You know I had to ditch my Mary Kay, right?  After 22 years of wearing it and 20 years of being a “consultant” (all so I could buy my own products at cost) I finally threw in the towel and mailed all my stock back to the company.  Once you make that final decision to return your stock, there’s no going back.  Ever.  So says the contract one has to sign.

But Mary Kay, Inc. gave me NO indication that they would ever give two hoots about chemical ingredients and women’s health in the same sentence.  I held onto my product for eleven months before finally succumbing to the bitter truth and beating the twelve-month return deadline.  And I have to say, the more time that passed, the more convinced I  was that I could never, ever use those products again.

My purpose for this blog begins with my daughter, as you are likely well aware.  She’s nine now, and when that day comes when she is ready to start wearing makeup, I have to be ready with products that are safe for her.  So I have to start with myself now, in order to be her example (and know where to shop.)

Meet Lisa at Style Essentials.  A while back Lisa had tweeted about some awesome natural mascara, and I decided to snoop around her shop for a while.  She sells makeup, skin
care, and jewelry… what a cool find!  To start with, I bought a mascara, an eyeliner brush, and a mineral primer.  Lisa even threw in a sample of some mineral eye color.  And I love them all! (That eye color sample?  Really great!!)

The mascara is seriously awesome.  No junk in it.  You know the ingredients I’m talking about…parabens, DEAs, petro-chemicals, sulfates, and on and on.  None of that is in  this mascara.  I use two coats of it, and I’m good to go.  And it doesn’t smudge or smear or flake during the day, but it removes easily when I’m washing my face.  I don’t ever wake up with raccoon eyes because my makeup didn’t all wash off the night before.  I am LOVIN’ this!!

I have turned to Lisa for advice on colors, products and how-to’s.  And she has responded like SuperWoman by dropping samples in the mail to me.  She offers to help with color choices, answers any questions I have, and is super-quick to assist in helping me find what I need.  In short, Lisa rocks!!  I recently purchased a new foundation, concealer and blush, plus got another eye color sample, a lip color sample, and a free handcrafted lavender lip balm.  (Do you hear the angels singing the Hallelujah chorus?  Listen…)  I have loved every sample she has sent me, and I have a growing wishlist of items in her store.  I can’t say enough good things about Style Essentials.  When I wasn’t sure if I was using the mineral primer correctly, Lisa pointed me to her video files where I saw her and fellow tweep Alison (aka Warrior Woman from Wednesday’s post) together.

{smile…}

You can find Lisa on Twitter and Facebook to stay connected on specials, new products and key ingredient commentary.

But in the meantime, would you like to try a mascara?  How about a free one?  Comment here and I’ll randomly select a winner.  Then I’ll buy you one and have Lisa send it right to you – just let me know if you prefer Black or Espresso Brown.  I’ll draw tomorrow morning.  Sound good?  Come on…let me help move you in the right direction, cosmetically speaking.  Whaddaya got to lose?  I mean, besides all those nasty chemicals… 😉

MASCARA WINNER UPDATE: Saturday, May 28 8:48 a.m. (Toldja I was gonna sleep in!)

Alright folks, this drawing was facilitated by my nephew with my son supervising.  I was going to do one of those random comment pickers on the web, but it got complicated and time was ticking.  I figured you’d trust an 8-year old boy who really has no vested interest in who wins mascara.  True?  So I wrote everyone’s name down twice, folded up the papers and let him draw from a literal bucket.  I would have videoed it if only my batteries were charged.

Aaaaaaaaaand, the winner of the mascara is Jessica.  Congrats! I’ll direct message ya and find out what color you prefer.  🙂