heavily pigmented and blends out easily.  The highlight side is very golden and doesn't get much love from me.  The bronzer duos are one of the few Mineral Fusion pressed powder products made without phenoxyethanol.  

Lily Lolo Rose Glow Shimmer Strips - The Shimmer Strips were limited edition and while Rose Glow is a pretty pink highlight, I only feel like I can pull it off on perfect skin days as the shimmer can tend to emphasize pores.  

Zuzu Luxe Mosaic Illuminator in Light* - I really love this product, both as a setting powder over cream or liquid products and by itself as more of an invisible allover skin perfecter on days when I'm not wearing other face makeup.  It doesn't have any real coverage, but it mutes redness and has a pretty, slightly luminous finish that leaves skin looking natural and glowy.  

Center: Mascara, Eye Liner, Eye Brow Products + Miscellaneous

I use a re-purposed candle holder in the center compartment to hold mascara, eyeliner, brow products, and a few miscellaneous extras.    

Physician's Formula Organic Wear CC Curl + Care Mascara - My only open mascara at the moment and frankly it kind of sucks.  It darkens the lashes, but it doesn't do much for either lengthening or thickening.  My lashes have a natural curl, so I'm not sure how it does in that area.  

Dr. Hauschka Volume Mascara - This is unopened, but I'm looking forward to trying it next.

Pacifica Bare + Jet Eye Liners - Some of the creamiest natural liners I've found.  Bare is a wonderful nude for the waterline and Jet is a great rich black.  

LUVU Beauty Black Eye Liner - I like using this when I want black liner, but not something as rich and ultra-pigmented as the Pacifica.

Honeybee Gardens Blue Jeans Jobacolor Eye Liner - A super beautiful blue/teal shade.  It looks like these have been reformulated recently and I don't like the new ingredients, so I won't be buying them in the future.

Benecos Brown Eye Liner - Another great creamy liner, but I'm not a big fan of the color.  It's a warm, almost orangey-brown that I'm just trying hard to use up before buying a different brown liner.  

Bare Minerals Frame & Define Brow Styler in Universal Light - My go-to for quick, everyday brows.  The twist-up pencil doesn't need sharpening and the light, ashy brown is the best shade match I've found for my eyebrows.  

Lily Lolo Eyebrow Duo in Medium* - A powder and wax brow duo that I also like, although I only really use this when I have a little more time to devote to doing my makeup, since using powder brow products is a slower, more involved process for me.
  
The All Natural Face Diva Stix in Milk - A matte white chubby pencil that I like using as a brown bone highlight.

Alba Botanica Fast Fix for Undereye Circles -  A somewhat sheer yellow-toned concealer/color corrector.  It's not a full coverage product, but it does visibly brighten and it has a great lightweight texture that layers well with other products.

Lavera Eye Shadow Base - Overall, I like this, but I'm not sure I'd buy it again.  It works well at keeping eye shadows on and preventing creasing, but I do find that colors continue to blend and mix together over the course of the day, so it isn't the best for more complex eye looks.

Mini Tweezerman Tweezers + Sephora Pencil Sharpener - Just a couple basic tools that it's always good to have handy.  

Makeup minimalist, I'm not, but everything here has a place in my routine and gets used regularly.  I hope you enjoyed this peek into my everyday/most used makeup!

With three satins and a matte, this is a fantastic everyday palette.  You have everything you need for a complete eye look and while the colors are work-friendly, they aren't boring.  In general, I've found the READY shadows are great quality, but this satin finish formula is my absolute favorite (and since I'm usually all about shimmery eye shadows, that really says something!)  The shadows are buttery, smooth, and pigmented, but they also blend effortlessly.  The colors aren't chalky or patchy and, dipping into them with a brush, they kick up a lot less powder than a lot of other natural pressed products I've used.  

Because sometimes you stumble into silly, slightly artsy photos and you just have to run with it! ;)

It's been several months since my last favorites post, so it's about time I show you some of the products I've been loving more recently.  I've got all the basic categories covered here: skin, hair, body, and makeup.  Most are things I've talked about before, but there are a couple new things as well.  



Andalou Naturals Chia + Omega Radiant Skin Polish
I'm on my second tube of the Skin Polish and I can't see myself being without it anytime in the near future.  I waited about two months to repurchase after finishing my first tube, and while I was using other exfoliants during that time, I noticed my skin looking duller.  When I added the Andalou scrub back in, my skin started to perk up after a single use.  The Skin Polish is part of Andalou's Brightening line and contains turmeric, vitamin C, and white tea, as well as Andalou's patented fruit stem cells and BioActive 8 Berry Complex to brighten and refresh.  I normally wouldn't give a lot of credit to brighteners in a rinse-off product like this, but something in here really does make a noticeable difference in the overall health and luminosity of my skin.  I wouldn't say it's particularly brightening in the sense of reducing discoloration or hyperpigmentation, but rather in that it leaves the skin looking very fresh and alive.  The scrub also has a creamy, peach-scented base that perfectly balances the exfoliating chia seeds and walnut particles, keeping it from being too harsh or abrasive.     

Everyday Minerals Tinted Lip Butter in Nearly Nude
I can't be fussed with wearing full-on lipstick most days, which is why I love a great tinted lip balm.  And, these Everyday Minerals Lip Butters are just that!  The formula is made with shea and murumuru butters and a whole list of great oils including sunflower, meadowfoam, coconut, passionfruit, and marula, so they feel great on the lips.  In the case of Nearly Nude, the tint is sheer enough that you can easily apply it without a mirror, but it leaves your lips looking much more polished than just an ordinary balm.  Nearly Nude is described as a "barely there nude with a kaleidoscope of shimmer," which I don't disagree with, although in combination with the pink color of my lips, it ends up looking more like a natural mauve.  The shimmer adds a shiny look, but it's not metallic or frosty.

Bare Minerals Frame & Define Brow Styler in Universal Light
I did an entire roundup post on natural eyebrow products in June, and while I have a couple others I also like, this pencil is hands down my favorite.  It's super quick to use, has a tiny tip, doesn't require sharpening, and matches my brows perfectly.  It legitimately just looks like my natural brows and, for that reason, it's what I continue to use on an everyday basis.

Pure + Simple Face Face Colour in Glow (+ ELF Studio Stipple Brush)
I've had Glow in my collection for probably close to two years now and while I've always known it was a beautiful bright coral/watermelon pink blush, I never reached for it very often before the last couple months.  The Pure + Simple Face Colours are highly pigmented, so the combination of such a bright color and my fair skin makes clown cheeks a real possibility.  But, as I've recently discovered, when lightly applied with a stipple brush, Glow gives the most perfect glowy, natural looking flush of color, perfect for summer.  I can't get enough of it!  I seriously wore it, and it alone, for nearly the entire month of June!


Nourish Organic Wild Berries Moisturizing Cream Body Wash
I've gone through many a bottle of Nourish's body wash - and blogged about them several times before - but this spring was my first time trying the Wild Berries scent.  I like a lot of fruity scents but I'm somewhat particular about which ones and for some reason I'd convinced myself this wasn't going to be one I'd enjoy.  Well, I was wrong.  If anything, it might be my very favorite scent from Nourish - and I think I've truly tried them all now.  Scents are difficult to describe, but I'd say, while it's clearly a fruity berry scent, there's also a lighter, fresher, almost zesty (or maybe slightly herbal?) element that tones down the sweetness.

If you haven't seen my previous mentions of these body washes, they're a unique cream formula that doesn't lather a whole lot, but leaves the skin feeling clean, soft, and nourished.  They're also USDA certified organic and made with the very best ingredients.

Honest Co. Conditioning Detangler
I've been trying out a couple new shampoos and conditioners and Honest's Conditioning Detangler has been helping me out when they don't necessarily perform as well as I'd like.  When my hair is hard to comb through or if a conditioner just doesn't give my curls enough moisture, this does a wonderful job picking up the slack.  I notice better results when used on wet hair, but it does okay on dry hair too.  Honest's signature Sweet Orange Vanilla scent varies a little across the different products and the detangler isn't my favorite iteration, but since I only smell it as I'm spraying, it's not a big deal.  It doesn't linger and it isn't noticeable on my hair throughout the day.

Those are my standout products the last few months!  What have you been loving this spring and summer?  Also, don't forget to enter my giveaway with Botanical Babe Skincare if you haven't already - open until until midnight Friday (EST).

It's fair to say, aside from plucking the occasional stray hair, I hardly touched my eyebrows before about six months ago.  I didn't know what I was doing, plus I'm lucky enough to have pretty decently shaped brows naturally, so I just never felt the need.  That's gradually changed and while I still like a natural looking brow, I've discovered how much of a difference a little filling in can make.  I've experimented with a number of different products over the last few months and today I want to run you through the gamut of what I've tried...


THE PENCILS

Zuzu Luxe Cream Brow Pencil in Russet
The best part of Zuzu Luxe's Cream Brow Pencil is its consistency.  It's not so creamy that it slides around, but also not so firm that you feel like you're scratching your face to deposit any color.  It lasts all day and the spoolie on the back end also comes in handy.  Russet is a light taupe shade and a pretty good match, though I feel like it could be slightly ashier.  

Bare Minerals Frame & Define Brow Styler in Universal Light
This is the only retractable brow pencil I've found with good ingredients and I love it!  With a spoolie on one end, plus a small tip and no sharpening required, it's very quick to use and Universal Light is a surprisingly perfect color for me.  It's a soft taupe that looks the most natural out of everything I've tried.  A lot of the reviews on the Bare Minerals website mention the lead breaking easily, but I twist up just enough product so I can apply it, and I haven't had any problems.  

Beauty Without Cruelty Eye Defining Pencil in Soft Brown
This is a terrible eyeliner with a hard, waxy consistency, but it delivers enough color to work surprisingly well as an eyebrow pencil.  It has great staying power and I love how cool-toned of a brown it is, although it's a little too dark of a shade for me.  I passed this on to my mom, who has slightly darker hair and she seems to like it.

THE CREAMS, POWDERS & WAXES

Cheeky Cosmetics Brow Powder in Blonde and Light Brunette
These powders were my very first foray into filling in my eyebrows a couple years back and, to put it bluntly, it didn't go very well.  They're very pigmented, to the point where it's difficult to sheer the colors out enough to appear natural, and I find a loose powder challenging to work with in this capacity.  I also didn't find a color match.  Blonde is too light for me and Light Brunette has some odd, greenish undertones that didn't work either.  

Lily Lolo Eyebrow Duo in Medium
By far my favorite of the non-pencil options, Lily Lolo's Eyebrow Duo includes both a pressed powder and a wax.  The powder gives a very soft, buildable color and the wax is creamy, goes on clear, and does a good job holding stray hairs in place without feeling crunchy.    Medium is a mid-toned brown.  It's not overly warm, but I wouldn't complain if it was a little more ashy. (Are you sensing a pattern here?)

I also have the Lily Lolo Angled Brow Spoolie Brush*, which I've used in conjunction with the duo.  Because I don't have a lot to fill in, I wish the angled side was a little thinner for more precision, but it's still a very functional brush.  

Silk Naturals Brow Cream in Medium Brown
Silk Naturals' Brow Creams provide color and hold, plus offer some conditioning benefits for your brows.  The texture is that of a solid cream, almost like a lipstick, and once it's in your brows, the cream sets and does a good job keeping both the color and your brow hairs in place.  These are popular in the green beauty community and I can see why, as the cream is an easy product to work with and the color is nicely buildable.  I don't, however, love how it feels in my brows: heavy and a little stiff.  Medium Brown leans pretty warm, so I imagine Medium Ash, its cooler counterpart, might also have been a better color choice for me.    

The All Natural Face Vegan Eye Brow Wax
A clear wax, this has a much drier texture than the Lily Lolo wax and feels very comparable to an extra waxy lip balm.  It's a light hold product and while fine to hold a few stray hairs in place, I'm not sure it would do the trick for really wild, all over the map brows.  I also don't find the hold lasts all day, though it's easy enough to reapply, if you're so inclined.


The Bottom Line
I haven't filled in my eyebrows for very long, but I feel like I've tried a good number of products in a short time! On an everyday basis, my favorite is the Bare Minerals Frame & Define, as I find a pencil is the quickest and easiest method and the Bare Minerals is the most natural looking color I've found.  The Zuzu Luxe is a pretty close second and when I have a little more time, I also really like the way my brows look with the Lily Lolo duo.  The rest are products I would be unlikely to buy again, either for color reasons or just because I wasn't overly wowed.

What are your favorite eyebrow products?