I’ve been greening my cosmetics one step at a time to test new products, see what works and what doesn’t freak my skin out. It is a journey. So far I’ve found the most fabulous lip balms and lipsticks. I even found a couple of mineral and organic foundations that I love but the perfect pressed powder has not been chosen yet.

However I have found an online store that has EVERYTHING. I can scroll through and search and find whatever I need in natural cosmetics and skincare at All Natural Cosmetics.

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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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But does the rocker know about the importance of safety in cosmetics?  He has been spotted of late wearing a healthy dose of the black stuff on the covers of Rolling Stone, SPIN, Q Magazine and at the Grammys and the Brits. 

Well, Bono, if you have yet to discover the health benefits of using nontoxic makeup and skin care, let me point you in the right direction.

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Tired of being tired?  It tends to go with the season.  Everyone is still catching up from the holidays and getting ready for spring.  With work, school and social lives who has time for sleep?

With a little help, you can still look your best even if you are running on less than a full night.

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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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There’s something very alluring about the promise of fuller lips. Even if we can’t all be Angelina Jolie, most of us like the idea of a saucy pout. The vast majority of commercial lip plumpers, however, contain a horrifying list of ingredients you most definitely do not want to be eating, like polyethylene, aluminum and BHA. Basically, the idea was to irritate your lips, enflame them so they swell in anger. Sexy, no?

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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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