You must be wondering what's up with all the fuzz about natural skin care. Every day more consumers are talking about it and more companies are coming up with products to match that demand. Here's the deal and it's very simple. There are 3 main topics you should consider when shopping for beauty products:

1) Health reasons: Everything you put on your skin goes directly into your blood stream. If you use beauty products with chemicals and toxic ingredients, odds are those ingredients will end up in your blood and might cause health issues in the long run. There is nothing healthier and kinder to yourself than natural and ORGANIC (please!) beauty products.

2) Animal testing: Unfortunately, we live in a world where most beauty and cleaning products are tested on animals before they can hit shops' shelves. As if testing on animals were not horrible enough, the practices companies use take cruelty to a different level and most animals (monkeys, bunnies, dogs, cats, mice...) become blind, sick, incapacitated or even die. Luckily, there are brands that have become the voice for the voiceless and have made it their mission to avoid animal testing. Tip: ALWAYS read labels and look for words like cruelty-free, no animal testing, not tested on animals, Peta certified, vegan. Most of these products also show the pink bunny (represents vegan and cruelty-free product) on their packaging.

3) Planet as a whole: Natural and organic products are not only kind to your skin and animals but also to the planet as a whole. Most natural and organic beauty products are handmade, fair-trade, sustainable, and eco-friendly and come in recycled packaging. Nonetheless, please, always read labels and perform your research. You will not regret it, guys! In the end, every dollar we spend is our vote on how we want our world to be. Think about it.

With that being said, here's my beauty ritual from morning till dawn! xx

BEFORE BEDTIME:

-Teeth whitening: take 1/2 TSP of banking soda with 1 TBSP lemon juice. Wash your teeth with the bubbles created by that combination. Repeat every night for 1 week and see the results.

-Dark under-eye circles: mix 1/2 TSP turmeric powder with 1/2 TSP olive oil. Make a paste and place under your eyes for 10 minutes every night. BE CAREFUL because turmeric stains everything yellow so make sure you don't touch anything while applying the paste.

-Face Cleaning, Hydrating & Anti-aging: I'm totally obsessed with B aiser Beauty. I've been using their natural and organic face cleansing oil, cucumber spritz and anti-aging serum before bedtime every night.

MORNINGS:

-Face Hydration: I use Aveda's botanical skincare for my morning rituals. Aveda's mission is beautiful, guys. From not testing on animals, to taking mother earth into consideration, to creating products with only natural ingredients.

-Body Hydration: Baiser Beauty Body Oil with 35+ SPF is THE product! Natural, organic, cruelty-free and yummy smelling. It will leave your skin soft and moist while protecting it from the sun.

-Makeup/Blush: Another product of Basier Beauty I adore! Their natural and organic Cream Blush. It's made from beetroot powder... Do I need to say more?

-Makeup/Bronzer: Who doesn't like a natural suntan? I highly recommend this Bronzer made from Cacao Powder and cinnamon!!

-Makeup/Mascara: I've tried several natural mascaras but it wasn't until I discovered Tarte's Amazonian Clay Mascara that my lashes began to look beautiful naturally. Tarte does not test on animals and you can find its products at any Sephora store or online.

-Makeup/Concealer: We've all dealt with dark circles under our eyes, haven't we? Well... Tarte's Concealer has become my soulmate! Creamy, natural, and cruelty-free.

-Makeup/Lips: Love this brand and product. One of the only natural Lip Balms that leaves my lips smooth and moist without chapping them or becoming addictive. (Please note that this product has beeswax)

This weekend I went to visit a 30 acre primate rehab center in Florida that got me inspired to write a blog post about this subject once again. Over the two hours I spent there I couldn't stop myself from laughing and smiling at all the little monkeys jumping around the trees (or on my head and shoulders once they saw I had nuts) FREE. This rehab center has rescued primates from circuses and people who just didn't know how to treat animals with a little humanity. Watching these 150 capuchin monkeys run in freedom made me appreciate even more my decision to go fully vegan and motivated me to write more about animal testing on the blog so I get to open as many eyes as possible. I've talked about this subject many times before but I wouldn't be surprised if it still left some of you in awe. It wasn't until a few years ago that I found out about this and couldn't believe my eyes either. But sadly, we live in a world where humans have gotten used to using and exploiting animals for our their own profit, success or pleasure. Animal testing is one of those horrible practices. Most beauty products test on animals to make sure the ingredients (chemicals, if you ask me!) they are using won't cause any harmful reactions on us, humans. Why do I say chemicals? Well, I'm no doctor or chemist but I've done my extensive research in the past 4 years I've stopped consuming or using products that hurt animals. Something that got to be pretty clear to me was that almost all beauty brands that use 100% natural and organic ingredients have NO NEED to test on animals. Why? Because most of their products are made from fruits, minerals, vegetables, and any oils made from fruits and vegetables. What does this mean? They don't hurt our bodies or add toxins to our system in any way. Therefore, they won't harm us. My point being, ALWAYS (for animals sake and your health) buy vegan and organic products to use on your skin. From make up to body lotions and shampoo. Avoid all ingredients that are hard to pronounce and stick to products that are PURELY made out of things like avocado, or beets, or coconut oil, or aloe vera or sunflower oil, or lavender, etc.

Secondly, look for the BUNNY in all labels. What does this mean? It means that no monkey, or cat, or dog, or bunny was hurt in the making of that product. Thus, no brain or body was opened and injected with chemicals and no innocent animal was tortured and left to die. Click here to watch a 60 second video summarizing animal testing practices.

That being said, join me in the fight to end animal testing by supporting brands that are vegan and cruelty-free and have the cute little bunny logo on all of their products. Here are a few of my favorite products I just can’t live without. Products every girl should have in their cosmetic bag. It’s time to shop smart, kindly and natural, ladies! Xoxo PS: scroll down for pictures of the primate rehab center I visited this weekend.

For Lips

Tarte’s Amazonian Butter Lipstick- Angelic Nude. It’s infused with precious Amazonian butters that hydrate your lips while also coating them with a coral-nude color. Does not get more natural than this. And it comes in the most adorable eco-friendly packaging. (inside and out!) And what I love the most? The box is labeled with all things green and kind and beautiful! See the pictures.

Bare Minerals Marvelous Moxie- Trail Blazer: I used it every day! Just pure nude glitter. It’s naturally derived from Shea, Avocado and Murumuru butters that help hydrate your lips.

For Cheeks

Tarte’s Blissful Cheek Stain.

This is like my prayer answered. Small roll one that you can use on your cheeks and lips to get that natural pink color. Plus…it smells delicious! I take it everywhere with me.

For eyes

Something I can’t live without is a good concealer. Tarte’s Waterproof Amazonian Clay Concealer is my newly found lover. Waterproof, silky, natural, and cruelty-free. It’s not sticky and does not create any line marks (those horrible wrinkle lines, you know). It leaves my eyes looking young, no dark circles, no puffiness.

Mascaras. I have a bipolar relationship with them. The waterproof ones act like plastic on my lashes and it takes me hours to get rid of every drop I put on. The non-waterproof ones… let’s just say I’m an emotional human being who crie during sad movies on dates. Yeap. It happened and I looked like a human-size raccoon! Lesson learned, new mascara, and I chose Josie Maran’s Agan Black Oil Mascara. No parabens, no sulfates. It curls and nourishes my lashes in a delicate way AND it’s cruelty-free!

Tarte's "Brow Architect". An eyebrow liner, shaper and definer all in one! I’ve always believed in natural and beautifully shaped eyebrows and Tarte’s Brow Architect does the work. Incredibly easy to use and its pencil shape is thin and light enough to take it with you everywhere.

For body

And last but not least, SpaRitual’s Handprint Hand Salve lotion. I don’t know about you babes but it took a very long time for me to find the perfect hand lotion. One that is not greasy and leaves my hands moist for hours. This one was like love at first touch. Organic, vegan and cruelty-free.

Natural & Organic Beauty Rituals!

Help animals. One beauty product at a time.