Have you ever wondered if there were a completely natural, organic, historically-inspired way to care for your skin and apply makeup? For years, I wondered the same thing.
In fact, I have spent years perfecting my current skin care routine, after “breaking up with” commercial mainstream beauty products. Why did I do this? I developed an extreme lack of confidence in their ingredients and their health effects. After all, our skin is our biggest organ, and it is very absorbent. Everything we put on our skin is absorbed into our bodies.
Are you looking for a safer, more natural way to care for your skin, with minimal products and time? Are you wondering if there is any such thing as effective, beautiful natural makeup? This article and video are for you.
So, in this article and video I will be sharing:
*The main reason why I will never use most commercial skin and beauty products.
*The simple, natural, and historically-inspired process that I have been perfecting for years to care for my skin and keep it moisturized, glowy, and protected from the elements.
*How I use raw, natural, and multi-purpose ingredients to care for my skin, which can also be used in hair care.
*The Asian massage technique that has made a huge positive difference for my face.
*The natural makeup company that I now almost exclusively buy all of my makeup products from. TRULY natural! (Not sponsored, but I do have affiliate links below for where you can purchase)
*Finally, I will demonstrate with you the way I apply my natural makeup for a classic, elegant, and natural look which is how you see me on all of my videos.
Why Use Natural Skin and Beauty Products?
Our skin is our largest organ. Everything we apply to our skin ends up in our bodies. Wow - isn’t this something big to take in?
Skin care and makeup especially are something many of us are applying to our faces daily, which makes it even more important to evaluate the ingredients in the products we use. I have come to have very high standards when it comes to the products I choose to use.
To see the natural, historically-inspired ways I care for my hair that have grown it from chin to hip length, read the articles here:
Storytime
I didn’t always think this way - through high-school and into early adulthood I had a massive collection of completely mainstream, chemical laden makeup and skincare. I then went through a long phase of not wearing any makeup, while simultaneously developing a natural way of caring for my skin and keeping it moisturized.
Nowadays, I still use pretty much exclusively raw natural ingredients for my skin care, but since I have found one particular natural makeup company that actually is natural, I do buy a few simple makeup items from them because hey -it’s nice to look a little prettier on some days.
My “Natural Standard” for Skin Care and Makeup
Rather than simply looking for products that claim to not use certain highly toxic chemicals, but are still comprised of a chemical soup of ingredients, I take things one step farther.
I refuse to use anything on my face, body, or hair, which is not technically edible. Edibility is really the best test of safety when it comes to beauty products. No, we aren’t eating them, but our bodies ARE absorbing the ingredients, especially with prolonged use.
I will be walking you all through a real morning with me of getting ready to film a video. First, we will go over my morning skin care routine. My skin care routine is almost completely comprised of raw natural ingredients, many of which are the same natural ingredients that I use for my hair. As a busy mom, my skin care is quick and simple - while still being very effective at keeping my skin glowy and protected from the elements.
A brief word about natural beauty minimalism. In my mind, I would rather buy one natural raw ingredient that has multiple functions for my skin, hair, and body, then have to buy hundreds of different products that all have very specific usages. It also makes this way of caring for my skin, body, and hair, much more affordable.
A Quick Note about One of My Skin Care Products
Let’s talk about one of the skincare products you are going to be seeing me using today. I have been using an all natural, highly effective skin cream that my best friend Jessica makes herself. It is likewise made with all natural oils and butters and essential oils, and it is one of my favourite parts of my skin care ritual that I use morning and night. This cream is very moisturizing but not overly so , works for all skin types, and has amazing anti-aging properties. It is great for any kind of eczema, and can also be used in hair care.
I say all this because I have been trying to convince Jessica to begin selling this oil on a larger scale online, and she is thinking about it. If, after watching this video and the demonstration of how I use Jessica’s skin cream, you feel interested in buying some, please leave a comment below stating your interest and I’m sure that would be a big encouragement for her to dive into selling it!
After my morning skin care routine, I will show you the simple, natural makeup products use and adore, and how I apply them for a classic, natural makeup look. Almost all of these makeup products are from one particular company that more than exceeds my strict personal standards when it comes to the products I choose to use. Let’s talk about them now.
The Natural Makeup Company I Use and Recommend
I exclusively use makeup products from the company “100 Percent Pure”. I am not sponsored by this company, though I would love to be in the future. I LOVE this makeup company because they understand that truly safe, natural makeup is not merely the absence of known toxins, but actually having every ingredient come straight from nature. Most of their makeup products, including their highly effective foundations, eyeliners and mascaras, are completely pigmented with fruit, such as berries. Can you believe that?
Historically Inspired?
I do take inspiration from history with my makeup in some ways, and in some ways I choose to depart to form my own makeup look that suits my face and personal tastes.
When it comes to skin care, I of course take inspiration from history, since they were exclusively using natural and usually safe (with a few notable exceptions) ingredients to care for their skin in a simple way. I also take some inspiration from Asian skin and body care, which I will explain as we go. If you would like more information on any of these practices than I am able to give in this video, please leave a comment below. If I get enough comments requesting a certain video topic, I will definitely put it on my list of future video ideas. That is how this very video came to be!
If you are interested in buying any of the skin care or makeup products I mention, they will all be linked in the next section, along with a brief explanation of how I use each product and technique, and what its benefits are. For a full explanation and demonstration, please watch the video accompanying this article (above).
Organic Beauty Routine
Skin Care
Rose Water
Rose water spray, also known as rose hydrosol. This is a byproduct of making essential oil from rose petals. It is moisturizing, toning, and anti-aging. It also smells amazing! I use this on my skin first to get actual moisture into it, before proceeding to the next step of using oil and butters to seal in this moisture . . .
Red Raspberry Seed Oil
Raspberry seed oil is one of my favourite skin care oils. It is light, moisturizing, and smells lovely. It also has natural SPF factor, can lighten sun spots and scars, and is renowned for its anti-aging properties.
Hand Crafted Whipped Face and Body Butter
Time for the amazing skin cream that my friend Jessica makes. She is currently thinking about selling it online, so be sure to comment if you are an interested future buyer! This cream is a light, whipped mixture of coconut oil, shea butter, grapeseed oil, frankincense essential oil, and clary sage essential oil. It is a light yet deeply moisturizing cream, and creates a layer of protection over the skin from wind and elements. It reduces fine lines, keeps the skin soft and supple, and can treat conditions like eczema. The addition of frankincense and clary sage essential oil make this face cream a powerhouse for anti-aging and general skin health and beauty.
Gua Sha Facial Massage
Gua Sha originates from Ancient China, and is a technique of massaging the face, body, and hands, using smooth edged tools of various shapes to gently 'scrape' and push across the skin. You can buy a set here. This gentle scraping motion is especially helpful for massaging lymph nodes (there are tons in your face) thus clearing toxins and congestion as well as encouraging blood circulation. All of this is amazing for keeping the skin and face looking young, lifted, and slim. It is amazing for depuffing the face because it helps remove fluid buildup, and it can also encourage fluid to go into the places where we generally want some plumpness, like in our lips.
Japanese "Zogan Massage"
Finally, I finish up with a few strokes of a face lifting Japanese lymph massage technique known as “Zogan massage”. This is not the full massage routine, just a small portion of it to compliment the gua sha I have already done. The full massage technique was developed by Japanese beautician Yukoko Tanaka, and I don’t have enough good things to say about it. Zogan massager really has all of the same benefits as gua shua, and I like using both of them in combination, or just the massage on its own depending on how I am feeling, or if my tools are handy. Some of my favourite aspects of this massage to compliment the gua sha are the nose and mouth massage, and I have seriously noticed a huge difference in my lips and how plump they are since incorporating this. Not to mention slimming down my nose a little bit. Although I don't always get to it as a busy mom, my goal is to use some form of facial massage every day.
Homemade Mineral Sunscreen
Zinc oxide was actually used as a skin powder in the Victorian era, and it was considered very high-end back then. I make my natural sunscreen by simply mixing zinc oxide powder with any type of cream that I have on hand. In this case, I mixed the zinc oxide with this small container of Egyptian Magic skin cream, which is an all natural cream made with olive oil, beeswax, honey, and other bee products.
Coffee Bean Caffeine Eye Cream
This is an award-winning eye cream from 100 Percent Pure. It reduces under-eye puffiness and fine lines, while helping to brighten up the eye area. Most of us could use some of this in the morning, myself included!
BB Cream
I don't like putting foundation or concealer on my face, but I do love this BB cream from 100 Percent Pure. BB cream originates from Asian skin care, and is essentially a light, moisturizing, anti-aging face cream that contains some skin coloured pigment to help blur any imperfections while moisturizing your face. I love it because it doesn't feel like I'm wearing any makeup, and it gives me a glowy, dewy finish, while helping to make my skin a little more uniform.
Liquid Highlighter
I really do love a dewy finish for my skin, so it is no surprise that I love this Luminating Creme from 100 Percent Pure. I much prefer it to powder highlighters, because I prefer not to use powder of any kind on my face as a matter of preference. I apply this highlighter mostly around my eyes - eyelids, under-eyes, and inner corners, as well as other high points of my face. This includes my cheek bones, the bridge of my nose, above my upper lip, and my forehead.
Filling in My Brows
Defining and slightly darkening my brows is the most important part of my makeup routine. In fact, if I only have time or inclination to do one thing, it is filling in my brows. Well defined and shapely brows make a huge difference to almost everyone's face - unless of course, you are blessed with naturally well-defined eyebrows. Lucky you! I use this creamy brow filler called Long Last Brows from 100 Percent Pure and a small angled brush to fill in my brows. I focus more of the product of the outer half of my eyebrows, as well as the bottom edge of my brows. This product, in addition to filling in and defining my brows, also helps to hold the brow hairs in place. My eyebrow hairs are a little curly, so this helps!
Then I brush my eyebrows with a spoolie brush with upward strokes. This helps everything look more natural. I finish off with this Green Tea Fibre Brow Builder from 100 Percent Pure. It helps to naturally build up any sparse areas in my brows, as well as holding the brow hairs in place.
Fruit Pigmented "Rose Gold" Eyeshadow Palette
I love my Rose Gold eyeshadow palette from 100 Percent Pure. It is basically the only palette you will ever need if you are a minimalist like me - it has a few rosy nude colours for eyes, as well as a highlighter and blush colour. I start off by applying the lightest highlighter shade on my eyelids and inner corners of my eyes. Then I use the medium tone to define my crease, and because I like a winged eye shape, I wing out this crease shape at the outer corner. Then I go in with a little of the darkest shade and apply it just to the outer corner of my crease area. Then I blend all this together, though I really need to get a dedicated blending brush!
Eyeliner
I am currently using eyeliners from a couple different natural brands which aren't my top choice, so I will go ahead and link a great fruit pigmented pencil eyeliner from 100 Percent Pure. I am very particular about the colour of eyeliner and mascara I like to use (dark purple is my favourite) and at the time those colours were out of stock from 100 Percent Pure. Another eyeliner I have used and loved from 100 Percent Pure is their liquid eyeliner in the colour "blackberry". I prefer not to use straight black on my eyes because as a classical painting student, I learned never to use straight black paint in a painting but rather to mix a very dark colour instead, because black is a 'deadening' colour.
On to the application. If it is more of a special occasion, I will usually start by "tight-lining" my eyes, which is where you line your top waterline - this helps darken and thicken up your lash line. I don't love having product this close to my eyes, which is why I only do it occasionally. Then, I carefully line my top lid, keeping the line as thin as possible, except for the outer half of my eye where I make it a little thicker.
Then, it's time to add a "wing". Since I started wearing makeup as a teenager, I have always loved winged eyeliner shapes. I don't think this will ever change! I vacillate between either a traditional cat-eye shape, where the eyeliner wing sharply angles up to extend the angle of the lower edge of the eye, or more of an Egyptian winged liner shape. Egyptian winged liner is where the wing basically extends straight out from the outer corner of the eye, rather than angling up. Lately, I feel this suits my own eye shape better and creates the illusion of a much larger eye, as well as longer lashes at the outer corner. Also, the advantage of using brown or deep purple liner rather than black, is that your liner can create the illusion of a shadow being cast by your lashes, rather than obviously being a drawn-on line.
Finally, I use a famous trick from Marilyn Monroe's makeup artist. I create a little "reverse wing" shape on the outer lower corner of my eye, to mimic a shadow being cast by my lower lashes. I use a softer touch with this that the upper liswxne, of course! I smudge out my eyeliner where necessary to finish, and I'm ready for mascara!
Fruit Pigmented Lengthening Mascara
After curling my lashes (which I reserve for 'special occasions' because my lashes don't love it), it's time to apply mascara! I use and love fruit pigmented lengthening mascara in the colour blackberry, from 100 Percent Pure. Again, this is another situation where I prefer not to use straight black. I love the dark purple colour of this mascara. I focus my mascara on the outer lashes, as well as the tips of my lashes. I don't like applying mascara heavily at the base of my lashes, because it's not the best for lash and eye health. I use a sideways back and forth motion with the mascara wand, to avoid clumps and to create more volume. This mascara from 100 Percent Pure is light and buildable, so I usually apply a couple coats. It doesn't smudge or flake, but it is still easy to remove at the end of the day without damaging my lashes. Perfect! Time for lipstick . . .
Lipstick/Rouge
It's time to add colour to my face! Nowadays, we tend to add colour by using bronzers, powder blush, and contouring to our face. But historically, they added colour by simply adding red to their lips and cheeks. I much prefer this approach, and it is also more simple for me.
I first apply red to my lips with my fruit pigmented cocoa butter matte lipstick in "blood orange" from 100 Percent Pure. I have a unique way of applying lipstick. For everyday use, I tend to use it more as a lip stain than a lip stick. The good thing about a bright red colour is that it can either create a red lip, or a soft pink lip, depending on how much product you choose to apply. I learned this principle from my time as a classical oil painter, and it really helps me save on buying a million different colours of lipstick. I use a lip brush to apply it to my lips - for filming a video, I go for a full on red lip, but on an everyday basis I just lightly dab the red on my lips and then blend it in for a more natural look.
Then, I use the same red lipstick to add a red colour to my cheeks. Creamy cheek colour is so much better than powdered blush, in my opinion. In historical makeup, they used rouge, which is much the same. Because it can melt into the skin rather than sitting on top of it, it appears much more natural. I like red because a little goes a long way, and after half an hour of wear it really melts into my face and looks like a natural flush. I dab on a little and then blend it in with my fingers. It looks a little gaudy at first but quickly melts into my skin.
Another great thing about a red cheek colour is that it inherently detracts attention away from other imperfections or areas of redness on the skin, simply by contrast. This is a big secret for how I can "get away with" not using any foundation or concealer.
Product Links
👱♀️ Skincare products:
💄 Makeup products:
Conclusion
I hope you all enjoyed this peek into my natural skin care and makeup routine! If you are feeling inspired to try any of these products or techniques, be sure to let me know in the comments! If you found this article and video wildly helpful and inspiring, consider virtually “buying me a coffee” through the link in my description. Thanks - your support helps me to keep creating content like this for you!
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Contact me at katherine@katherinesewing.com