30 Days Without Beauty Products?

Isn’t it enough to hear about New Years resolutions from your friends, the newspaper, magazines and tabloid shows? Now with the rampancy of blogs, texting, twittering and email it seems that the entire world has nothing better to talk about than resolutions. As noted, this year I am setting reasonable goals not making myself feel guilty for adhering to a resolution that will be discarded after three months (the average time it takes most people to ditch there “start going to the gym” resolution) It’s not that I couldn’t stand for a bit more discipline in, well…all areas but somehow this year I’m just not that into resolutions.

In the kingdom of clutter, I am the reigning queen, something that shouldn’t be too much of a surprise considering I own a beauty store and do beauty editing for a living. Let me tell you all those little tid bits add up to the two P’s…products and paperwork!

And I find that the more stuff that surrounds me, the more compelled I am to use it. I am a self- confessed beauty junkie after all but for the most part I have always had a somewhat simple routine. Not minimal but simple…I don’t even use hair products or spray unless I am going cocktail or black tie. When it comes to products for the face however…bring it on…

So a few days ago I what somewhat transfixed by a post I came across on Total Beauty – totalbeauty.com. If you haven’t been, it’s a very cool multi-purpose site that offers, tips, tricks, product reviews and video how-to’s. One of their best features is that regular ol’ women help review and vote on products, not just beauty addicts or those in the biz. So when I read one woman’s experiment to live without beauty products for 30 days…I had to investigate! Apparently the author who normally uses 27 products a day switched to just soap and sunscreen for a month with a few homemade kitchen remedies thrown in. I admit my dear you are a stronger woman than I. If you have a chance check out her story and the simple products she used. Read More

After reading, it made me think about my own routine and if I could cut down my normal daily stash to just a few products? And what products would those be? Aside from sunscreen I would be hard pressed to give up my Sonya Dakar Ultra-Luxe Nourishing Wash, it’s an oil- based cleaners that removes every trace of makeup and dirt without drying out the skin.

I could let my shower gel double for shampoo but since I have such baby fine hair that tangles like there’s no tomorrow it would be a stretch for me to give up conditioner…Phyto Jojoba Mask is one of my favorites to keep my ends from looking like a hay bale.

As for makeup… It would take a serious wager to make me part with my concealer. I absolutely adore Alison Raffaele True concealer, it’s super light weight, covers well and it’s eco friendly to boot.

And being that I own a makeup store I couldn’t very well go barefaced without scaring off a few clients so if I was left with only minimal options.

Becca Beach Tint in Watermelon one of their cult products that adds a stain of color to lips and cheeks.

And Becca Eye Tint in gilt is a gorgeous shade of coppery brown that works for just about everyone. It can be applied with your fingertips so no brush needed.