She already makes a beeline for natural food and household products, but can New York writer Ruby Warrington go the whole way in transforming her beauty regime from all-out luxury to all-out organic?

Like any self-respecting health and eco-conscious babe, I dutifully check the labels of my groceries for ‘nasties’. As I've become more interested in looking after my body and the planet, not only have I stopped eating meat, gluten, sugar and dairy, I also avoid anything overly processed, and opt for organic and non-GMO choices where possible. Oh Gwyneth, you’d be proud! And I’d be lying if I said much of this wasn’t down to my stomach being as flat as a pancake and my skin looking better than it’s ever done – vanity, it seems, can be a powerful motivator.

And with this in mind, I’ve started checking the labels of my beauty products too. A few months back, I attended a talk by make-up artist Rebecca Casciano who works exclusively with natural products (although many in the industry prefer the term ‘green’ as ‘natural’ can be misleading). ‘The skin can absorb up to 70% of what we apply to it’, she told us. ‘In the US, that means thousands of ingredients that haven’t been tested for long-term safety’. Scary stuff, and what’s more; ‘Natural, plant-based ingredients will help maintain prettier hair, skin and nails as we age’.

"Natural, plant-based ingredients will help maintain prettier hair, skin and nails as we age" - Rebecca Casciano, make-up artist and natural beauty expert

That was me sold, and so began my own experimentation with the world of green beauty. But, I wanted to know if I could I set aside my expensive, glossy make-up and even more expensive luxury skincare and go totally green on the beauty front? Well, I wasn’t about to ditch the 22 (yes, I counted) products I actually use on a weekly basis and re-stock my cabinet overnight. That would cost, literally, thousands of pounds. And who’s to know what works and what doesn’t? Casciano’s number one rule is to start; ‘with skincare, such as face and body moisturizers and cleansers. We use these products on a daily basis and over the largest areas of our skin’. And when it comes to reading labels; ‘look for products that are free of parabens, synthetic fragrance, sulfates and petroleum, as well as cruelty-free’ (the former being the high-fructose corn syrup and MSGs of the beauty world). 

Here’s what happened…

My skin

My first move was to switch up my Estee Lauder Re-Nutriv Crème for Dr Hauschka’s Melissa Day Cream (£25) (all organic, none of Casciano’s bad guys). I have come to love the cream, which I even managed to stockpile for £15 a tube on a recent visit to Berlin (vs. £90 for my Estee Lauder). Sure, the packaging isn’t as swish, but shouldn't I be more concerned about my packaging? I also asked Casciano to recommend a toner for the enlarged pores on my T-zone, and she suggested pure rose water. I’ve been using an organic one by the Persian Rose Apothecary (only £9!) and not only is the smell utterly intoxicating, my pores look like they’ve shrunk in half. Another star skincare product is Juice Beauty’s Stem Cellular Repair CC Cream (£23) which is rich and luxurious and feels literally like a second (better) skin. I’m already hooked. Result.

My body

A self-confessed tanorexic, finding a good product to replace my trusty St Tropez was a priority. But one organic tanning formula I tried was so un-user friendly I couldn’t even get the product onto my tanning mitt – the liquid literally kept rolling off onto my bathroom floor. It’s also a great example of the fact that, as Casciano pointed out, ‘organic doesn’t always mean it’s a great product’. But I have had some luck in the deodorant department. As a committed Mitchum girl, I usually don’t take any risks in this area, but I’ve been seriously impressed with Green People’s Sensitive Natural Deodorant (£8.50) – which is really good news, as the link between aluminium in underarm deodorant and breast cancer, while unproven, is still a pretty scary prospect. 

My make-up

So here’s where things get trickier. Not only we are talking about replacing exact shade matches that have been a result of years of trial and error, but packaging somehow becomes way more important when you’re carrying the products around with you. Plus, these are the products tasked with actually making me look more beautiful. And sure, a mascara by Kjaer Weis (£22.50) does look gorgeous, but the product itself isn’t quite a match for my old favourite, Maybelline Great Lash. I also love the look of Ilia’s Lipstick (£15) - a bestseller on Net-a-Porter, apparently. But Ilia’s pillar-box red, Wild Child – just doesn’t work as well on me as MAC’s Lady Danger. I’m also loath to give up my L’Oreal Extra-Intense Liquid Pencil Eyeliner (so smooth and glossy!), while an eye-shadow duo by Green People (£17.50) comes in a box that looks like it was made in an arts and crafts session. One thing I do love though, is my Lakshmi fragrance oil by The Goddess Line (£18), which smells a lot like Lanvin’s Rumeur and seems to always garner comments. 

My hair 

Perhaps the most difficult area of all. Not so long ago, I had a haircut at specialist curly hair salon Devachan, where I practically broke down in tears when the stylist told me the only way to get my natural kinks in shape was to stop colouring and shampooing my hair altogether. Yeah…right.  Perhaps if I could go and live on a remote island in the South Pacific for a year. In the meantime, I’ve been happily highlighting and blow-drying my curls into submission (read: dead straight) like I have since I was 16, which requires lashings of Bumble & Bumble’s Straight Blow Dry balm and regular reapplication of toxic chemical dye. Forgive me, follicles! I’m also a dry shampoo addict (I’m sure my hair overproduces oil to combat all the dyeing and drying), and so I decide the least I can do is trade my brilliant Batiste for a product called Green Rootine by Jonathan (£11) – which claims to be 'synthetic free, paraben free, petrochemical free' and vegan, does the trick, sort of, but is way harder to apply. I also like the way Origins’ Ginger Up shampoo and conditioner (£14 each) - which is formulated without 'parabens, phythalates, propylene glycol, mineral oil, PABA, petrolatum, paraffin, DEA, synthetic color, synthetic fragrance, animal Ingredients' (and breathe) - makes my hair feel so soft, even if they smell less 'clean' and more like something out of a fancy Christmas hamper.

My forays into the world of green beauty have been a little bit hit and miss. I’ve discovered some brilliant alternatives which I’ll definitely include in my regime going forward, the Persian Rose Water was a revelation - such a beautiful product to use - and the Juice Beauty CC cream, the Green People deodorant and the Dr Hauschka cream have earnt a permanent place in my beauty kit. And yet, I will never give up my St Tropez, my Batiste and my proper mascara (Spirit Demerson of Spirit Beauty Lounge told me the new mascara by W3ll People is the first green one to come on the market that's any good). 

Like most women I can become very attached to my tried-and-tested favourites (see the hysteria that often ensues when your go-to product is discontinued), and finding the right formulations for me feels like it’s going to be a lengthy - and expensive - process. But there has been one interesting shift. I look forward to using my green products in a way I never have before, and I think it’s because when I use them I feel like I'm somehow nurturing my body. Conversely, I’m more aware of the chemicals I could be ingesting when I don’t. And it makes sense that the more women who feel this way, and the more vocal we are about it, the more research and development there’ll be into green beauty solutions that really do tick all our boxes. 

Follow Ruby @The_Numinous