Category Archives: Prevention

Beautycounter

Have you ever been part of something so incredible you wish you were the one who thought of it? That is how I feel about Beautycounter.

Except I still get to be part of the company in a huge way.

It is the perfect intersection of all of my experiences and I am able to work my business from home when I want and where I want, all while having 3 kids home with me all the time.

A little background- I spent years as a fashion model, then studied and trained to become a health coach in NYC. I continued modeling, started health coaching and created my own skin care line. The skin care and cosmetic industry had always called to me, and while I was in high school I loved chemistry so much I considered going to school to become a chemist so I could develop new makeup in labs. Little did I know I would instead be working for these companies in an entirely different way by modeling for their ads and TV commercials.

The availability of face wash and moisturizer made of safe ingredients was confined to natural food stores, smelled of patchouli and wasn’t very effective. So I read a ton of books on making natural soaps and face washes and got to work. I came up with a logo, got a website and gave out prototypes for Christmas. I was on my way.

Then I had one…two…three…amazing children and my focus shifted completely. I knew I wanted to stay home with them and make them my priority, but had so much passion about health and wellness and fashion and natural parenting that this blog was born.

I dipped my toes into the waters of social selling when I discovered Noonday Collection– which I will always love.

I was so encouraged and heartened by the way my friends and family embraced my new business and supported me every step of the way. “Of course we will buy from you!” They said. I’d rather buy something from you knowing it’s helping your family than lining the pockets of CEOs at big box corporations. (Not to mention the superior products I was offering!!) I truly have the best friends and family. Why oh why was I ever hesitant about direct sales?

Then about 3 years ago I was on set at a modeling job and the makeup artist was using a new foundation by a company that claimed to put the health of its customers first. I looked into it and saw some synthetic ingredients and discounted it completely. The line I created years ago was completely natural and that is all I would ever use on myself or my children. I had learned too much about the toxins in skin care and cosmetics and and their link to cancer, infertility, and other health issues to even budge. Even if I was getting wrinkles, even if they didn’t necessarily work very well I didn’t care. I was really intrigued by the company though, and thought it must be good if a makeup artist was using it.

Two years went by and it kept resurfacing so I did some research on the company. Oh! All the ingredients they use are known for their safety, even if a few are synthetic. The skin care line is performance based- and the people who use it see dramatic improvement in the look and feel of their skin almost immediately.

The color cosmetics are beautiful, heavily pigmented, and created by a celebrity makeup artist who has seen and used the best of the best. She’s taken what she loves and made them safer.
The packaging is eco friendly and gorgeous.
Beautycounter has spent time in Washington D.C. asking for the laws to change. No new laws have been passed regarding skin care and cosmetics since 1938, and in that time 80,000 new chemicals have entered the market. It doesn’t matter if they cause infertility or cancer. It doesn’t matter if the bottle says natural or organic and the contents aren’t. It doesn’t matter that anything can be hidden in a product and labeled as “fragrance” even if it’s know to harm our health. Beautycounter is on a mission to get these laws changed.
I had an epiphany- Beautycounter perfectly marries all of my passions and background. Everything rolled into one. I can advocate for stricter laws in personal care products while working in the beauty industry, educate friends family and many many others on the importance of doing everything we can to ensure we are not unknowingly increasing our cancer risk, develop meaningful and close relationships with other women doing the same important work, stay home with my children and create my own work hours, earn a significant addition to our family income, and have rewarding and cup-filling nights out with other women. So I went for it. And I’m never looking back.
beautycounter giveaway
October is a very important month in the fight against breast cancer. On one hand, year after year I am encouraged that an entire month is devoted to bringing awareness for the cause, and raising money for its cure. However many of the companies most aggressively waving the pink ribbon are part of the problem. Chemicals in personal care products are directly linked to breast cancer. What we put on our bodies goes directly into our blood stream and many of these things do damage to our DNA. Small exposure is no big deal, but women put an average of 11 products on their skin every day, and day after day this accumulates into a giant toxic overload.
We can not control many things in life. But we CAN control what we put on our body.
Beautycounter offers amazing products that you could find at the best department store beauty counters. But the importance of clean and safe ingredients can’t be told from a shelf. This is why Beautycounter was formed as a direct retail brand, and it’s the reason I’ve chosen to be an advocate for safer beauty by sharing these products online and in person.
This October, as you’re seeing pink ribbons on everything from paraben laden lotion to sugar filled donuts, remember that there are companies that care more about people than profits. Beautycounter is one of them.
There are three ways you can be part of the solution.
***Purchase products that are better for your health, and don’t contain ingredients directly linked to breast cancer. This way you are creating less demand for toxic products! Vote with your dollar. When companies see a decline in sales because women care about their health, these carcinogenic chemicals will be phased out of the products. Remember the formaldehyde in Johnson&Johnson? It wasn’t until the public heard about it that the company decided to remove it and only because it was affecting their bottom line!! My preference is clearly Beautycounter, so click here to see what we have to offer!
***Host a casual happy hour or brunch and gather friends to sample our great products and discuss safer, better beauty. Your local Beautycounter consultant will showcase the products and share the importance of safer skincare! If you’re in Austin, that’s me!! If you’re somewhere else in the US, contact me and I will connect you with a Beautycounter consultant. We are in almost every city and I love connecting people.
***Become a Beautycounter consultant!
Earn up to 35% commission on the products you sell. When you enroll as a Consultant, you’ll receive a personal website through which all sales will be directly attributed to you. This makes it easy to share your favorite products and our mission. It couldn’t be easier.
You’ll also receive 25% off of all of your own purchases.
Beautycounter isn’t just a path-breaking beauty brand. We are a movement for making the beauty industry better. We do that with valuable information, fun socials, safer products, and your help. There is no longer a need to compromise health and safety in the name of beauty. You can do well, do good and look great. Learn more, or join my team by clicking here
beautycounter giveaway

Making Small Changes

The reason my health coaching method has worked for so many people is that we make small changes and implement them over time until they become habit. Then we build on those.

Sometimes with all of the information we are seeing, hearing, learning on a daily basis it is easy to become overwhelmed and either do it all totally hardcore, or throw in the towel and give up.

There is a third way.

I advocate for making small changes, one at a time, until they stick.
Here 4 simple ideas you can try this week to better your health, and the health of your family.
Drink more water.
Take off your shoes at the door.
Go to bed before 10:30PM (especially if you’re trying to conceive.
Get rid of the plastic in your home.

Safer Beauty is Going Mainstreamb

Have you seen Beautycounter in Target?

screenshot-9

 

You know what this means right?

Safer beauty is going mainstream! It’s getting easier and easier to attain, and gone are the days of only finding natural skincare at health food stores and risk smelling like patchouli.

Beautycounter at Target is only for a limited time, after which you will have to go to my website to purchase it again. I am so excited about this partnership, as it only proves that women in this country are waking up to the need for safe and non-toxic personal care products.

This subject is particularly important in the month of October when pinkwashing is everywhere. Things that are known to cause cancer are emblazoned with pink ribbons in the name of Breast Cancer Awareness.

beautycounter review

Oh no they didn’t! SUGAR FEEDS CANCER

 

Here’s a question- is anyone NOT aware of breast cancer? Anyone??? Anyone???

What you might not be aware of is that you are increasing your risk when you slather on lotion day after day, wash your face with cleanser that contains petrochemicals, and shampoo your hair with parabens.

You’ve heard about parabens right? A preservative used in everything? Did you know that one study found parabens in 99% of breast cancer tumors? Parabens also increase the expression of many genes that are usually regulated by the natural estrogen estradiol and cause human breast tumor cells to grow and proliferate.

No thank you. Nope. Not on my body. Not in my hair. Not on my skin.

Beautycounter lists parabens as one of the ingredients they will NEVER USE.

I am passionate about this. I would not be spending my time and energy trying to convince you if it didn’t matter. It matters. We can’t control so many things, but we can control what we put on our bodies.

Check out Beautycounter and make the switch to safer cosmetics and personal care products.

MegaFood Kids Reveiw

Some kids love to take their vitamins- but when they are little, they’re usually in the gummy form. Some parents don’t want their children confusing candy with vitamins, risking them taking too many if given the chance.

And some parents try to avoid gummies for the health of their teeth.

So here is a great option to consider- Vitamins in a powder form! You can stir these into smoothies, add them to baked goods, and mix them into just about anything.

screenshot-8

 

I recently tried MegaFood Nutrient Booster Powders with my boys.

I homeschool them and there are definitely times in the day where I need full attention- so I tried the Kids Daily B Centered and I noticed a difference- especially in my 5 year old’s focus and attention span.

It is also the beginning of cold and flu season, and with a baby in the house we do everything we can to avoid getting sick. I’ve been adding the kids daily immune to a smoothie to bolster their immune systems and keep us all healthy!

A little about the powders:

They are made in the USA with ingredients from family owned organic farms.

MegaFood Nutrient Booster Powders contain NO sugars, sweeteners, flavorings, colorings or preservatives! MegaFood offers three Kids Nutrient Booster Powders to support the health and well-being of children five years of age and older.

• Kids Daily Multi: Kids Daily Multi promotes well-being and healthy development, with organic turmeric, carrots, fresh fruits and 23 essential vitamins and minerals per serving.*

• Kids Daily Immune: Kids Daily Immune, featuring oranges from Uncle Matt’s Organic and elderberry & echinacea, promotes and helps to strengthen a healthy immune response year round.*

• Kids Daily B-Centered: Kids Daily B-Centered featuring Lundberg Family Farms organic brown rice,  provides daily support for mental focus, cognitive function, and a sense of calmness.* Formulated with a full spectrum of FoodState® B Vitamins, this blend supports healthy mental and physical energy levels.*

If you’re looking for a new way to get vitamins into your child’s diet, give MegaFood a try.

*This statement has not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease.

I received this product for free from Moms Meet (momsmeet.com), May Media Group LLC, who received it directly from the manufacturer. As a Moms Meet blogger, I agree to use this product and post my honest opinion on my blog. The opinions posted are my own.

The Best Thing I Packed In My Hospital Bag

My labor and delivery went fast.

REALLY FAST.

Like I was still dressed in street clothes, SHOES and giant earrings fast.

So my sister was laughing thinking about all the care I took packing my hospital bag, assuming I had no time to use any of it before the baby came. But two things I used immediately.

The first thing my husband did when they put me in the room was hook up his phone to our Jawbone Mini Jambox Wireless Bluetooth Speaker. I love music and he knows how much that helps me during labor.

And he also put up a string of white Christmas lights for ambient lighting and as a focal point for me. It cast a soft glow in the room and made such a difference. Everything else- the lollipops, lip balm, hair ties, essential oils, everything, went out the window.

Then as I was moved into my recovery room, we set up the lights on the unused IV stand next to the hospital bed, and turned off all the other lights.

ambient light in hospital

Every nurse and doctor who came in commented on what a great idea those lights were, as flipping on the harsh lights to check on me or the baby was comopletely unnecessary.

The first few hours and days are so amazing and sweet, and those lights added to the magic.