I was introduced to makeup at the age of 13, by my godmother. Upon my first trip to buy makeup, she gave me three rules. First, makeup should enhance your beauty, not change it. Second, try to only use brands that have naturally based ingredients because you want to focus on putting good things onto your skin. Third, listen to your skin because not all makeup is meant for everyone. As a teenage girl, this was the best advice I could receive from my makeup role model.

The first makeup line I was introduced to was bareMinerals, which I used exclusively from the age of 13- 19, during which time it fit all my makeup needs. At that point, my everyday makeup routine consisted of eye primer, my favorite eye shadow (true gold), black eyeliner, and a basic lip gloss. However, the more I became interested in makeup, the more I realized that bareMinerals irritated my skin and failed at meeting my makeup needs. Makeup rule #3: listen to your skin because not all makeup is meant for everyone. So, I began to branch out into more makeup companies.

To start, I tried the biggest names in the beauty store: MAC, Urban Dekay, and Benefit. MAC, Urban Dekay, and Benefit have great products, but sadly after some research and breakouts, I learned they are not for me. Makeup rule #2: Try to only use brands that have naturally based ingredients, because you want to focus on putting good things onto your skin. My breakouts prompted me to do further research about makeup and the other beauty products I put on my skin. I quickly learned that MAC, Urban Dekay, and Benefit are not close to being natural products. While they make a face look fantastic, they made my skin feel suffocated and made my acne worse. When I found out 60% of what you put on your skin is absorbed, it changed how comfortable I felt knowing there were toxins and chemicals in my makeup.

The next brand I tried was Tarte. I was so excited to be using a product that was on the natural, and in some cases, vegan side of makeup. Until it wasn’t. One of my favorite bloggers posted earlier this year that Tarte “greenwashed” their products by marketing them to the more natural consumer as natural and cruelty-free, while they aren’t meeting the standards of what it means to be green, natural, or cruelty-free at all.

So that is what started my journey to find a natural brand of makeup that supports my makeup needs. My first stop was the websites ewg.org/Skin Deep, which I used as my “toxicity measure” to weed out brands that have high levels of chemicals and toxins in them and inform me about what I was putting on my skin. This process took time and was very disheartening. So much of my makeup ended up in the garbage. Brands that I thought were okay turned out to have an unacceptable amount of chemicals and toxins in them. Furthermore, I noticed that a majority of the natural brands out there only catered to a Caucasian demographic.

As an African American woman, I will say it began to feel impossible to make a switch, but with even more research, I was able to discover it’s not. Below are some brands that fit my basic standards: natural makeup, non-mineral base, a wider range of skin tones, and brown girl friendly. It’s entirely possible to be a brown-skinned girl and avoid harsh toxins and chemicals from being absorbed into your skin. I hope one of these companies helps you on your journey.

Sip and Smile,

Yanitee

Product Lines:

• 100% pure
• Dermablend
• Plain Jane Beauty
• Omiana
• Au Naturale Cosmetics

P.S. reviews of these product lines are on there way.