Friends! If you’ve read the book or hung out here for a while you know we’re fond of oils, and coconut oil in particular because it’s an amazing and cost-saving multitasker that has lots of qualities to recommend it.
It’s a rich moisturizer, it’s cheap, it’s versatile, it’s antimicrobial, antifungal, and antibacterial, has a decent amount of antioxidants, and it smells like baked goods. What’s not to love? Well, some stuff.
You can get it at any good health food store in the cooking oil section, just be sure to spend the extra buck or two to get raw, organic, virgin coconut oil. Now, without further ado: Here are the 10 specific things I’ve tried it for, with honest assessments of how that worked for me:
1. For cooking at high heat. Coconut oil has earned itself a bone fide health halo, which you can read about here. Because some oils are not safe at high temperatures, I’ve swapped in coconut for a lot of my roasting, and some frying. I have tried and liked it in the oven for potatoes, sweet potatoes, Brussell’s sprouts, carrots, asparagus, broccoli rabe, red onions and other veggies, too. I’m not fond of how it tastes with eggs or mild-tasting white fish—but it’s great with salmon.
2. As a cheekbone highlighter. Sweep a little on top of makeup (sounds weird, go with it) and leave it alone. It looks like your skin but glowier, which is why Rosemarie Swift, of RMS Beauty, uses it in her amazing Living Luminizer, “Un” Cover Up, and Lip-2-Cheek pots.
3. To shave my legs. So good! You get a real close shave and don’t have to worry about moisturizing after.
4. As a deep-conditioning hair treatment for my totally wrecked ends. There’s a reason lots of conditioners use coconut oil: According to this study, coconut oil is better able to penetrate the hair than is mineral oil (shocking!) and sunflower oil—which is good news because I’ve been dealing with a little heat damage over here. Because I don’t want to cut off the damage—I’m liking my hair long right now—I’ve been trying to get the ends looking OK as I grow it out. Knowing full well there is no way to physically repair fried ends (I even confirmed this with a cosmetic scientist named Colin, who isn’t a clean guy, but he’s nice and he’s smart) I’ve been loving this method: once a week, I sleep with a handful of coconut oil in my hair. I rub it in, comb it, pile it in a loose bun on the top of my head, and call it a night. In the morning I shampoo and it seems to make a big difference in the look and feel of my ends.
5. To take off my eye makeup. Put a little on a cotton ball or a piece of toilet paper and sweep it over your eyes gently. It even works on waterproof mascara.
6. As a personal lubricant. Saucy! Let’s be brief: It totally works by yourself or with a buddy, but it’s not compatible with condoms (oil + latex = babies).
7. As a face moisturizer. I do not like this. I’ve read about acne-prone women who have used it to great effect because it’s naturally antibacterial, calming, and moisturizing, but I won’t put coconut oil—or any product that contains it—anywhere near the part of my face that breaks out (hi, chin). I tried the oil-cleansing method when we were writing the book and I got the absolute worst cystic acne ever which, yeah, yeah, might not have been the oil’s fault, but did I want to wait another month to find out? Hells no.
8. As a body moisturizer. See above (shaving). I recently met my friend Jessica at yoga and before class started she yanked up her pant leg and told me she’d been using coconut oil on her whole body. How’d they feel? So soft. So! Soft! And the smell doesn’t linger, for the record.
9. As a day-time hair tamer. Cute on your ends but I wouldn’t put this on the top of your head, especially if you’re blonde, because it looks really, really greasy.
10. Gluten-free and vegan baking. It’s a staple. It tastes really good and, it seems to me, is the only thing that can mask the chalky taste you get with most gluten-free baking. (Mmmmm Babycakes.)
What am I missing? Or what have you tried and loved—or hated?
Below is a post from Well+GoodNYC, a web site devoted to beauty, health, wellness in its many forms that we absolutely love. It reminded us of when we asked you “What Wouldn’t You Change” about your appearance. Be sure to share your thoughts about trend-busting celebrities in the comments, and tell us what you love about your own look that you’d leave alone!
We all know the look du jour in celebrity-land: wrinkle-free, poreless skin and whippet thin. But hark! There’s hope for Tinsel Town yet. A handful of starlets go their own way, bucking the beauty trends of their peers. Here are our favorite beauty iconoclasts in the biz.
Annette Benning: Embracing wrinkles with radiance
We have such a girl crush on Benning who was cast in her Oscar-nominated role in “The Kids Are All Right,” partly because she was vanity-free and willing to look her age (52). “We never had a wrinkle conversation,” the film’s director told The Wrap. “I just said, ‘I want the make-up to be super-modest,’ and that was the end of it.
Gisele Bundchen: Natural product promoter
The Brazilian bombshell took a whole lotta flack recently for calling sunscreen “poison“—a statement she later clarified, saying she really just prefers all-natural options. Controversy aside, we applaud the supermodel’s outspokenness when it comes to opting for natural skin-care products and makeup, like when she chose all-natural RMS cosmetics for a recent H&M campaign shoot.
See who else made the cut here, and be sure to weigh in, in the comments!
Happy earth week something-something-something-about-how-every-day-is-earth-day, yes? Sure. But here’s a question we have been wanting to ask for some time, and before you answer, a rule:
Chances are everyone is going to say “both” but let’s eliminate that as an option and go with: What FIRST made you go clean? That second when it clicked and you said to yourself: I gotta clean up my act: What was the trigger? Was it concern for your health? Or concern about the planet?
Here, we’ll go first: As careful and thoughtful as we’ve always been about the environmental impact of our own behavior, the truth is for us, it was health (with a dash of political rage).
Your turn. Go!
Image (don’t ask, I’m just in a good mood today) via
It’s Friday—holler! Time for a deal, and if our comments section is any indication, many of you have been waiting for this one. But first, since we’re still kind of introducing everyone, a little bit more about this beloved brand Tata Harper…
Tata Harper emerged on the natural beauty scene shortly after the book came out, and well, we pretty much fell in love. We’ve covered them here, here, here and here! The brand provides everything we long for in a real natural product: beautiful and environmentally thoughtful packaging, high-quality handpicked ingredients, attention to detail, and also RESULTS. This is science-backed clean luxury at its best—a true upgrade from synthetics, as they promise—and as such, some of the products are a little bit pricier, which is why offering you guys a deal is so exciting!
So here it is: Starting today (and lasting until midnight next Thursday) you will receive a deluxe sample of Tata’s new Reparative Moisturizer (pictured above in its full—not sample—size) and a travel sized Hydrating Floral Essence with any purchase—no minimum! And by the way this gift is valued at a whopping 50 bucks. Boom!
All you have do is enter the promo code NMDL at checkout and you’re good to go. And! And! Tata ships internationally (but of course the rates vary depending on where you are).
For the record: We both use the floral essence (it smells incredible and is packed with skin-plumping actives like hyaluronic acid) and are dying to try this new moisturizer.
Okay, happy shopping then! And have a great weekend.
Oh, hey now, looks like it’s Friday again! That means it’s time for our second installment of Friday Deals. We’re so excited for today’s offer from Juice Beauty, but before we get into the details we want to tell you a bit more about why we chose to partner with them. For starters, 95% of the ingredients they use are organic. Many of you have probably heard about this company. That’s because they were one of the first natural brands to really penetrate the market. We see them as clean-beauty groundbreakers, and that’s why many of their products are featured in our book. Discovering Juice was a bit of a moment for us—it helped us realize that we were onto something with this clean beauty stuff…
But enough reminiscing! Here’s the deal: Juice Beauty is giving away a free Mineral Moisturizer with any purchase (this is not a sample, folks, it’s a full product valued at nearly 30 bucks)—and once again there is no minimum purchase here. So all you have to do is buy something (anything) and then enter the promo code at checkout for your free product. Not too shabby, yeah?
But the best part is this: You have the option to choose between the light, medium or sheer moisturizer (pictured above). Each has a different promo code—and you can only choose ONE with your order—so, pay attention: NMDL_light is for the light one, NMDL_med is for medium and NMDL_sheer is for, you guessed it, the sheer one.
Update: This deal is valid in the U.S. and Canada!
There was actually a fair amount of back-and-forth between us and the Juice team to decide on what the best product would be to offer. We pushed for this one for several reasons: 1. We’ve been dying to try it (and will now with you); 2. It’s won awards; 3. It has a five-star rating on their site; 4. We’ve been on a foundation kick, and if you choose one of the tinted ones this moisturizer will double as a light foundation; 5. It’s also a sunscreen (just in time for spring); and 6. It’s packed with skin-healthy ingredients.
Oh, and did we mention it was free? It looks like these companies are all starting their deals with a bang. Take advantage, and pass it on!
P.S. The deal expires next Friday.
Welcome to the last of five posts about fabulous foundations! If you missed the others, check them out here, here, here, and here.
You didn’t think we’d forget to include our first love, RMS, did you? It’s funny now to remember just how scared we were to switch to clean makeup when we were first writing the book. In fact, we wrote the Face and Makeup chapters last just to postpone this transition!
But I remember talking to Siobhan right after she interviewed Rose Marie Swift (the company’s founder) in New York, discovering RMS for the first time. She was giddy with excitement on the phone, and it marked a pivotal moment for us: We finally understood that everything was going to be okay—nay, better! If this was what natural makeup felt and looked like, we were ready to throw out our Nars at last. (Okay, maybe I’m being hyperbolic for storytelling purposes, we held onto our Nars for a while yet.)
The ‘un’ cover up in particular was a revelation to me, and it still is. Up until that point I’d been wearing mineral powder—pouffing like the best of them, just how they’d shown me to in the Bare Escentuals how-to video. There wasn’t really anything wrong with those minerals (though the over-zealous poufing part is a bad idea because of inhalation risk)—but as my skin got a little dryer, as I got a little older, I was starting to look awfully masky.
I still use minerals (these ones) but mostly for spot concealing, while the ‘un’ cover up is my go-to foundation. Many people don’t realize that this product is not just a concealer (the small container and rich pigment is deceptive). My favorite way to use it is to dab it around the center of my face—around my nose, on my chin, under my eyes—and then spread it outward. It’s very spreadable and you can control how opaque or translucent you want it (on good skin days I apply with a bit of moisturizer). And while it does even out skin tone, you never feel like it’s hiding your skin either—a testament to the good clean ingredients they use. And speaking of ingredients, here they are:
*Cocos Nucifera (Coconut) Oil, *Ricinus Communis (Castor) Seed Oil, *Cera Alba (Beeswax), *Theobroma Cacao (Cocoa) Seed Butter, *Simmondsia Chinensis (Jojoba) Seed Oil, Tocopherol(non-GMO), *Rosmarinus officinalis (Rosemary) Extract, and may contain: [+/- Titanium Dioxide CI 77891, Iron Oxides CI 77492, CI 77491, CI 77499]
It’s available at Nubonau, Future Natural, RMS’s site, Spirit Beauty Lounge and elsewhere.
See? Food for the skin. Have you tried this RMS product?
Here’s a million- (or several-) dollar question for you: Why do cosmetics companies hire famous people to be in their ads if they’re going to make them look totally unrecognizable?
On first glance I had no idea who was in this Rimmel ad. Can you tell?
A very long time ago I worked for a modeling agency. I was all of 19 when I started, and while it was a wonderful experience on many levels (travel, creative people, clothes, clothes, clothes), I was little more than a glorified babysitter. Maybe you’re wondering who a 19-year-old babysits? Why, 15-year-olds, that’s who! See, at the time the industry was obsessed with hiring young girls—with their flawless, unwrinkled skin—and then doing them up to sort of look like women. Emphasis on sort of. (Luckily, after a few years everyone got tired of this terrible trend. The girls were inexperienced and unprofessional. The parents were a nightmare. And then there was that whole sexualizing minors thing… Bad idea.)
Part of the ridiculous argument for hiring these girls was to save costs on retouching. Graphic designers were charging a lot more back then (I remember hearing that one company spent $90,000 to photoshop a campaign when the model showed up with a breakout). They were also doing a better job. Which takes me back to the lady in question… If you haven’t guessed yet, it’s Zooey Deschanel.
Of course, I wish Deschanel wasn’t doing the ad in the first place—her big sister Emily Deschanel has been vocal about using clean cosmetics, and it’d be great if she followed that lead—but let’s put that aside for now.
The great appeal of Deschanel is that she’s quirky. She’s not your typical beauty—and that’s what makes her whole look so special. And she’s over 30, which makes her relatable to someone like me. But a 31-year-old turned into a high-schooler through bad retouching—which is how that picture reads—is relatable to exactly nobody.
So, yeah, sure, cosmetics companies suck: They spend a fortune on celebs only to photoshop their faces into oblivion—and then they cut costs elsewhere with crappy ingredients. But I’m also just sick of seeing weird disfigured photos and weird disfigured faces put forward as a beauty ideal. It’s just getting creepy, and it’s enough already. I like the real Zooey Deschanel, damnit!
Can I get an amen to that? (Then I will step down from my soap box, promise.)
Thanks to Jezebel and its Photoshop of Horrors series for this image
Get excited! Part three of our series is here, and this one’s a little different. We’ve already told you about our favorite loose powder and a liquid introduced to us by a makeup artist and makeup maven—now we’re going to tell you about another high-performing foundation that we discovered while we were writing the book.
W3LL People Narcissist Stick Foundation
We first learned of this line more than a year ago, and I instantly fell in love with their peony-pink lip-and-cheek makeup (see comment for details!). I like to just kiss the tube a few times for a rich, layerable and always-flattering blast of color, or I’ll sweep a little on my cheeks and then blend with a finger.
(In case you hadn’t already guessed, we’re both pretty low-maintenance, preferring products we can apply using nature’s best makeup brushes: our digits. The Narcissist is no exception.)
Like the lipstick, I apply it either with a clean finger or by sweeping the tube itself onto my face—under my eyes, down my nose, in the middle of my forehead—and then blending it out gently. The creamy texture mimics the feel of moisturized skin, so it doesn’t create a makeuppy look at all, but thanks to the mineral pigments, the coverage is superb. And the ingredients? Squeaky clean, of course. There’s organic oils, plant extracts, mineral pigment and a little beeswax. It never cakes or slips or smears and offers a glowing, dewy look. As with all naturals, you’ll have to reapply if you’re wearing it all day or all night, but it beats putting silicone on your face, thank you very much.
Oh, and for $38, we’re not sure a better value exists as far as foundation is concerned. This tube lasts forever.
Have you tried any stick foundations you love?
Welcome to part two of a five-part series about our favorite foundations. Last week we told you about our current favorite minerals foundation. Now we’re onto a liquid. (Psst: There’s another liquid on the way! They’re both so nice we decided to do liquids…twice!)
Vapour Organic Beauty Soft Focus Foundation
I feel compelled to share the how-we-met part of my love story with Vapour’s foundation. Here goes: In late November I had the pleasure of speaking at a spectacular natural beauty event here in New York with a gaggle of inspiring women including Tata Harper, whose skincare we’re obsessed with, and Spirit Demerson, whose Spirit Beauty Lounge carries many of our favorite brands. Spirit had with her the lovely Anna Webber, a talented makeup artist who works with naturals and was on hand to help a roomful of women play with Spirit’s products at halftime.
I was feeling a little zonked and my skin was not exactly crystal clear (always awesome when you’re sitting in front of a roomful of people talking about beauty), so halfway through the day, I asked Anna to touch up my face. We chatted a little about color choice—even though I’m pink she advised me to try something neutral or with a little yellow in it, because pinks can look chalky after a while—then she reached for a frosted bottle of Vapour’s Soft Focus Foundation.
She gently padded it into the skin in the center of my face, under my eyes and on my forehead, then topped it off with something called the Instant Skin Perfector, presumably blending the two together. I say presumably because I had my eyes closed (a weird reflex for whenever anyone gets close to my face) but when I opened my eyes and looked in the mirror? Boom! A refreshed, dewy, even complexion.
I bought the product on the spot and wondered out loud if I’d be able to apply it as well as Anna had. I was delighted to find that it goes on like a dream and is pretty much idiot-proof! You need very, very little, and I just do the old apply-to-center-of-face-and-blend-outward thing, using my fingers.
And best of all? The ingredients are not only nontoxic, they’re also really skin-friendly, which means when you’re wearing it, your skin is being fed good-for-you ingredients, as opposed to being suffocated with silicone, mineral oil and other crap.
Have a look: Camellia Sinensis Oil Oil* infused with Boswellia Carteri (Frankincense)**, Ocimum Sanctum (Tulsi, Holy Basil)*, Nelumbo Nucifera (Lotus Flowers)*; Helianthus Annus ( Sunflower ) Oil*, Lecithin*, Cera Alba (Beeswax)*, Silica, Essential Oils and Natural Fruit Essences, Tocopherol (Natural Vitamin E), [+/-: Titanium Dioxide (CI 77891), Iron Oxides (CI 77491, 77492, 77499), Mica (CI 77019)]
You can get it from Vapour’s site, or from Spirit Beauty Lounge.
What’s your favorite liquid foundation?
Bunch of stunners, no? Thanks to all of you who submitted pictures. We see lots of red lips, pretty eyes and great liner—among other things—and most of all, we have the proof we were looking for that naturals can be JUST as glam as conventionals, without any of the tradeoffs. Here, your many lovely mugs. And the winner is……. Rebekah Meyer, from Caldwell, Idaho!!!!! Big congrats Rebekah, we will email you with details.
Row 1 (left to right): Santana Benitez, Kaiserslautern, Germany / Sara Reistad-Long, New York, New York / Lauren Vandenberg (aka Siobhan’s cousin), Ottawa, Ontario /Autumn Whitefield-Madrano of The Beheld, New York, New York
Row 2 (left to right): Elizabeth Duszynski, Chicago, Illinois / Kristen Arnett of KristenArnett.com, New York, New York / Emily Southwood of imarriedapornographer.com, Los Angeles, California / Rebekah Meyer, Caldwell, Idaho
Row 3 (left to right): Katie Becker, New York, New York / Chatney Auger, Gaithersburg, Maryland / Taryn Wieser, Santa Barbara, California /Virginia Sole-Smith of beautyschooledproject.com New York, New York
Row 4 (left to right): Kristen Tischhauser and Rebekah Iliff of talkTECH communications, Los Angeles, California / Alyssa, Montgomery, New York / Helen Jung, Aliso Viejo, California
Row 5 (left to right): Jessica Lee Lafleur, Montreal, Quebec / Siobhan O’Connor, Brooklyn, New York / Anna Singer, New York, New York / Elizabeth Wegmann, Denver, Colorado
Row 6 (left to right): Anya Sarre of anyasarre.com, Los Angeles, California/ Tosha Arnout of essentiallybasic.com, Midway Utah / Karen Behnke of Juice Beauty, San Rafael, California / Kate Watson of Juice Beauty, San Rafael, California
Row 7 (left to right): Jalila Bouchareb of amaloils.com / (On right) Alyce King, Vancouver, British Columbia / Molly Steele of petrichorstore.etsy.com, Los Angeles, California / Liza Vadnai, Brooklyn, New York
Row 8 (left to right): Shelly Bulkley, Copperas Cove, Texas / Caitie, Toronto, Ontario / Kate Bowdren of towardsatori Tempe, Arizona / Amy Fulton, Salt Lake City, Utah
Row 9 (left to right): Stephanie Barrette, Toronto, Ontario / Emma Grady of pastfashionfuture.com, New York, New York / Melissa Lombardi, Fort Collins, Colorado / Hannah Sjostrom, Stockholm, Sweden
Row 10 (left to right): Lisa Jung, Aliso Viejo, California / Tai, New York, New York / Regan Herald, Thousand Oaks, California / Annie Newhouse, Dallas, Texas
Row 11 (left to right): Rebecca /Jenny Berglind, Uddevalla, Sweden / Kristen Cook, Tucson, Arizona / Aimee, Montreal, Quebec
Row 12 (left to right): Melissa Jochim of Juice Beauty, San Rafael, California / Alexandra Spunt, Los Angeles, California / Pleasant Wayne of pleasantwayne.com, Los Angeles, California / Jessa Blades of bladesnaturalbeauty.com
