Originally published at Ladybud Magazine

I have been on a quest to clean out my makeup bag. There is really a lot of stuff out there and I keep buying things only to use them once. I have been trying to seek out natural alternatives to turn into staples that meet all of the following criteria: affordable, ethically-sourced, environmentally friendly, feels and looks clean on my skin, comes from a company with responsible business practices and, most importantly, works as well if not better than a non-natural alternative. Seriously though, as much of a dirty hippy as I may seem, I really hold out on converting to natural products until I find just the right ones.

For instance, I went through every terrible natural deodorant I could, some even that made me smell worse, until I landed with Aubrey’s E plus High C roll on deodorant, which I was turned onto by my friend Jessica, who is a bit of an expert on these things.

Makeup is one of the final frontiers of natural for me. Most natural makeups I have found don’t work, especially eye shadows, which usually have weak coverage when it comes to natural alternatives. I was recently turned onto 100% Pure’s Black Tea Mascara and have come around quite strongly to their eyeshadows as well, particularly the shade Vanilla Sugar.

Vanilla Sugar is an incredible neutral. After using eyelid primer (usually Urban Decay) I like to do a thick layer of a neutral shade above and below my eyelashes. It adds a more awake and even look to my face, more dramatically noticed when I don’t really feel that way and soft and natural when I do. I have pale skin so this particular shade blends in, adds a smooth texture and a very slight healthy pink glow– but it will also absolutely pop on very dark skin tones as well, in a very dramatically angelic way.

100% Pure Fruit Pigmented Eye Shadow in Cocoa Plum $8. Click to buy!

The texture is thick enough to stay in place but not so thick it feels like you have a painted-on face. It just looks clean, and it’s a great color for professional situations (the office) or low-key outdoor days– if you are the kind of girl who must have a few stitches of makeup on to go on a hike or to the beach (which I totally admit to, by the way.)

I like to layer it with a quick splash of Urban Decay’s Verve found in the Naked 2 Palette. It’s a nice glimmery sheen but not girly girl, Lisa Frank overkill. For a good evening or “out” look, it is nice to layer it slightly thicker with 100% Pure’s Cocoa Plum eyeshade, which adds a subtle dramatic dark-purple shade that gives off the vibe you aren’t trying that hard, you just naturally look that good… which, is what I love about the 100% Pure brand all around, being natural, clean and ethical is just a given with their products, and it looks really fucking good.