Hi! Welcome to my first blog post. For my first post, I thought it would be fitting to explain how my green beauty journey began.
Approximately 3 years ago, I began to notice some tiny little bumps on my belly. It started with a few, but after a few days, I had several more on my belly, as well as my chest and back. I already knew that I had several different allergens in general (food and environmental), so I just assumed it was some sort of new allergy to something. I went to the dermatologist and several days of allergy testing later, I learned that out of all of the allergens they had tested me on, only one allergen had come back positive: FRAGRANCE. I had two instant thoughts:
- Thank God only ONE out of the 30 or so allergens came back positive (again, since I was already allergic to so many different things, I was worried I would be allergic to a bunch of new things too)
- Wait a minute… fragrance?… as in scent?… doesn’t EVERYTHING have a scent? How the heck am I supposed to avoid THAT?!
In addition to receiving my positive test results, I also received a list of items that contain “fragrance” and artificial fragrance derivatives. Shampoo, soap, lotion, moisturizer, deodorant, gum, toothpaste, etc. These results also explained why I had always been SO sensitive to perfumes – they would trigger headaches and migraines and irritate my lungs (I have asthma).
The doctor had initially recommended I use over the counter products from the pharmacy that were labeled as “unscented.” I very quickly learned that many “unscented” products actually contain “masking fragrance” so that it smells neutral, so my allergic reactions continued.
Since the world of mainstream makeup, hair, and body products had started to betray me and only perpetuated my allergy issues, I started to do more research into the world of natural beauty products. I learned about different ingredients, such as coconut oil, broccoli seed oil, argan oil, as well as essential oils, such as lavender and tea tree oil. My allergic reactions disappeared… permanently 🙂
My skin became brighter and clearer – bye bye pimples and acne! Those have now become an occasional nuisance, not an ever-present reality. Softer and shinier hair that is enhanced by all natural sea salt sprays and argan oil. I can use body sprays with essential oils that leave a light scent but don’t bother my skin or lungs. Shea butter lotions that keep my skin super soft 🙂 oh and finding a natural deodorant… that is a whole other journey for another day haha
My goal here at Green Beauty Chic Style is two-fold: 1) I want to spread the word about all of the wonderful green beauty products that changed my life and 2) merge that with my love of affordable fashion and classic style.
Hope you’ll follow me on my continued journey 🙂
Green Beauty - Chic Style 