Natural Living

The longer I wear my hair natural, the more I desire to develop a natural lifestyle.  By this, I mean that being natural is much more than about twisting my hair, following Curly Nikki, and attending natural hair meetings.  It is about making healthy choices for my body that ultimately lead to healthy hair.

Last year, I went to a Naturally Flyy meetup and had a chance to hear Ms. Gwen Jimmere of Naturalicious.net speak about paying attention to the labels of the products we use.  Many items have parabens, which are carcinogenic.

I thought I was all good because the hair products I use, Shea Moisture, are paraben-free.  However, once home, I started reading the labels of my lotion and makeup and realized that they were not.  So in one swift heap, I rid myself of ALL of my precious makeup and lotions.

It was easy to find lotion.  Shea Moisture has many lotions and creams, and I also relied on tubs of shea butter.  The harder part was finding makeup.  Below is the what I found out on my journey.

Burt's Bees Super Glossy Lip Shine -- 2 out of 5 stars
While this product gave me the shine I needed, it didn't really moisturize.  It felt like vaseline or chicken grease on my lips.

Korres Lip Butter and Lip Butter Glaze -- 5 out of 5 stars
I found these products at Sephora and LOVE them!  They are made out of shea butter and rice wax.  My lips feel SO GOOD and soft after application.  And, it looks like "real" makeup!

Gabriel Color Eyeshadow -- 4 out of 5 stars
I purchased this from Whole Foods in the color Navy because they do not make Black.  I actually use a tiny brush and apply it as an eyeliner because it was hard for me to find an actual eyeliner that worked for me.  I like it a lot, just wish it was a little bit darker.

Crown's Royalties. -- 5+ out of 5 stars
Ok y'all, I saved the best for last.  Last year, I had a student in one of my classes whose mom I would run into at natural hair meetings.  It wasn't until halfway through the year that I connected that this lady selling makeup and jewelry at the hair meetings was the mother of my student.  Anyway, all of Ms. Crown's products are handmade and made with LOVE, do you hear me?!?!?  She sells out of her home, vends at different events, and has a website, crownsroyalties.weebly.com  I purchased three eyeshadows from her and have thoroughly enjoyed them.  They last long and look GOOD!

 Getting ready to head out for the first time with my paraben-free makeup!