The other night I attended an event put on by one of our suppliers called Beauty Night, where we are educated on various natural skin care and cosmetics that this company offers.

Beauty night is one of my favorite work-related events to attend because it reminds me of all of the fun and innovative areas of the natural health industry that often get lost in some of the more serious topics of health like illness and prevention of disease. It's also one of my favorite events because we get a giant swag bag at the end full of girly stuff.

After the event I thought I would share with you some of my personal favorites for skin care and cosmetics that are naturally derived. I am pretty confident that in my time here I have ordered and tried hundreds of products, so I have a bit of experience in this area!

My Favorite Skin Care Products Are:

Shikai Advanced Body Lotion: This lotion is the only reason I was able to shave my legs this summer. Normally, I wait until people can spot leg hair from a fair distance before I shave my legs because it causes so much irritation. This summer was awesome because I could wear dresses without feeling like a lady werewolf.

Coconut Oil: I use this for numerous aspects of skin care; to remove my eye-makeup, as shave cream and to make hair masks. Many people like to use it as a body lotion, but to be honest I don’t get as many results with the coconut oil as others. But, that’s just me. I do however, find it very beneficial for my dog Tika's skin allergies, so my pitbull princess gets it as part of HER skincare routine.

Pacifica Body Wash: Some natural body washes have an “herby” or obnoxious flower smell to them, but these ones from Pacifica (or all the ones I have used so far) smell amazing! I love the Island Vanilla. They also have solid, roll-on and spray perfumes, which I use as my every-day perfume. I will admit, I douse myself in chemicals for a night out, but these days a night out is a rare occurrence anyways!

Suki Balancing Line: My favorite facial care line comes from Suki's Balancing Line. I have mild acne prone skin, and this helps to reduce flare-ups and calm existing ones. The line is more expensive than others, so if I am on a tight budget I really like Now’s Clarify and Illuminate line, but still with the Suki toner-its THAT good I will make SURE I budget for it. I always use Now’s Nature’s Microdermabrasion to exfoliate.

I also always keep on hand Burt’s Bees blemish stick because it is inevitable that when it is necessary for a photo of me to be taken that my face will rebel.

My Favorite Cosmetics:

Evelyn Iona:

I feel a big connection to Evelyn Iona, as a friend from high school is the co-owner and CEO of the company. I admire her ambitious and passionate approach to her business, and I feel the need to tell the world that she has been hugely successful and she is YOUNGER than me! I have yet to try her mascara (I know, I’m a jerk), but I do love the eyeliner gel, concealer, lip-gloss (VAL) and her BB cream/Universal primer. The eyeliner gel is amazing; it does NOT budge until you decide to take it off. The only struggle I had with the eyeliner is you have to apply it with a brush and that took some time for me to develop the makeup application skills. Lines are a problem for me; when I was in the education program and deciding whether or not to teach elementary or junior high students, I chose junior high based solely on the fact that I should not be responsible to teach a child to cut in a straight line.

Zuii Foundation: I use both the liquid and powdered foundation from Zuii. I find that they both have awesome coverage, and they last just as long as conventional cosmetics.

Zuzu Mascara: This is so far my favorite natural mascara and it is the one I use most days. I can’t lie..if I look tired I’m busting out the L’Oreal. Zuzu also has nice bronzer that I sometimes use, but I don’t possess the ability to apply it without looking like Snooki.

Pacifica: Pacifica has beautiful eye shadows, nail polish, body lotions, body scrubs, lip-gloss, candles and they are constantly coming out with new products. I have not been disappointed with anything I have ordered from these guys! I have a natural self-tanner I am waiting to try from them so cross your fingers for me that this doesn’t turn into a disaster.

Many of these items we don’t carry at the store due to the size and demographics, but if you are interested in trying any of these products, please let me know and I would be more than happy to order them for you!

As well, since we are on the subject of beauty I have TWO EVENTS to share with you.

1) August.26th, from 11:00am to 3:00pm at Simply Health, Brandi Leifso (co-founder, CEO, makeup artist) of Evelyn Iona will be in to do product demonstrations and a meet and greet if you have any questions about the product. Feel free to drop by, we would love to see you. Any purchases of Evelyn Iona product will be 20% off-THAT DAY ONLY!

2) September 15th from 5:30 to 8:30pm we will be at Elk’s Hall for the Spruce Grove Health and Beauty Expo demoing some natural health care products, and providing information about WHY it is worthwhile to consider transitioning your skin care and cosmetics to chemical free products. If you have any questions in the meanwhile, you are always welcome to contact me:)

I hope to see everyone at both of these events. If you guys have any natural skincare, body care or cosmetics that YOU use, I would love to hear about them!