I became interested in clean beauty quite by chance. I was living in Germany at the time and I stumbled across a tiny yet very sweet little cosmetics store in the town I lived in and so one day I popped in to have a look around. The man who worked in there was very knowledgeable and helpful and I hadn’t been in there very long before we were discussing my skin type (which I didn’t have a clue about but he did!) and what were the best products in the store for me. He stocked three brands which I quickly came to love; Lavera, Weleda and Dr Hauschka.

Fast forward fifteen years and my journey with clean beauty products has only deepened. I started to delve deeper into this part of the industry about eight years ago when I decided that I really needed to get into an anti-aging regime. I looked around on the internet and came across a blog called The Skin Care Edit written by Michelle Villet who is a beauty journalist. She is very pro “clean” being the best way and so I started learning about serums and the order you use them in, at the same time as the different clean skincare brands out there. One thing I noticed very quickly was that as my skincare routine changed and developed, my hormonal acne disappeared. I almost never have issues with my skin nowadays whereas I used to suffer dreadfully due to hormonal changes each month. Very soon clean skincare turned into clean makeup as well and you could kind of say “the rest is history” seeing as I am now a clean beauty makeup artist!

My journey didn’t end there though and that is something that I really like about clean cosmetics. There is always something new and exciting happening in the industry and it keeps things interesting.A couple of years ago I went on a nutrition course hosted by Angelique Panagos, who is a hormone nutrition specialist. I suffer with a uterine disease called adenomyosis and it was wreaking havoc with my life and my body and I decided that if skincare could help my skin then maybe food could help my body. Angelique is a miracle worker and I noticed constant changes through the twelve week course. One of the modules that we learned about was…….yes, clean beauty! And also ways in which to lower toxins in your life generally. Swapping plastic for glass or metal, clingfilm for beeswax wraps, that kind of thing. From the get go Angelique explained that what she was going to teach us wasn’t just going to have an affect on our hormonal health but also on our overall health. All these changes we were making were going to help our bodies fight all kinds of diseases.

So my interest in clean beauty broadened to the idea of clean living, which in time turned into a passion for sustainability as well. When I first started to reduce my plastic content it wasn’t for the planet (sadly), I was far too focused on my own personal battles. However, the more I learned about it and the more that I discovered brands (such as MOB Beauty and Axiology) the more I realised that it is possible to enjoy makeup without damaging the planet at the same time.

Beauty Clean By Amy is about far more than just clean ingredients. It is ingredients, sustainability and health. I hope you can join me in this space on a regular basis to learn more about clean makeup, how to find sustainable alternatives to those everyday necessities and how we can take care of our bodies and the planet at the same time.