Ulta Beauty

One of the exciting things that happened during my hiatus was Fresh Skincare coming to Ulta. Once a Sephora exclusive, you can now find this clean skin love at your local Ulta (and it’s not the only once Sephora exclusive that’s found it’s way into Ulta recently). Founded in 1991 by Russian immigrants living in Boston, Fresh is all about natural, sustainable ingredients inspired by the food bazaars found across Europe. An amazing aspect that Fresh has brought to the game is that they’ve partnered with the UEBT (Union for Ethical BioTrade) to ensure that all of their ingredients can be traced back to their source. They are also working towards having net-zero carbon emissions by 2030 and 100% of packaging either made of recycled material or being recyclable by 2025. All of these things are absolutely amazing, but of course comes the question: are the products worth the price tag?

From experience so far, I say, absolutely! There is not a single item that I have tried that I haven’t loved, and as someone with extremely sensitive skin that is a miracle. There are very few brands out there that I can say that about (even my introduction to natural skin, Origins has given me a few reactions). While some of the ingredients are very typical for skincare, they’ve added some unique ones that certainly work (like kombucha, great for the gut and your face lol).

Soy Face Cleanser

As a combo-dry skin person, I am constantly on the lookout for a cleanser that is going to get me clean, but not leave my skin dry and tight feeling. This cleanser is it. Like hands down, one of the best that I’ve ever tried. One of my friends shared with me that she’s not the biggest fan of the scent (think soy and cucumbers), but honestly I don’t mind it. I just love how clean my skin feels after using this.

2. Rose Deep Hydration Oil-Infused Serum

On principal, I’m not the biggest fan of rose scented things. Don’t get me wrong, I love what rose does to my skin, I love receiving roses, however anything that’s artificially scented rose or most things with rose essence just immediately bring to mind elderly ladies (I think it’s a direct correlation to my paternal grandmother and her love of rose lotion). Fresh’s rose line is something else however. It might be the fact that in several of the items I can actually SEE the rose petals (like the toner and mask), but I really just enjoy it. This serum has become one of my nighttime routine, going directly after my retinol serum, and I just love how it makes my skin feel.

3. Sugar Lemon Body Wash and Lotion

So lemon has always been one of my favorite scents/flavors (like lemon Luna bars and Lemonades from the Girl Scouts are my weakness), so the first time I smelt this scent, I was done for. My skin is SO soft after using this shower gel, and the lotion *chef’s kiss*. Together, I just look and smell amazing. With ingredients like mango seed extract and actual sugar, Vitamins C&E, and nourishing shea butter, it’s doing good for your skin while leaving you feeling nice and refreshed.

4. Lip Treatments

So with the return of the masks, unfortunately means that my lips are back to being as dry as the Sahara. Never in a million years would I have imagined myself paying almost $20 for a lip balm, but these have become an actual favorite of mine. To be totally honest, I have two just because I hate going between bags and forgetting it in the other when I need it. So the mint flavored one lives in my work purse, meanwhile the tinted Rose one lives in my just regular purse (so that way there’s a bit of color on my lips when I’m going out to eat). I’m honestly probably way too obsessed, but with winter coming at least I know crusty lips aren’t in my forecast.

Thank you so much for joining me this week, and if you want to check out Fresh for yourself, I’ll have their website linked here. As always, if you want to keep up with me, all of my socials are linked in the bar. I hope you have a wonderful rest of your week, and see you next Friday!

As people grow more and more aware of the ingredients on their skin, there has been growing push for transparency from brands as well as for cleaner ingredients to be used. Both Ulta and Sephora have begun having collections of brands that they have deemed “clean” according to the standards they have set. This week I want to focus on Ulta Beauty’s “Conscious Beauty Collection”; this collection has five pillars that each brand needs to meet at least two of, they are: clean ingredients, cruelty free, vegan, sustainable packaging, and positive impact.

Tula Balancing Act Toning Pads

As the Texas summer starts to heat up, my skin turns into a grease pit, so I need something to balance that out. I absolutely adore these pads as much as I do all of Tula’s other products I’ve tried. Tula has made a name for themselves with their clean, probiotics based formulas (if you haven’t checked out my post devoted to them, you can click here), but their new toning pads take it to the next level. Instead of glycolic acid like the first one they launched, these use lactic acid as well as witch hazel and niacinaminde to help with oil control. What makes them even better is that they are made of bamboo and biodegradable (hello sustainability), and when you’re done, instead of throwing away the plastic container, you can buy a refill pod to just pop in.

2. Tarte Amazonian Clay BB Cream

My one complaint about Tarte’s Amazonian clay foundation was that while the coverage was amazing, it was so thick that I felt like my skin was being suffocated. This Amazonian clay BB cream though is just enough coverage to hide any discoloration you might be suffering from, but light enough to feel like there’s nothing there. I also love that the formula is vegan, cruelty-free, and has SPF.

3. Drybar Liquid Glass Miracle Smoothing Sealant

Calling all my damaged hair babes that need help containing the frizz, this spray-in treatment is going to be your new best friend. Visiting Drybar is one of my favorite things to do when I visit Austin, and finding out that they’re cruelty-free with clean ingredients and sustainable packaging made me just love them that much more. I absolutely adore the Liquid Glass shampoo and conditioner, but what makes this spray so much better is that it lasts through three washes and gives you heat protection up to 450 degrees F! The entire Smooth Glass line features the iconic Drybar blanc scent with vegan keratin helping to seal, reinforce and smooth the hair cuticle.

4. Peach and Lily Glass Skin Refining Serum

Korean skincare is widely regarded as some of the finest skincare that you can buy on the market (and for good reason), and Peach and Lily’s glass skin serum is a great showcase. One of my all time favorite serums (I’m on my third bottle), this little white bottle is my secret for smooth, glow skin. With key active ingredients like hyaluronic acid, niacinamide, peach extract, and peptides, this serum is going to give you hydration, even skin tone, lighten dark spots, and reduce pore size. You can also feel good about using it since Peach and Lily is vegan, gluten free, and cruelty free; it’s also free from any parabens, sulfates, silicons, along with 1,550 other toxic things.

5. St Tropez Self Tanner

As most likely proven about two posts ago, I love a good self tanner, the only bad thing is that they do somewhat have a reputation for not always being the cleanest product to use. So finding out that there’s a self tanner brand being highlighted by Conscious beauty is absolutely amazing. The great thing about the St Tropez line are there are options for everyone, from good ol’ 8 hour tans with guider colors to water-based mousses and sprays to 2 hour express sprays. There’s a fit out there for literally everyone, and one again, no need to feel guilty with clean ingredients, sustainable packaging, and cruelty-free!

6. Pacifica Plantmagic Nail Polish

So fun fact, I am actually allergic to formaldehyde, and about ten years ago when I found out, there were a lot of nail polish brands that unfortunately still used it. Even though as a industry we’ve moved away from using such toxic ingredients, I still never use a nail polish unless it actually says it’s formaldehyde free (you can never be too cautious when there’s a possible hospital visit on the line). I’ve used Pacifica’s skincare in the past, so their new plant based polish really caught my eye. It’s free from 16 of the most harsh chemicals usually found in nail polish (with 80% of the ingredients bio-sourced), 100% vegan and cruelty free, and the polish has lasted just as long on my toes as the other ones I’ve tried. A great thing about Pacifica is their social impact: 10% of all profits go towards cleaning up the Pacific Ocean.

7. Kopari Coconut Deodorant

I love natural deodorant, unfortunately natural deodorant doesn’t always love me. The amount of times that I’ve broken out in a rash from trying a new deodorant is honestly sad. Another problem with natural deodorants is that they always smell, well, natural. I don’t know about anyone else but the whole smelling like lavender and sage doesn’t always work the best with the situation going on under my arms. Enter Kopari: for the people who love natural deodorant but want still smell good. It’s coconut oil based (so great for sensitive skin), and all of their stuff smells nice and fresh and beachy. I actually usually buy the beach scent from them, but they do have a new scent called coastal that honestly also seems like it smells amazing. Kopari is vegan, cruelty-free, with sustainable packaging and clean ingredients.

Thank you so much for tuning in this week, and I hope you enjoyed this post. My socials are all linked if you want to give them a follow, as well as you can follow this blog so you get a notification every time I post (which is every Friday). Till next time!