Beauty Counter / / review and giveaway

Since having kids, the amount of time that I have to get ready in the morning is limited, and I sometimes only have time to throw on tinted moisturizer a little blush and mascara. finding the perfect mascara that lengthens my lashes, adds a good color and doesn't get clumpy or sticky during the day has been really hard. usually I fluctuate between drugstore mascaras that do a few of those things but not all of them at once, and that usually leaves me with clumpy, stubby short lashes, which is not anyone's favorite. 

my friend, Rachel, who I met through instagram (social media is my favorite!) asked me if i would be interested in sharing about Beautycounter and trying out their new mascara, and I was so excited to say yes. Have you heard about Beautycounter? the first time I heard about it was a little over a year ago when I connected with Rachel online and saw that she was a consultant. Over the last year I have had a handful of friends become consultants and or users of beautycounter products because of their 'switch to safer' approach to skincare and makeup. 

There are so many things that we are putting in and on our bodies that are not made to go in our bodies, and I have recently been trying to switch as many things as I can afford in our lives to a safer alternative. The more I am learning about the harmful chemicals that are in many of our everyday products, the more conscious I have become about what I use or don't use. Beautycounter has committed to never have the following ingredients in their product, which is so reassuring and they are standing by this promise.


  This short video shares more about Beautycounter and what they do.

I'll be really honest, safer products tend to be more costly than what we are used too, and I have felt very convicted that I can not afford to change everything all at once. This has been a real struggle for me because its really tough to find a good balance between what you can change and what you can not. The cool thing about beautycounter is that if you just want to start small and change the way you wash your face, or what you put on your lips, you can. For me, investing in products that I love or use daily first makes the most sense to me, which is why I was so excited to try out this mascara. 

I was skeptical that this would be a mascara that I loved. Mostly because I have never really loved a mascara before. I have read so much about how anticipated this mascara was, how hard the company worked to create this product and to create it safely, and I was hopeful that I would love it. 

The wand is much skinnier than the ones that I am used to, and that worried me at first, but as soon as I swiped it on my lashes and saw how it lengthened them and just enhanced the natural look of my lashes without needing to be plumpy, I got over the skinny wand. I have been wearing the mascara everyday for nearly a week, and it has not been clumpy one time, it goes on smoothly and lengthens well without an eyelash curler, but when i do use a curler I find it gives me a more dramatic look and I love it! 

The first day that i wore it, I put it on before heading out to the lake in the crazy Seattle heat wave we had last week. Usually my lashes clump in the heat and get stuck together, and they didnt, even withstanding some stressed out mama tears after Molly decided to choke on some snacks she was eating.  I have cried multiple times while wearing this mascara actually (what can I say, its been an emotional week) and I haven't experienced the black streaks running down my face that I typically have with other mascaras. Not only does this safer mascara work well beyond what I expected, I can feel great knowing that its not harmful to me in anyway, which makes it a beauty staple in my book! 

Rachel has been so sweet and generous to give away a  $50 beautycounter shop credit to one of you readers, over on my instagram account. All you have to do is like the giveaway post, follow both Rachel and myself and tag a friend - so easy! I'll pick the winner on Monday, May 23. If you are interested in purchasing any Beautycounter products, Rachel has set up a beautycounter social under my name ( here is the link! http://www.beautycounter.com/rachelfaunce/social/93243-Ally's+Social/ ) and I would love if you placed an order under it. 

 Rachel started as a consultant 2 years ago while looking for safe and quality products for herself and then quickly became a consultant because she wanted to share her passion with others, I know she would love to talk  more to any of you about how to become a consultant or any other questions you might have about Beautycounter and their products. You can reach out to her on instagram or through my social site by clicking on the "email me" tab. 

I am so glad I was able to share my new favorite mascara with you, and it feels great knowing that there are safe products out there that actually work. 

As always, the lovely photos and makeup application in this post were taken by the crazy talented Elizabeth Rolf. She can sure make anything look pretty, am I right?!