Here at The Chalkboard we’re all about making the wellness journey a gorgeous one. We want to live not only a healthy, green lifestyle, but a well-styled one too – and we know you feel the same. So when we met the incredible team behind non-toxic beauty brand Beautycounter we knew we’d met our match. Not only is the Beautycounter line of products wrapped up in gold and glass packaging we immediately drooled over, but the ingredients in each oil, balm and gloss are clean, pure and as effective as can be.
One of the coolest moves that Beautycounter made in creating this dazzling line of skincare and beauty was to enlist natural beauty guru Christy Coleman as a founding member of their product development team. Christy came up in the fashion world, rouging up the most famous faces of the 90’s as they sat for Vogue covers and walked in Marc Jacobs’ first runway shows. She’s laid out her brushes on some of the coolest sets in Hollywood and has a client roster that reads more like People Mag’s ‘Most Beautiful’ list than anything else. Christy’s skills with a good brow pencil and stories of the 90’s runway shows that comprised a good portion of our glamour-lusting tween dreams are notable enough on their own. But what drew Beautycounter to her – and what makes her the perfect Chalkboard Guest Editor – is Christy’s commitment to all-natural beauty products.
Like so many of the leaders we meet in the fields of natural beauty and green living, Christy’s ‘lightbulb moment’ regarding non-toxic products came to her through a personal crisis. As so many of the leaders we feature here on The Chalkboard have, Christy turned her personal crisis into a public solution: sourcing – and now creating – beauty products that every green goddess can trust and any beauty-junkie would obsess over.
We’re looking forward to a month that will inspire us all to do a little spring cleaning. Dump out that makeup bag and take a closer look as Christy shares her story this month along with a few of her top insider picks. Here’s Christy…
Dear Chalkboard readers,
I am very excited to be a guest editor here at TCM – I’ve been a huge fan ever since launch.
I am a creative who loves beauty. I’m constantly seeking out the ideal shade of coral, the highest-performing skincare products, or sniffing around for the perfect essential oil. But at heart, I am a makeup artist who knows that we all deserve better, safer products. I hold myself to that standard every single day.
I grew up in Texas and Oklahoma, but spent the majority of my career in New York City, where the fashion industry was exciting at every turn. I started off assisting the late Kevyn Aucoin, working at major fashion magazines, and on campaigns for Ralph Lauren and Victoria’s Secret, and didn’t stop hustling for almost 15 years. That is, until my father was diagnosed with Lou Gehrig’s disease. Life as I knew it came to a screeching halt and I immediately moved back to Texas to care for him. After he passed, I lost interest in my work – it didn’t seem important anymore, and I felt like I wasn’t doing anything to leave the world a better place. And then my mother got sick, too.
During that difficult time, I loaded my truck up with a Vitamix and my dog, and spontaneously drove cross-country to Venice Beach, California. I was ready to quit makeup altogether and become a full-time volunteer. By chance, I read Not Just a Pretty Face
by Stacy Malkan and had my “eureka” moment. I became an aesthetician at age of 18, so I was aware of the harmful ingredients in skincare, but I never knew that ingredients in traditional makeup were linked to the very disease that took my father.
The products I used on myself and my clients every single day were harmful. Did you know the last time the government passed a law regulating the ingredients in the cosmetics industry was in 1938? Shocking, right?
So, I started buying from more highly regulated countries in Europe and places like New Zealand and Australia. For a year, I played mad scientist mixing and matching formulas in an effort to make better, safer products to use on my clients. After that year, I emerged with my cleaned-up makeup kit, and I haven’t looked back since.
Three years ago, I joined the founders of Beautycounter in building a new brand because I believed we could fill a much-needed void to make beautiful products safe. March 4th marks our one-year anniversary of officially being in business. In 365 days, Beautycounter has made over 120,000 safe products available in the marketplace – a huge win. I’ve made it my life’s work to get effective, high-performing, and non-toxic personal care products into the hands of everyone. In a few weeks, we launch Countertime, our seven-piece anti-aging line that’s made with powerful natural and botanical active ingredients, and without toxic retinol and I couldn’t be more proud.
Exciting things are happening here at Beautycounter.
I can’t think of a better way to celebrate than with you all here on The Chalkboard.
Christy Coleman
