Meet Elizabeth and her parakeets, Blanche and Spencer. For such a young gal, she sounds like she’s got a lot figured out. Unsolved mysteries? A deodorant that works (that she’s not allergic to), and a concealer that truly conceals dark circles. The floor is yours for recommendations, friends.

Name: Elizabeth

Age: 22

Current weather: You know, 70 degrees one day and snowing the next….Pure Michigan.

Hair:  Chest length, Asian

Skin:  Medium with almost no breakouts, dark circles

Favorite star or icon from the past:  I’m not really into celebrities but here’s a picture of my beloved parakeets Blanche and Spencer.

In the shower…

After slathering my face in raw Michigan honey, I step into the shower.  I wash my hair with Giovanni Root 66 Max Volume shampoo, which I buy in a huge liter pump bottle at my local TJ Maxx for super cheap and it lasts me about 9 months.  I wash my underarms, bits, and feet with 100% Pure’s Meyer Lemon Butter Soap.  Rinse.  Then I stand in the shower for a minute and gently squeeze the excess water out of my hair.

Outside the shower…

I instantly put Alba Botanica’s Original Unscented Lotion on my face and body after toweling off.  Then I make a side part in my hair and brush my teeth with Burt’s Bees Whitening Fluoride-free Toothpaste.  If I’m in a rush, I blow dry my hair; on leisurely days, I let my hair air dry as I sloth around the house.  If my husband is still sleeping, I usually get back in bed and cuddle him for a few minutes.  Then I drink a glass of water or make matcha green tea.

Finishing touches…

Makeup-wise, I focus on concealing my dark circles, defining my lips with a little color, and contouring my cheeks.

I’ve been looking for a magical concealer to make my dark circles disappear and I’m pretty it doesn’t exist.  Among the ones I’ve tried, Mineral Fusion performs the best for me.  It’s probably that I need to get to the source of my dark circles – allergies and lifestyle.

I line my lips with 100% Pure’s Perfect Naked Pink lip pencil which is a “my lips but better” natural pink shade for me.  Then I apply cocoa powder with an EcoTools Blush Brush to contour my cheekbones.  I tend to not wear mascara but when I do it’s 100% Pure Black Tea Mascara or geoGIRL Featherlash Mascara in Grey.  I appreciate 100% Pure’s great ingredients and blueberry scent but it flakes and smudges on me while geoGIRL’s is cheap, available at my local grocery, largely smudge-proof, and extremely natural looking even though the ingredients aren’t quite so clean.

The air is now pretty dry so I spritz my hair with a mixture of aloe juice and Giovanni Tea Tree Triple Treat conditioner to keep static at bay.  On special occasions, I dab on a few drops of Intelligent Nutrients’ 100% Pure Sambac Jasmine Absolute which I use sparingly from a sample vial.  Oh, and I’m searching for an effective deodorant.  Lavanila mysteriously stopped working on me after about a month of happy usage and I had an allergic reaction to Soapwalla.  Right now I’m using a crystal deodorant, which is just okay.

At night…

I wash my face with warm water and a washcloth, making sure to avoid my forehead since unnecessary exfoliation causes skin to overproduce oil and be plasticy-shiny. Then I put on more raw honey, brush my teeth, rinse off the honey, and put on a light layer of the Alba Botanica lotion.  Lastly, I apply Petite Threla’s Jasmine Lip Balm which smells like pure luxury!

Good morning everybody–meet Alex! She tries to steer clear of perfumes, and is a pro with body oils. Right now she’s diggin’ the Yes To line, but she’s also interested in finding other brands, too. Her routine is no-fuss, but fun. Read on!

Name: Alex (la feminine)
Age: 25
Current weather: Unseasonably warm and sunny
Hair: Shoulder length and choppy, contains some lingering blue-green tones from last fall’s impulsive Manic Panic dye job, but otherwise dark brown.
Skin: Not too bad- forehead & nose tend to be slightly on the oily, break-out-y side, cheeks tend to be dry. I get those annoying zitty-things on my upper arms, but my feet/legs/hands tend to be dry.
Favorite star or icon from the past: Louise Brooks- I haven’t actually ever seen her movies, but I love her style.

In the shower…

I usually shower about midday, but I work at home so it’s really “whenever I feel like it.” I start with Giovanni shampoo (which one varies, I like to mix it up) and either Giovanni or YesTo Carrots conditioner. Sometimes I do it backwards, for a change of pace (but I can’t say I’ve noticed a real difference.) I like both brands because they work very much like conventional brands while still being pretty clean- Giovanni even smells delicious without making my head spin (I can’t really tolerate most smells.) YesTo still has a bit of fragrance but it’s so mild I don’t notice it (their shampoo has sulfates though, so watch out for that.) I later up everywhere with a soft natural sponge and Dr. Bronners (I like Eucalyptus, it really clears the sinuses…but I’ve been trying the other varieties too, lately.) For shaving, I use Alba Botanica’s Unscented Very Emollient Cream Shave. Most days I just rinse my face off in the warm water, but every few days (or if I’m broken out or feeling grimy) I use Evan Healy’s Rose Cleansing Milk. Finish off with a pumice stone to the heels.

Outside the shower…

If I used the Cleansing Milk, I skip right to the moisturizing, otherwise I use a little Kiss My Face Antioxidant Toner (I also use it on those little arm bumpies, or sometimes Witch Hazel.) If I’m going to be outside much that day, I use YesTo Blueberries Age Refresh Daily Facial Moisturizer with SPF 30 (it’s made for older folks, but it was the only variety with no artificial fragrance- unfortunately it doesn’t absorb very well, probably because of the physical sunscreens. I will probably try another brand when this runs out.) If I’m not going to be outside much, I use Acure Chamomile + Carrot Day Cream, which is great. The rest of my routine is a little greasy, so I save it for nighttime: my all-over body oil is a homemade concoction that is about two thirds grapeseed oil, one third jojoba oil, and a dash of argan oil (grapeseed and argan are Aura Cacia, jojoba is Desert Essence.) About every other night I use pure argan oil on my face and sometimes my arms in hopes of cheering up the pores and stopping breakouts, though to be honest I haven’t noticed it being much better than my body-oil concoction (and it’s expensive and stinky) so once it runs out I might try something else. Immediately before bed, my feet and hands get shea buttered (either pure, or Nubian Heritage with Goat’s Milk and Chai.) I wash my hands a lot so throughout the day I use Weleda Skin Food on them periodically- it’s a little pricy but pretty amazing.

Finishing touches…

I wear make up very, very (like, VERY) rarely, so I haven’t switched all of it over to clean brands yet. The only things I use regularly are Gabriel Color concealor and YesTo Carrots Berry lip butter. I’ve been sort of moving away from the YesTo products but I do love this stuff- it’s mostly coconut oil and it works (and smells and tastes) great. The only “perfume” I can tolerate is a little bit of vanilla mixed with jojoba oil. I haven’t found a clean deodorant that satisfies my intense desire not to sweat yet, so I’m still using an unscented conventional super-toxic brand :-( If I’m just staying at home all day, though, I’ll often skip it. I jumped on the nailpolish bandwagon last summer and have amassed quite a collection- I usually go for Zoya or OPI or another 3 (or 4)-free brand, though even then I have to paint ‘em outside because of the reek. I use Bee Naturals cuticle and nail oil to keep them from drying out. No hair products, I’m a wash & go kind of gal (on the rare occasion that I color it, I try to veer towards the less damaging semi-permanent conditioner-based stuff. Unfortunately it’s really hard to find natural colors. Henna  & indigo may be in my future.)

Anybody else thinking henna this summer?

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