southern beauty blogger

Subterms

    Latest story

    75 Shares159 Views

    Clean Beauty Destination: Vert Beauty Haul

    by

    a.disclaimer-button {
    font-family:arial,helvetica;
    font-weight: normal;
    font-size:8pt;
    font-style:normal;background:#b5b5b5;color:#ffffff;padding: 2px 7px;} a.disclaimer-button:hover {background:#999999; color:#ffffff; }

    This post is sponsored by clean beauty boutique, Vert Beauty, but all opinions are 100% mine. You know I keep it real with you guys!

    Hi, Bunnies! If you haven’t heard of Vert Beauty yet, let me go right ahead and get it on your radar. It’s an adorable Denver-based boutique and online store for clean and cruelty free beauty products. Vert Beauty was started by makeup artist, Amanda Hume, and grown out of her love to make people look and feel beautiful.

    The online store carries many clean skincare and makeup brands you know and love, like Aether Beauty, Herbivore Botanicals, Indie Lee, Kosas, Tata Harper, and Vintner’s Daughter.

    Grow to Glow

    Vert Beauty also has a rewards points program called Grow to Glow where you can earn up to $100 off. Today they are giving 200 points for new sign-ups! You’ll be well on your way to earning your first $10 discount. You can sign up here.

    I tried some cruelty free beauty products from Vert Beauty and I definitely found some winners! Here’s what I loved:

    Indie Lee Blemish Lotion

    Let me be very honest here. I thought the “pink acne drying lotion” was an old-school thing. I tried the Mario Badescu version many years ago, and I don’t remember having much luck with it. I have been breaking out like CRAZY lately and decided to give the Indie Lee drying lotion a try. I’m so glad I did!

    It’s KIND of like the Mario Badescu one you may have tried (they both contain camphor, zinc oxide, sulfur, and salicylic acid), but the Indie Lee Blemish Lotion is made without calamine and it’s talc-free. It also has magnesium and clay in the mix.

    All I can say is that this stuff REALLY helped as an overnight treatment for my oily spots and acne. It’s great (and probably mainly intended for) acne that is on the verge of erupting and has come pretty close to the surface of the skin. It also seemed to calm some of my deeper, underground zits, and some of them actually disappeared and never became massive monsters on my face!

    It’s obviously meant to dry the skin, so should only be used as a spot treatment. And if you notice too much drying, back off on how often you use it. Make sure you DON’T shake it up. Leave it on your counter and you’ll notice the ingredients will separate – that’s what you want! Dip a q-tip into the pink part of the product and dab onto your skin. Leave it on overnight or for at least two hours, so it can do its thing.

    ILIA Color Haze Multi-Use Pigment

    I’m so over those complicated, precise, or uncomfortable makeup trends! Give me easy-to-wear, multi-tasking products any day of the week. ILIA Color Haze Multi-Use Pigment is easy to wear and perfect for cheeks and lips.

    It does contain coconut oil, which may not be great for super acne-prone skin like mine, so I mainly use this on my lips. But it’s sheer and buildable, and I can apply it with my fingertip. There’s no need for lip liner and although it has a matte finish, it’s super hydrating so it doesn’t make my lips chapped and dry.

    I have yellow undertones so I love warm, reddish orange lipstick shades. The color I picked, called Stutter, is beautiful – just sheer enough to look like a natural red when I put it on – not a clownish orange. There are some other shades I really want to try next, like Temptation (coral pink) and Waking Up (warm nude).

    Milk + Honey Eucalyptus Lavender Body Cream

    This is my second bottle of Milk + Honey body cream. I bought it a while back because I love the look of the apothecary-style bottle (and I love that it comes with a pump).

    This time, I got the Eucalyptus Lavender scent and I think it’s my fave! It smells so soothing and spa-like. I put it on my hands and arms right before bed and it’s just wonderful.

    It’s not greasy at all, but just heavy enough to be moisturizing. There are some heavily scented creams that actually feel like they take moisture OUT of my skin. This is NOT that kind of cream! It’s made with natural ingredients – not artificial perfumes. It has organic aloe juice, shea butter and coconut oil to hydrate dry skin.

    This is a bit pricy in my opinion ($38), but it’s a luxury that I keep at my bed side and use only at night so it lasts a long time. I love the look of the bottle on my night stand and I love that the ingredients are good for my body.

    Innersense Quiet Calm Curl Control

    And last but not least, I tried Innersense Quiet Calm Curl Control from Vert Beauty. I had heard of the brand but never tried anything. There aren’t that many natural hair care brands that stay away from heavy fragrances and other additives, so that really appealed to me.

    The Innersense Curl Control is filled with organic, plant-based ingredients. It has a lovely natural, slightly earthy scent. It hydrates without weighing my hair down. There are some products that I put only on my hair’s ends, but I can use this all over.

    I wasn’t sure if this would have hold like a cream-gel, but it seems like it doesn’t (not much if any). I still need to use gel to get my hair to stay curly. My hair is wavy though, so for someone with tighter curls, this may be all that’s needed. I am intrigued and I definitely want to try more products from this brand!

    If you’re thinking of trying something that Vert Beauty carries, I definitely recommend signing up today (even if you don’t purchase anything) so you can get those extra points! Vert Beauty’s rewards points program, Grow to Glow, lets you earn up to $100 off. Today they are giving 200 points for new sign-ups! You can sign up here. They’re also going to be doing a special promo in June – I’ll share more info about that soon. More

    More stories

    • 125 Shares119 Views

      in Beauty

      Which Brands are Cruelty Free at SkinStore? Plus a Haul!

      by

      a.disclaimer-button {
      font-family:arial,helvetica;
      font-weight: normal;
      font-size:8pt;
      font-style:normal;background:#b5b5b5;color:#ffffff;padding: 2px 7px;} a.disclaimer-button:hover {background:#999999; color:#ffffff; }

      If you’re familiar with SkinStore, you probably know them as the place to find great skincare. But, did you know they have makeup too? I was surprised to see it! SkinStore let me pick out some items to share with you, and I noticed they carry high-end, clean makeup like RMS, REN, Vapour Beauty and Inika, as well as more affordable makeup brands like Eyeko, Pixi Beauty and Revolution Beauty.

      Before I go into the reviews, are you wondering which cruelty free brands are at SkinStore? This is not an exhaustive list (there are so many) but these are some of the more popular ones and some of my faves. You can see a complete list of all the brands they carry here. You can use my code BEAUTYBUNNY for 25% off your purchase at SkinStore.com (some brand exclusions apply).

      Cruelty Free Brands at SkinStore:

      AesopAHAVABeauty BlenderChantecailleCosMedixColorescienceDaily ConceptsDECIEMDERMAdoctorDermalogicaDr. HauschkaElemisEyekoFirst Aid BeautyGrande CosmeticsIlike Organic SkincareINIKA OrganicJan MariniJuice BeautyKORRESKevyn AucoinMuradNUDESTIXNCLAPerricone MDPaula’s ChoicePixi BeautyRevolution BeautyRMS BeautySkin AuthoritySkyn IcelandSigmaStila CosmeticsStriVectinSukiSunday RileyThe BalmTrilogyVapourAnd many more!

      SkinStore Cruelty Free Beauty Product Reviews

      Okay let’s get on to the reviews, shall we? I got a refill of one of my holy grail skincare items, and I picked out some cruelty free makeup goodies that I thought you guys would love.

      StriVectin Tighten & Lift Peptight

      Okay, let’s start with skincare! SkinStore has SO many great brands. I got a refill of my favorite face serum (that I use as a day and night cream), StriVectin Tighten & Lift Peptight. I was originally gifted this amazing face serum by the brand, and I posted a before and after here. I’ve continued to purchase it because it’s really amazing.

      Peptight brightens and tightens the skin with peptides, Vitamin C-rich kakadu plum, ginger, licorice root, and a long list of other great skincare ingredients. I’ve definitely noticed my acne scars lightening as long as I’m consistent with this product. It also moisturizes nicely (it’s fairly thick – not like a typical thin serum) and doesn’t cause me to break out (which is a huge deal for me)! They also make a nice eye serum.

      Vapour Beauty Lipstick – Chere

      Let’s talk makeup! As I mentioned, SkinStore surprised me with the number of makeup brands they carry. I got Vapour Beauty’s cruelty free lipstick in Chere and I was not disappointed! This is a higher-end, clean beauty line, and the price tag is a bit on the higher side ($30). But, the quality is SO good, and I love that they use a lot of plant-based, organic, hydrating ingredients. The formula is highly pigmented, wears well, and feels good on the lips. The shade called Chere is sort of a peachy-mauve, and I am loving it! I don’t wear lipstick every day, so, for me, they last a very long time and the investment is worth it.

      Grande Cosmetics Plumping Lipstick – Dulce de Leche

      I picked out the Grande Cosmetics Plumping Lipstick in Dulce de Leche because it looked like an easy to wear lipstick that has the added benefits of a lip plumper. The website pics made it look more orange/coral and less brown. Maybe it’s my skin tone but it appears more brown on me. There are a couple of shades that I think would look better on me, but I do love the formula.

      It DOES sting a tiny bit when you put it on, but that is mostly hidden by the pepperminty feeling. I am uber-sensitive and my lips are usually dry, which makes them even more sensitive. So I did notice a tingle, but it wasn’t bad at all and went away quickly. The swatch pic above looks matte, but it looked glossy on my lips and it felt very hydrating. I love that it has Tripeptide-38 which repairs and plumps skin, and has the potential for long-term skin benefits. I would definitely purchase another shade from this line.

      INIKA Pressed Mineral Eyeshadow Duo – Black Sand

      I tried the INIKA Pressed Mineral Eyeshadow Duo in Black Sand. I swatched them for you in the shade and in direct sunlight so you can see how the color changes in the light. I thought this would be a great little eyeshadow palette to do a quick all-over shimmer (up to the crease) and then to use the black/charcoal shade as a smoked-out eyeliner. For 2021, I’m going with quick and EASY when it comes to makeup! You could also use the black as a lid shade and put the shimmer in the middle or below the brow as a highlight. I love that this formula is mineral-based.

      Revolution Beauty Colour Book Eyeshadow Palette CB04

      I am such a fan of purples, mauves, and pinks. I could NOT resist picking up the Revolution Beauty Colour Book Eyeshadow Palette CB04. It’s a budget-friendly line (this giant palette is only $20). I did notice a lot of fall-out, but the pigmentation is great. I LOVE that there is a matte shade to match each shimmer shade! And there are SO many colors – a really great color story and range. I think some of the colors are pretty similar to each other, and maybe unnecessary. But that does allow you to create a perfect gradient if you have the patience to do so! The colors are just gorgeous and fun to work with. It seems like warm, earth tones have been all the rage for a long time now, so I was pretty excited to find this one!

      See something you like? Use code BEAUTYBUNNY for 25% off your purchase at SkinStore.com! (Some brand exclusions apply.) More