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New for Spring: Exciting Green Beauty Launches!

Green beauty is booming these days, which means a TON of exciting new product releases.  For spring, I've put together a list of some of the best launches that have grabbed my attention recently -- most are available now, with a couple scheduled to release over the next few weeks.    

Maya Chia Highlight of the Day // Birchrose + Co Glow Serums
Technically Maya Chia's Highlight of the Day launched a few months ago, but since healthy, glowy skin is always on trend for spring and summer and I, for one, am still eyeing it, I'm adding it here anyways!  Both Highlight of the Day and Birchrose + Co's Glow Serums are nourishing oil-based serums enhanced with mineral pigments for a beautiful glow or iridescence.  Both are available in more than one shade to suit a variety of looks and skin tones.  

 Stark Petrichor Toner
Stark's products, which are formulated with weather and environmental stresses in mind rather than traditional skin types, have been on my radar for quite a while, but I haven't actually tried anything yet.  I love that Jess, Stark's founder, has taken a less traditional approach to the beauty industry and is passionate about creating luxury products without insane luxury price tags.  It's, of course, right up my ally.  Along with the already available City Recalibrating Oil, I've got my eye on the new Petrichor Toner, available for presale this week.  Petrichor is described as a protective and purifying mist that's supposed to feed your skin, calm inflammation, fight free radicals, and act as an antioxidant shield from the environment.  Sounds pretty dreamy, right? 

 Mabrook & Co. Clean Sprays // Clean Candles // Clean Dry Shampoo // Clean Lip Balm
[Full Disclosure: I work part-time for Mabrook & Co., but that doesn't make their new releases any less great.  I was not asked or paid to include them here.]
Mabrook & Co. started out making just deodorant, but they've recently expanded the line quite a bit with dry shampoo, multipurpose aromatherapy sprays, soy wax candles, and lip balm.  My favorite of the new products is the Glow Spray, an uplifting mist that perfectly blends together crisp mint and zesty citrus.  It makes a great cooling and tingly face mist and also works well as a room spray or body mist.  The Clean Dry Shampoo is another big standout.   

 RMS Beauty Signature Sets
RMS products are pretty pricey and the pots last a long time, so I was so stoked to see the new Signature Sets, which offer a way to try out multiple products from the brand at a significantly lower cost than purchasing everything individually.  There are two sets available, each containing five of RMS's most popular products: two lip2cheeks, two highlighters/bronzer, and one lip & skin balm.  It's a lot of bang for your buck -- I've got my eye on the Mod Collection for sure! 

 Alima Pure Eye Primer // Ilia Beauty On & On Eye Primer // Batty's Bath Eye Stick It To Em Eyeshadow Primer
For as long as I've been into green beauty, eye shadow primers have been hard to come by, but not any more!  I've spotted three new ones in the last couple months alone -- from Ilia Beauty, Alima Pure, and Batty's Bath.  All three promise a better surface for eye shadow application, longer wear, and no creasing.  Ilia's does contain dimethicone, if that's a concern, but the other two are silicone-free.

 Inika at The Choosy Chick
I've played around with Inika, an Australian certified organic, vegan, and cruelty free makeup line, a little, but they've always been a challenging brand to get a hold of here in North America.  No longer!  The Choosy Chick, one of my favorite green beauty shops, has become the first US online retailer to carry Inika's products and I couldn't be happier to have easy access to this wonderful line.  I highly recommend the Cream Eye Shadows -- they double as beautiful subtle face highlights -- and I'm definitely eyeing up a few other things too!    

Pacifica Spring Makeup Collection
Pacifica makes great inexpensive clean makeup and their upcoming spring releases look pretty amazing!  The new makeup collection consists of four completely new products: liquid lipsticks, liquid strobe highlighters, a mattifying powder, and an opalescent highlighting powder -- and three new eye shadow palettes.  If you're in the US, the new products launch at Ulta in April, and hopefully elsewhere shortly thereafter.

 Rocky Mountain Soap Wellness Bombs
Rocky Mountain Soap is one of my favorite bath and body companies and the newly launched Wellness Bombs sound fantastic!  Basically, they're the company's bath bombs taken to the next level -- enhanced with essential oils that specifically target different wellness concerns.  Whether you're looking to unwind and destress or re-energize, the Wellness Bombs have you covered!

 What new products have caught your eye?

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5 Questions With Margot White from The Choosy Chick

The Choosy Chick is a "one-stop shop" online natural beauty boutique offering safe and effective products for the entire family.  With new green beauty shops popping up all the time, what really stands out to me about The Choosy Chick is the boutique's diverse brand selection.  A carefully curated assortment intermixes popular, well-known companies like Acure, Badger, Josh Rosebrook, HollyBeth Organics, and Dr. Alkaitis with lesser-known gems like Solavedi Organics, Ahnesti, Griffin Remedy, and DN-UNIK.  Because brands range from the very affordable to more high end/luxury, the assortment is truly unique among other green beauty shops. 

 I connected with Margot White, founder and head choosy chick late last year and after learning more about her green journey, I asked her to answer a few questions about herself, the shop, and making the switch to healthier products.  

 Keep reading for Margot's answers, plus a special discount code for Naturalla Beauty readers.

Can you tell us a little about yourself and how The Choosy Chick came to be?
We live in a world today in which we are exposed to thousands of toxins. Cancer, diabetes, asthma, infertility and developmental disorders among other serious health issues are on the rise. Protecting those we love is becoming an increasingly difficult job. An educator for the last 15 years, wife and mother of 4 boys, I understand fully that we need to do everything possible to help the next generations live healthy, sustainable lives.   Having been a Health Educator, I always tried to make the best choices for my family.  After developing some autoimmune issues and watching so many of  our loved ones develop cancer,  I began to look for more ways I could reduce toxins in my home.  Like many, I was shocked to learn of the multitude of harmful chemicals in skincare products, including those that disrupt hormones and cause cancer. 

Our first step in our green beauty journey was to educate ourselves. We studied ingredients. We bugged manufacturers about their products and manufacturing processes, referenced independent testing firms and other reputable sources. The next step was to find products deemed to be toxic-free in our local drug stores and supermarkets.  Not so easy.  Even products claiming to be “natural” or “organic” still contained toxins. We grew tired of coming out of stores empty-handed.  The need to find a place to shop for safe but effective products for the whole family was obvious. As a result, The Choosy Chick was hatched.


What makes The Choosy Chick different from other online boutiques?  
At The Choosy Chick, we’re committed to researching, sampling and selecting the finest non-toxic personal care products families deserve. We developed our very own standard for ingredients which has become the foundation for our product selections. We will NOT be duped by natural sounding names or natural looking packaging.  At times we have had to dig deep to find products that meet this standard.  We are often excited by promising “green” brands only to find a risky ingredient or two way down at the bottom of the ingredient list.  We must stay true to who we say we are. Our customers rely on our decision making, and we won’t let them down.  

Second, we believe that going “non-toxic” should not break the budget. We are not a luxury-only store.   Everyone should have access to healthy, effective products that are affordable. Therefore we have a wide range of choices to meet every budget.  In addition – we feel that entire families should switch to non-toxic products.  Babies and children are more vulnerable than adults to the effects of toxins in the environment because their body systems have not fully matured.  According to The ATSDR, childhood is a time of rapid growth and development.  It is accompanied by changes in organ system functioning, metabolic capabilities, physical size and behavior that can significantly modify the effects of toxicant exposure. Therefore, we offer wide selections for babies and kids. 
  

How do you select what products to carry?
We follow our standard strictly!  Before we accept new products for evaluation, we review them to see if they fit our guidelines:
  1. Products must be SAFE. We spent a long time researching ingredients and have compiled a thorough list of “Big Baddies” in products commonly found in supermarkets, drugstores and so-called health food stores. We will not sell products that contain any of these ingredients.  PERIOD. To determine our list of Big Baddies, we referenced the ingredients with The Campaign for Safe Cosmetics, The David Suzuki Foundation, The Environmental Working Group, our own favorite Naturopathic Physician- Dr. Matthew Fisel, among other reputable sources.
  2. Products must be EFFECTIVE. We personally test products and have a testing team to determine if they actually do what they claim. We look for superstars!
  3. Our partners must SHARE OUR MISSION by putting the health and safety of consumers first and by demonstrating sustainable practices for the environment. We support companies that do not test on animals and provide packaging that is reusable and/or recyclable.
What are your main tips for someone just starting to transition to natural products?
When we began this journey, we literally got rid of everything that had suspect ingredients! We filled a large tub with products from 3 bathrooms.   Of course this can be overwhelming and expensive, so we recommend starting simply.
  •  Get to know your ingredients.  It may seem confusing at first, but it does get easier!  Refer to our Big Baddie list of ingredients. 
  • Begin replacing products one by one.  If you have to choose – start with the kids’ products first.  Then move on to products that are left on the skin – lotions, makeup, etc.  As you run out of something, replace it with the non-toxic version.
  •  Less is more.  We find that when you have really good quality products without unnecessary chemicals, you need less.  Skin issues tend to improve, so you need less product to combat skin irritations and less makeup to cover up!

 If you had to pick, what are three products from the shop that you’d recommend for just about everyone?
 Wow!  Now that is a tough one!  We have more… but settled on 4 – hope that is okay!  Four products that everyone seems to love would be:
Dr. Sponge Face and Body Sponges  
Acure Organics Brightening Face Scrub 
Josh Rosebrook Tinted Nutrient Day Cream, SPF 30 
DN-UNIK Age-Defying Day/Night Creams

Thank you Caitie for this opportunity to share our story with your friends at Naturalla Beauty. We wish everyone the very best in their journey towards a healthier, non-toxic lifestyle. 

 CHECK OUT THE CHOOSY CHICK HERE!  Get 10% off site-wide with the code NATURALLA (through March 31/16), plus take advantage of The Choosy Chick's current 20% off promotion on French skincare brand DN-UNIK with the code DNUNIK20.
All photos courtesy of The Choosy Chick.
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