Naturalla Beauty

Those of you who've been with me for a while will likely recall that I used to write a lot about indie makeup and, even though I'm still a huge proponent of supporting smaller makeup brands, it's not something that's been very represented on the blog in the last couple years.  I'm hoping to change that going forward, starting with today's post on Ashley Morgan Cosmetics.  I discovered the company in a Facebook group and when I saw they had super promising clean ingredients and a free sample offer -- still going on here! -- I was quick to submit an order.  

Ashley Morgan Cosmetics is a new company that launched earlier this year.  Created by makeup artist Emily Eads after her own struggles with migraines, endocrine disruption, and other symptoms of toxicity, the company creates high quality makeup completely free of harmful ingredients and designed to really work.  

I've been trying out several products over the last couple months and I'm eager to share my thoughts on everything!



Liquid Mineral Foundation
First off, this foundation smells exactly like cotton candy to me.  It's super sweet and vanilla-y, but, even as someone who's often sensitive to strong scents, I don't find it ever crosses the line to sickly or cloying.  The coverage is a very natural looking light to medium and the foundation, which is pretty thin in consistency, feels very lightweight on the skin.  It does a great job evening out skin tone and covering minor imperfections, but it's not something that's going to offer a flawless full coverage.  Personally, I usually prefer a more natural, skin-like base anyways and I liked the formula a lot, but Natural Ivory was, unfortunately, not a great color match for me.  As you can see in the swatch below, it's both too dark and somewhat too yellow/warm-toned for my skin.

Natural Concealer
The color of the concealer, on the other hand, was great.  Pure, the lightest shade, is nice and light and also runs more peachy/neutral, which is perfect for me.  The concealer has a very creamy and emollient texture and stays that way until set with a powder.  In terms of coverage, I'd put it at around a medium coverage.  My favorite use has been on blemishes and imperfections on the face, as it covers well, blends easily, and, once set with a powder, truly does stay in place all day without budging.  It works okay under the eyes too, but I usually prefer a bit of a drier/less emollient concealer for that area.     

High Definition Powder
The HD Powders are invisible silica-based loose powders great for setting liquid and cream products.  They can also be used on their own for a slight blurring effect.  I tried both the Translucent (untinted) and the Light, and to be completely honest, I don't notice much difference between the two.  Both shades are very finely milled and silky and are basically imperceptible on the skin.  I don't notice any whitecast from the Translucent and I similarly don't notice any discernible color from the Light.  Silica powders are great for soaking up oil and the HD Powders work really well for setting foundation and concealer while slightly blurring fine lines and imperfections.  I'd be cautious using them for flash photography since silica is notorious for that dreaded flashback effect, but otherwise I think they're great.

(L to R) Natural Ivory Foundation, Pure Concealer, Light HD Powder, Rose Tinted Lip Balm

Organic Mascara
Possibly my favorite out of everything!  With a traditional bristle brush and a thicker formula, this mascara does a fantastic job building volume.  I've been layering it with my longtime favorite Zuzu Luxe mascara the last few weeks and the two together create some seriously impressive lashes.  I'm loving the combo, but the Ashley Morgan also works great by itself.  I love that it doesn't irritate my eyes in the slightest and that it stays put throughout the day without flaking or smudging.  

Organic Tinted Lip Balm 
There were these mineral lip tints that I wore way back in my early high school years and this balm is nostalgically reminiscent of those for me.  It feels nice on the lips and offers a pleasant minty tingle along with sheer but buildable color.  Rose is a warm pink shade, with some coppery and reddish tones running through it.  It looks pretty shimmery or even metallic in a swatch, but on the lips, it's much more subtle.  I love tinted balms in general and I like this one a lot. 

The Bottom Line
Ashley Morgan Cosmetics is a brand to watch!  Ingredients are top notch and the products consistently perform well.  I'd love to see an expanded shade range in the Liquid Minerals Foundation, but beyond that, I was super happy with everything I tried.  
  

It's been nearly ten years since I first switched over to natural and nontoxic products and in all that time, the item I've struggled with the most has been concealer.   My main concern is covering dark circles, and - with the exception of a now discontinued Une Beauty product I loved for a couple years there - I haven't found anything that completely did the trick.  With a good bit of darkness under the eyes, I look for something with excellent coverage that will last through the day and not look or feel heavy.  I may have finally found it from Studio 78!  This French brand is Eco-Cert certified, free of GMO's, parabens, PEG's, and synthetic fragrance and dyes.

The Off We Go Anti-Dark Circles Concealer has been well-hyped in the green beauty community, but with a not inexpensive price tag (between $24-36 depending where you shop) and past experiences failing to fall in love with raved-about concealers, I was a little skeptical going in.  Fortunately, I decided to try it anyways, as I've been suitably impressed!



The consistency in the pot is very creamy, but on the skin, it quickly sets to a velvety, powder-like finish.  I find it blends easiest when applied with fingers and I recommend applying it onto well moisturized skin, as although the concealer isn't drying, it also doesn't provide much in the way of hydration.  At Dawn (01), the lightest shade available, has a matte finish and is a very peachy color, perfect for correcting blue and purple tones under the eyes.  You only need a thin layer to achieve great coverage, so it feels very light and is virtually unnoticeable throughout the day.  The concealer doesn't slip or move around on the face and I generally get a good 8 or 9 hours wear before I notice it starting to fade, which, in my experience, is pretty standard for natural concealers.  The product does have a tendency to settle into my fine lines under one eye - yes, just one - so I like to dust a light layer of powder concealer over top.  This prevents creasing and settling, slightly prolongs wear time, and also adds an extra layer of coverage - perfect if you've got heavier dark circles, like me!

The concealer comes in a clear plastic pot with a mirror inside the flip top.  It's cute, but I've seen more than a few people complain about the hinge breaking and the lid snapping off, so I'm being extra gentle with mine.  I don't generally carry concealer with me, but I'm likely to depot some into another container should I ever need to, as, despite how convenient the tiny mirror seems for on the go touch ups, I'm not confident as to how the plastic pot would hold up to a day of shaking around in a makeup bag.

A bigger downfall than the packaging, is the limited color range of this product.  With only two shades, Studio 78 really only offers colors to suit light to medium skin.  I wear At Dawn (01), the lighter of the two, and it blends into my skin fine, but I could definitely go a shade or two lighter if the color range was ever expanded.  It's not light enough on my skin to be brightening or illuminating under the eyes and it's even a little too dark for the rest of my face, unless I go over it with something else.  The coverage, blendability and wear is good enough that I'm willing to work with an imperfect color, but I'd love to see more shades in the future.



The Bottom Line
Off We Go is highly pigmented and the non-drying cream-to-powder finish is unique and not something I've encountered with other natural concealers.  It stays put, wears well throughout the day, and does a great job covering my dark circles.  It also works to cover redness and blemishes/imperfections elsewhere on the face, though I do recommend making sure your skin is well moisturized before application.  There's still room for improvement - both in the color range and sturdiness of packaging - but overall, I think it's a great product!

Have you tried Studio 78's concealer?  What are your favorite natural concealers?

It's always fun trying new makeup, but the chance of something going wrong or needing extra fiddling means that I'm much less likely to experiment on days when I have to be somewhere within a given time frame.  Today I found myself just hanging out at home, so it seemed like the perfect time to play with a whole bunch of new makeup bits!



FACE

This was my first time trying Suki's Tinted Active Moisturizer in Porcelain and it was a little odd.  I don't know if this is normal - maybe my sample was old - but the moisturizer came out of the sachet an orangey shade with little dots of lighter pigment throughout.  Porcelain is the lighter of Suki's two shades and it blended fine on the skin and didn't look orange once on, but it also gave very little coverage.  I topped it with Honeybee Gardens' Pressed Mineral Foundation in Geisha, which, as you can see, is well loved.  It works well with my skin, has good coverage, is incredibly quick to apply, and looks pretty natural.  Une Beauty's Skin Glow Pencil in G02 - possibly discontinued - is yellow-toned and great for covering dark circles.  I set it with Silk Naturals' Light Peach Sleep in a Jar, which brightens up the under eye area and gives a tiny bit of extra coverage.  I used Au Naturale's Creme Concealer in Beige, which came in the November Petit Vour box, to cover a couple small blemishes.  



EYES

I received the Lily Lolo Laid Bare Palette* just a couple days ago, so this was my first time working with it.  First impressions are really good: the three shadows I used were all nicely pigmented and went on really smoothly.  Lavera's Eye Shadow Base is a relative new addition to my makeup bag, although I've been playing with it for a few weeks now.  I prefer something a bit tackier for extra shimmery or sparkly shadows, but for everything else, I've been really happy with how it performs.  I've had Pacifica's Eye Pencil in Bare for a good few months now and I like using it to brighten up the waterline.  I picked up Jet - the black shade - very recently, and it's great too: creamy and dark black.  For today's look, I just smudged it lightly into my lash line.  Zuzu Luxe Onyx Mascara is nothing new to me, but what is new is the Zuzu Luxe Cream Brow Pencil in Russet.  I'll be the first to admit that, when it comes to brows, I really don't know what I'm doing, but I wanted to experiment a bit more with filling them in, so I picked this up.  The color works pretty well, but I need to play with it more to fully decide what I think.


When I break it down, it seems like a ton of products, but it all amounted to a pretty natural, everyday-type look.    

Makeup selfies are hard guys.  I don't know how some of you do it!

What do you think?  Are any of these products favorites of yours?