Pssst….Chicago friends: What are you doing on August 6?
I hope the answer to that question is coming to the West Loop between 6-10 p.m. Tomorrow is going to be major. I’m fully anticipating smiling for eight hours straight and getting a little weepy at times. You see, it’s nearly time for A Night for Green Beauty — the best (and only!) eco-beauty event that happens every summer. This is the third and (cue tears) final year. Previous summers, I trekked to New York and LA but this year it is in Chicago! At the awesome Venue One in the West Loop.
I can’t think of a better way to cap off this event that has introduced me to so many amazing women than in CHICAGO. This community is so special. Girl power on speed. The event itself is the brilliant brainchild of Chicago ladies Victoria Fantauzzi and Karen King of La Bella Figura and it’s evolved into one heck of a shindig. There’s face time and personal interaction with the founders of brands – May Lindstrom of May Lindstrom, Adina Grigore of S.W. Basics, Suzanne Leroux of One Love Organics – and some 30+ more. Everyone is releasing new beauty and sampling their wares. This year, there is even a runway show and (gasp) I’m modeling in it for BeauTeaBar. The only other time I’ve “modeled” is in a Walmart fashion show in 1988….in a bathing suit. Yes, a Walmart fashion show. Just a small town girl…
I hope you can make it. I’m going to be recapping some of the highlights for you after the event and showing you ALL of the beauty goods. Because there’s just too much to fit into one blog post.
Every time I break out I curse a little bit. There’s usually a bit of why me anguish – because it always appears in the most unfortunate of places – and then the blame game. I’m always looking for a logical explanation and usually there is one. Starts with chem and ends with cal. Out of this cycle is an emerging trend that my La Bella Figura ladies are dominating, along with Kjaer Weis, RMS and Gressa: Skin care first, makeup second. Enough with that blemish biz! Let’s be good to our faces. When I was in LA last month for A Night for Green Beauty, LBF officially launched their makeup filled with vitamins, minerals, omegas and breathable waxes that do not clog pores. Each color wears flawlessly on the face and lips and can be as vibrant and bold as you want it to be.
The colors are cheekily named for their friends and family. There’s Lisette La Coquette after LBF co-founder Victoria’s sister. She’s a Chicago girl, too! And having met her a few times I can see why this ruby crimson lip tint bears her name. Her deep olive skin rocks this color like a boss. Last Friday I met Just Jenna and now definitely connect that cheery orchid hue for lips and cheeks with her bubbly personality. Oh, and if you were at A Night for Green Beauty, it was hard to miss the fabulous Brazillian Denise at the LBF table. May we all take on a little bit of Denise’s persona with this gold highlighter that also doubles as eye shadow. You can see tons of #morethanmakeup pics on Instagram. Including this one by yours truly!
It’s hard not to come back from A Night for Green Beauty and be thinking of anything but A Night for Green Beauty. So let’s not just yet, k? One of the many incredible moments I had during those few days in LA was being introduced to Kypris Beauty. The name stems from Greek mythology and the line also happens to be other worldly divine. For those in tune with prehellenic times, the goddess Kypris is actually Cypriot and was able to maintain her divinely feminine goddess roots even after Cyprus was conquered many times over and in spite of the warring culture. The line is made of three serums to combat skin issues – hydration, aging, blemishes – and three beauty elixirs to pamper you like a goddess. My favorite elixir being 1,000 Roses because obviously the essential oils of 1,000 Bulgarian roses. Swoon.
I knew I would like the products, and I did immediately, but I’m so drawn to the energy of Kypris and founder Chase Polan. Kypris is about beauty with a soul supported by science. It’s effective, yes, but there’s a story. For starters, the first ingredient in every product is love. As in, printed on the label and listed up top. L-O-V-E. For any other brand, that may come across as disingenuous but not for Kypris. I had an exchange with Chase on Instagram about Antioxidant Dew – a hydrating serum meant for city types trying to rise above all of that pollution and stress on the skin – and she recommended I mix a few drops with a beauty elixir to make a micro emulsion. For good measure, she also told me to if I really want to do the “whole shebang” to give myself an “honest compliment” when applying so I start the day feeling like a million bucks. You know what…I did both and it felt great. I recommend chatting yourself up with a dose of positivity at early hours of the morning. Kypris just launched at BeauTeaBar this week. Naturally, Marissa is just as excited and is packaging up a special mini Antioxidant Dew with all Kyrpis orders through Sunday.
It’s almost here! A Night for Green Beauty is officially going down on Thursday, August 7. This is the second annual event – the first was in New York last September – bringing together eco beauty brand leaders and enthusiastic people (like moi!) for a night of glamour and luxurious eco beauty. It’s free to the public and if you are in SoCal, I hope to see you there on Thursday. If you’re not, I promise to Instagram my way through the event. I have been counting down the days since Victoria first shared her ANFGB vision with me back when it was still polar vortexing outside. I’ve heard rumblings of new eco beauty debuts and am way excited to check out everyone’s wares.
Beautycounter Lip Sheer– These gold tubes are as chic as can be and I have a feeling what’s inside is equally so. // Indie Lee Blemish Stick– I’m looking forward to meeting Ms. Lee and it’s high time I tried the blemish stick that everyone is raving about. Laurel Organics Eye Balm– Did someone say BALM? This has a blend of 24 ingredients that address fine lines, puffiness and dark circles. Word is that they are giving out 20 full-sized samples at the event. // La Bella Figura Golden Corrective Highlighter– LBF is launching their makeup line this week! Or should I say “more than makeup” since it is skincare first, color second. I need this golden cream highlighter on my cheekbones yesterday. // One Love Organics Vitamin C Body Oil – I have warm and fuzzies towards this body serum and team OLO is using ANFGB as a focus group for its new body polish. Holla! // Odacite Serum Concentrate – I’m hoping the Odacite crew can give me advice for a custom pure elements plan. Each drop is a concentrated dose of vitamins and antioxidants and you mix and match to suit your needs. // LURK Perfume Oil – I first met Anne Sanford of LURK at last year’s event and was enchanted by her beautiful perfume oils. This one is rose on rose on rose and I can’t get enough. Rumor is she has something new coming out this week, too. // Kahina Fez Hand & Body Balm – Again. Did someone say BALM? Can’t wait to massage this into my mitts!
I’m back from a quick 36-hour jaunt to NYC for A Night for Green Beauty. You know what happens when you bring together a group of fanatical beauty bloggers, makeup artists, editors, brands and juice-spiked cocktails? Really amazing discussions on things like, which natural deodorant did you wear to the party? For the record, the answers were really interesting – the Green Product Junkie even whipped out a roll-on tube of Milk of Magnesia on the spot. And the proof is in the pudding, ladies. Take a good look at the glowing skin of these green gurus and you will be an instant natural skincare convert. Lina Hanson is so beautiful you almost can’t look at her directly and I really just can’t EVEN with May Lindstrom. Stunning.
While breaking down an entire night of green beauty goodness will be tough, I’ll give it a go!
Pretty little Lurk fragrance oils
One of the stylists at James Corbett Salon sat me down in his chair for a much-needed refresh with Tela Organics hair care. I usually give the stank eye to stylists who come at me with a paste but I’m glad I was feeling risky or I never would have discovered the Tela Beach Hair. The oomph it gave to my roots was pure sexpot. I now know never to doubt when shea butter is involved. This won’t be the last you hear from me on this product!
ILIA’s Sasha Plavsic and me
ILIA Founder Sasha Plavsic shared some deets on new launches. Look out for a new gold highlighter to come this holiday and reformulated mascaras. Also, you need to try the ILIA Lipstick Crayon in Call Me. It’s the perfect girly pink I’ve been searching for like ever.
La Bella Figura is at it again with exotic travel-inspired fragrance oils. This time, they brought to scent their experiences from San Miguel, Istanbul and Positano. I’m partial to San Miguel, which Victoria will vividly paint the picture of how it came to be based on her experiences in the city during Dia De Los Muertos and how the streets smelled of fresh bread, cocoa, cinnamon, wildflowers and incense.
Lina Hanson is also working on taking the fresh grapefruit and vanilla aroma of her new Global Body Serum and turning it into a fragrance. And, for moms of wee ones, she is also launching a Baby Serum this fall.
I chatted with team Kjaer Weis, pressing for details on the new foundation coming and getting in some physical exercise by doing reps with the weighty compacts! I’d be one happy gal if my makeup bag was filled to the brim, even if it caused lower back pain! I need to get on the taupe eye shadow Wisdom stat.
Alexandra of Revolution Organics touching up Katie of the Green Product Junkie
Summer may be fleeting but bronzer is here to stay. Revolution Organics Co-founder Alexandra Zanella showed me how to use the Bronzed Freedom Glow to bring life to the face. A fun and easy trick that actually makes you look like you were in the sun? Blending ever so slightly a dab on the tip of your nose.
After standing in my four-inch booties for hours, I was feeling the burn and onset of blisters. First time in boots all season is killer! It was fate that at that very moment I struck a conversation with Britta Aragon, founder of CV Skinlabs, who spritzed me down with her Rescue + Relief Spray. Instant cooling effect. I can see myself getting a little trigger happy with this mist!
Gotta love how this event all started with my Chicago ladies of La Bella Figura! Thanks for being such wonderful hosts.
Earlier this year, Victoria from La Bella Figura was excitedly telling me about this ingredient they were sourcing for an upcoming launch that was so high in vitamin C it was going to be major for anti-aging skincare. The end product was still in its very early stages of development, but I was already excited to get to testing. Fast forward nearly eight months and La Bella Figura Modern Radiance Concentrate is here! The ingredient that had team LBF so excited was the kakadu plum, which contains the world’s highest source of vitamin C. Which, in context, means that at a minimum, this fruit contains about 100 times the vitamin C concentration of an orange. And what La Bella Figura whipped up with this wonder is indeed major.
Among the benefits of continued use include, improved skin texture, even skin tone, reduced discoloration and more luminosity. There are so many antioxidants in this bottle that strengthen your skin and help it regenerate, it is mind-blowing. Skin naturally thins as we age and this formula gets deep into skin to help get some of that youthful elasticity back by toning the thinning skin. I think of this as the skincare version of my ballet barre class, minus the burn in my muscles. The gel cream consistency, which is in part from the cupuacu seed butter, feels cool and refreshing. LBF recommends to keep this in a cool, dark place to help preserve all that goodness. I’m savoring every pea-sized drop I use, because I have a feeling this is one that I will want to splurge on when my sample runs out!
