Everyday Naturally Glam

We are so excited to introduce you to our featured guest blogger! Meet Katie Mundo, Birchbox bride and our go-to expert for natural beauty! Katie’s motto is that you can look and feel beautiful without it being overcomplicated and expensive. Want to learn how? Read on!

Live your WHOLE life!

Shannon + Meg

 

I’ve spent years trying to achieve that natural, ‘no-makeup’ makeup look and effortless appearing hairstyle. As a beauty enthusiast, I’ve tried hundreds of products from all different brands, but many have pretty terrible ingredients. With my overall health in mind, I started to narrow my focus to find products with more natural and organic ingredients. Playing with makeup and hair products is something I do enjoy, but most often don’t have the time for a hair routine that calls for eight products and a makeup look that calls for twenty. With both these things in mind, I turned to more naturally derived products with high efficacy and performance, and finally found what I had been looking for!

Everyday, simple style is what it’s all about on Blush and Champagne, and my mission is to show that fashion and beauty do not have to be expensive or over complicated. In today’s post, I’m going to share natural product recommendations for my favorite makeup and hair look above. I also have some tricks for ways you can incorporate more natural or basic ingredient products into your routine to serve multiple purposes!

HAIRCARE

I’ll be honest; I care a lot about my hair, but don’t like spending an hour on it every morning. I have thick, naturally wavy hair so I’m lucky enough to not have to wash it everyday. Shampooing less frequently has actually been proven to be good for our hair, as it allows the natural oils in our scalp to nourish and strengthen our strands. However, if I need a wet refresher in between shampoo and conditioner washes, I really like to use Briogeo’s Avocado + Quinoa Co-wash. Cleansing conditioners have become extremely popular over the years for a few reasons: (1) they serve as both a shampoo and conditioner (2) they don’t strip our hair of natural oils and (3) they don’t contain nasty ingredients like sulfates or parabens. Briogeo’s Co-wash is 91% naturally derived, contains organic ingredients, and works for all hair types! It will leave your hair feeling soft, silky and clean!

Trick #1: Since I don’t wash my hair often during the week, dry shampoo is my absolute best friend as a daily hair refresher. If you’re skeptical of dry shampoo and don’t want to invest in one right away, you can turn to the baby powder sitting in the back of your medicine cabinet! The cornstarch in the powder will lightly soak up oil near your roots, adding volume to your hair and getting rid of any odors. To use, lightly shake the powder on your roots, section by section, wait 2 minutes, then shake out. If you’re afraid to shake it directly on your roots from the bottle, dust the powder on a clean, fluffy makeup brush and brush onto your roots.

High performance, natural hair styling products can be hard to come by. We all will always have our favorite non-natural styling products (mine’s Oribe’s Dry Texturizing Spray), but we can do our best to incorporate more of the good products into our routine – you just have to find the right ones! My favorite is Captain Blankenship’s Mermaid Mane Sea Salt Spray (I mean, who doesn’t want a mermaid mane?). The product is handmade in small batches, and only contains a handful of natural and organic ingredients including organic aloe vera and essential rose oil. Spritz the product on clean, towel-dried hair, tousle a bit and let your hair air-dry – and you’re ready to go! The result will be perfectly effortless wavy, textured, beachy hair.

SKINCARE

Skin is the largest organ of our body, which makes it the most important part of our beauty routine! With this in mind, my skincare regimen is where I try to most often incorporate natural and organic products that don’t take a lot of effort. I use a variety of natural and organic products from cleansers to exfoliators to moisturizers. However, my ultimate favorite product is Josie Maran’s 100% Pure Argan Oil Light. Argan oil has become increasingly popular in the skincare industry over the years for its nourishing, healing and anti-aging benefits. Josie Maran’s organic oil is perfectly light and moisturizing enough to wear day and night, year-round. No greasy feeling, no breakouts. All you need is a few drops to apply all over your face, neck and décolleté. Believe me, it’s worth the splurge!

TRICK #2: Use whatever oil that’s left on your hands, after applying to your face, for the ends of your hair or to tame fly-aways! The argan oil will act as a serum treating split ends and smoothing those pesky fly-aways without leaving your hair greasy.

MAKEUP

Moving onto the last step in everyday naturally glam – makeup! You absolutely do not have to be a beauty expert to achieve this look, nor do you have to use the exact products I do. For a ‘natural’ look, I think of clean, even skin, flushed cheeks and lips, and an all over glow. The look I’m showing you today is quick, simple and naturally gorgeous.

First, let’s talk a little bit about the brands – my favorites are W3LL PEOPLE and Tata Harper. W3LL PEOPLE is an all-natural beauty brand, born out of Austin, TX that contains a variety of high-performance mineral and stick based products. Each formula melts perfectly into your skin, and you don’t have to worry about any of those nasty ingredients. Tata Harper is a high-end, natural and organic skincare line that has very gracefully stepped into the cosmetics field. Tata’s makeup products are luxuriously creamy in texture and deliver strong, gorgeous pigment.

The products I use for this look are W3LL PEOPLE’s Narcissit Stick Foundation + Bio Brightener Powder + Bio Brightener Stick + Expressionist Mascara and Tata Harper’s Volumizing Lip and Cheek Tint. Now, here are 5 quick steps to get the look!

1. Apply the Narcissit foundation stick to your entire face and under eyes
2. Lightly tap and blend the Volumizing Tint onto the apples of your cheeks and lips
3. Gently dab the Bio Brightener onto your cheekbones and brow bones for some highlight
4. Set your makeup and add some glow by lightly sweeping the Bio Brightener Powder all over your face
5. Lastly, curl your lashes and apply the Expressionist Mascara

TRICK #3: Don’t have an all-natural eyeliner? Use your mascara! All you need is a thin eyeliner brush and you can apply the product in short brush strokes across your upper and lower lash line. Applying mascara as eyeliner achieves a much more subtle look and is quicker than pulling out another product!

Thank you so much for reading, and I hope that my tips, tricks and product recommendations help you on your mission to achieve everyday natural glam. Remember, beauty is not just about what we put on our body, but also what we put in it; so taking tips from the ladies at Whole Food Love will also help you achieve your own everyday natural glam. Also, if you’re reading this saying ‘I don’t use any natural and organic products’, that’s OK! Start slow – try to find 4-5 that you really love and work for you and incorporate those into your everyday routine. It takes time to find the perfect products!

Do you have any products you love or tips you want to share? Let me know in the comments below! Also, head on over to www.blushandchampagne.com for more beauty, fashion and lifestyle tips for the everyday girl.

 

 

 

Katie is the founder of beauty, fashion and lifestyle blog Blush and Champagne. Inspired by the color scheme of her wedding, and her love of beauty and fashion Katie started this blog to share beauty and fashion tips for the everyday girl. After many years of experimenting with product, and working directly in the beauty industry at Birchbox, Katie wants readers out there to know that they can have great beauty and style without it being overcomplicated and expensive! 

Katie currently lives in New Jersey with her husband and Havanese puppy, and believes that every day should include laughter, pizza and wine. Follow Katie on Instagram and Twitter!