When veteran celebrity makeup artist Christy Coleman decided to toss her top of the line makeup kit and use nothing but natural cosmetics on her clientele, she had no idea what would happen next. It was a risk, to be sure, showing up without the typical high-end makeup brands here clientele were used to. Furthermore, she had no book to peddle, no Makeup by Christy Coleman line to sell; she was doing this solely because she believed shunning the toxic chemicals in commercial cosmetics was the right thing to do.

But quietly swapping out her professional kit seemed insufficient, and thus Coleman created ChristyColeman.com to educate everyday consumers about the best natural and organic makeup and skin care products on the market.

Still, it wasn’t enough. She was consistently achieving gorgeous, high-fashion looks with nothing but natural products (click here to see her “natural portfolio”), something her peers thought was impossible. She knew she could make a bigger impact on the mainstream industry. So ChristyColeman.com underwent an extreme makeover.

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Welcome back to The Emerald Awards! I’m your host, Terri Bly, presenting you with the top truly natural beauty products as voted on by our panel of green beauty experts. Today’s category: Best Natural Foundation. 

Foundation. Just the word speaks volumes. Before we enhance our skin’s natural glow with bronzer or brighten it up with some blush, most of us choose to even out our skin tone with a base, be it liquid, cream, or powder. Unless your foundation looks good, and by that I mean whatever you choose to do or not do to your skin, everything else you put on it won’t look great, either. When it comes to natural and organic formulas, there are numerous high-performing and long-lasting options to choose from. For that reason, I divided the category of Best Natural Foundation into three subcategories: Liquid/Cream, Tinted Moisturizer, and Loose/Pressed.

And the Emerald Award for Best Natural Liquid Foundation goes to:

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“The simple truth is that many beauty products are advertised as natural or organic when their ingredients are far from it. Many companies produce these “so-called” natural or organic  products by adding a few herbal extracts to a synthetic soup of polymers (plastics), silicones, petroleum (and its derivatives), artificial fragrances and colors, and other potentially harmful substances. They then market the product by focusing on the few clean ingredients, while disregarding the rest, hoping the consumer will do the same. The public is becoming more aware of this unethical marketing strategy (often called “greenwashing”), but unfortunately the practice is still widespread.” - Kirsten Binder, Saffronrouge.com

Last week, while in New York City, I purchased Josie Maran’s Earth Day Essentials kit. I had heard so much about her line from various friends and makeup artists - not to mention numerous beauty magazine and blogs - that I wanted to experience what everyone was raving about.

While sitting in the subway train, I glanced over the ingredients of the lip gloss, intending to give that one a whirl right away. But what to my wondering eyes should appear, but POLYBUTENE as the first ingredient on the list. I’m certainly no chemist; I don’t even make my own skin care products at home (yet). Nonetheless, I had read enough to be nearly certain that polybutene was a member of the petrochemical family. I put the gloss back in my bag until I could do a little more research. To put it mildly, what I found was much worse than I anticipated. 

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Lately, I’ve seen a number of articles come through my RSS feed questioning the benefits of organic beauty products. Unfortunately, most of what I read is riddled with misinformation and blatent biases. Organic Schmorganic appears to be the conclusion drawn by these investigative reporters when they discover the issue isn’t an entirely black and white one. One of the more recent posts, which will remain nameless but can probably be uncovered with some clever Googling, revealed its bias with the following: “Although usually more expensive, organic foods can be better for you, so the same should be true for organic makeup right? Turns out, not so much.”

She goes on to conclude that because there are no USDA certified organic makeup lines, the whole thing is basically a hoax, going so far as to wag a finger at Stella McCartney. Although other articles I’ve read lately haven’t been quite as harsh in their judgment, most seem bent on debunking the notion that going chemical-free has any real advantages, even stories published on mainstream sites.

While I could go on at length as to the flaws in the logic behind these stories, I will instead devote this space to Nvey Eco’s Vice President of Sales & Marketing, Sarah Cherot. Nvey was one of the brands accused of participating in the deception. I asked her for her reaction to the story, and thought I would share her informative response with all of you:

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1. Dr Haushcka - Intense Garnet : www.drhauschka.com
2. Bare Essentials - Red Delicious : www.storebareescentuals.com
3. Sukicolor - Dahlia : www.futurenatural.com
4. Afterglow - Kiss : www.afterglowcosmetics.com
5. Jane Iredale - Carrie : www.janeiredale.com
6. Honeybee Gardens - Desire : www.honeybeegardens.com
7. Josie Maran - Devious : www.josiemarancosmetics.com

Image Credit: Ed Geller/GLOBE

Many of you visit to find the latest, best and most effective natural and organic beauty brands amongst other things. Organic beauty is one of my favorite topics and one I’m passionate about.  And I don’t know about you, but I value honest recommendations from fellow consumers much more than I do when it comes from an owner or employee of a business.  And I know I’m not alone, otherwise Googling “review of X product” would not be the common pastime that it is.  So with that in mind, I’m bringing you the real deal about NatureOfBeauty.com. I’ll clue you in on which products I’m loving right now, the scoop on two hot brands they just launched, share my Christmas gift ideas and divulge how to get free shipping and 15% off your order.

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If you’re in NYC this week (or all the time), head over to Henri Bendel today through Sunday for absolutely free mini-makeovers by Suki makeup artist Melanie Isett.  As one of my favorite skincare and cosmetic lines, each bottle and jar comes chocked full of bioactive organic ingredients created for even the most sensitive of skin types.  I completely agree with Sophie Uliano, author of Gorgeously Green when she wrote ”Suki has developed one of my favorite skin care lines.  The products are every bit as wonderful as high-end products, but they are free of synthetics, GMO ingredients, petrochemicals, fragrances and dyes and animal ingredients“.  To register for your free makeover:

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Top celeb NY makeup artist, Rose-Marie Swift works in the fashion industry on photo shoots for VOGUE, W Magazine, Harper’s Bazaar and most recently at LaCoste RTW Spring ‘09 Fashion Show where she used her own, absolutely brand new line of organic cosmetics.  She knows beauty and the dangers of toxic beauty products and how they can greatly effect health.  After years of exposure to conventional products, her health began to drastically decline.  She started to lose her hair and memory and begun having panic attacks.  After having lab tests done she was asked “Do you work in the cosmetics industry?”  She had toxic levels of heavy metals, lead, cadmium, aluminum, barium and mercury; along with high levels of pesticides and other chemicals.  The lab technician said “I can’t believe you’re even walking around!”

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Honestly, “natural” seems to be about a common a word as “green” these days and hands up who besides me is getting tired of the all the rhetoric? Being a natural brand should mean something and that’s exactly the position of Alima Pure. Not content with being ‘just another mineral makeup line, they went in search of the most rigorous and highly coveted natural certification they could find, and passed with flying colors. Being BDIH certified ensures that all the products contain only the safest natural ingredients, and are created and packaged in an environmentally and socially responsible manner.

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The girls over at Organic Beauty View have just previewed the official launch of the latest makeup collection from Aveda. Shown here are three hot new looks from the Uruku Makeup Collection. New formulas, new shades and all 100% color from the earth. Aveda has collaborated with the Yawanawa people in the Amazon to organically & sustainably grow urukum and annatto - two rich color pigments used by the tribes for faces, eyes and lips. With a product lineup that includes sheer moisturizing lipsticks, long-wearing crease resistant eye colors, cheek & lip glow, eye & lip liners there are no excuses for not rocking your inner organic glamazon! Get the look now.

Image credit: Aveda Website - Uruku Collection

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Everyone has a different idea of what looks natural and as always what suits one doesn’t necessarily work for another. Here are three looks taken from the Fall ‘08 RTW collections showcasing various ways to interpret natural. The key to any natural makeup look is keeping it simple, real, light in texture and easy to apply. The perfect product to do all of that?  A genius multi-tasker that can be used for several different applications. A favorite organic & natural beauty product to help achieve these looks above is the brilliant and multi-tasking Suki Pure Cream Stain for Lips & Cheeks. Silky to apply, blends beautifully, loaded with pigment (use a lot or a little), melds with skin & full of organic goodness.

Suki Pure Cream Stain for cheeks & lips - Color picks :: 1. Dahlia 2. Clay 3. Sandstone

Look One: Image/Don Ashby & Olivier Claisse - Marc by Marc Jacobs Fall ‘08/Model: Hyoni Kang
Look Two: Image/Don Ashby & Olivier Claisse - Calvin Klein RTW Fall ‘08/Model: Natalia Schueroff
Look Three: Image/Matteo Volta - Hermes RTW Fall ‘08/Model: Taryn Davidson (VIVA)

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Traditionally not an easy color to wear vis-a-vis a neutral brown for example, there are nonetheless some gorgeous organic and natural makeup shades to wear with what is sure to be your new favorite color come Fall:

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Great for all skin types but if you tend toward a little oily or combination, just use some natural mineral powder over the top (like Alima), to blot excess oil throughout the day. If you like it lighter, just mix with moisturizer for more sheer coverage. Mineral pigments provide the healthy colors and the entire line is certified organic. Love it.

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Keep it stashed in your bag during Summer heat to spritz all over as a refreshing, light, easily applied moisture solution that will leave you smelling gorgeous. Pop the top, spray and voila! A great addition to any ‘must have’ list for Summer.