You know that I love my makeup and skincare products, as much as the next girl! 

A little over a year ago I learned how unsafe popular cosmetics brands are. I was at my doctor's office feeling completely frustrated.

I was still feeling lifeless with no energy, gaining weight and my gut that was a hot mess. My doctor was going on and on about how my cortisol levels were still off and as such so were the rest of my hormones. I asked her what else could be an influencing factor here. She shared with me something that blew my mind.

My doctor asked me if I how often I wear makeup. She went on to explain how some cosmetic brands have toxic ingredients that can wreak havoc on our bodies. I was so surprised by this! 

So I did my own research and was shocked by what I learned. It made me want to take action right away. So I ended up throwing out my five containers of makeup.

And thus began my year-long pursuit for safer products.

I asked my contacts in the beauty industry and was told to check out a few brands - a popular one sold in department stores, other lesser known ones sold in smaller retail stores.

First I tried the smaller retail stores only find poor customer service and salespeople who were clueless about what I cared about. So I went on to the larger retail stores and settled on the brand they told me was safe. But I didn't love the product. I thought that it was too powdery and made me look ashy. But I used it - for a year - sparingly because I wasn't aware of any other options. Finding products that were both safe and met my standards was a challenge. 

Until now.

One evening while randomly scrolling through Instagram, I came across this post. I was intrigued and clicked on the link in the profile and went down a black hole of learning anything and everything I could about Beautycounter.

And absolutely fell in love with the brand, the products, the company and its mission. 

They talked my talk, and cared about what I cared about!

Did you know that the US only bans 11 ingredients from our beauty products, while our counterparts in the EU ban close to 1,400?

What do they know that we don't know? They know that many of the ingredients allowed in our cosmetics have been linked to cancer or are known hormone disruptors.

Children are experiencing puberty much earlier than ever before, younger couples are having trouble conceiving, and rates of breast cancer are now 1 in 8 women. Of these women, 90% of them do not have the cancer susceptibility gene, which means that it’s coming from somewhere, most likely, from exposure to chemicals we encounter in our daily life, through food, our products, and our environment.

I was as shocked as you when I learned this information. Once I learned it, though, I couldn't unlearn it. I wanted to do something about it. As I've been learning more about this, my passion about reducing my own risks and using safer products whenever I can has grown. 

Since becoming a health coach, my mission has been to educate everyone on how we can live our healthiest lives, which goes hand-in-hand with Beautycounter's.

Beautycounter's mission is to educate and get safe products into the hands of everyone. 

This is an all too important message that must be shared with the women in my life, and with women everywhere!

So I decided to join them in the pursuit of better beauty and  become a consultant!

The average woman uses 12-20 products before she even leaves her house. Before you say that is not you, start counting your deodorant, your face wash, your toothpaste, your body lotion, your sunscreen. It all adds up very quickly! All of these products are opportunities for chemicals to get absorbed into our bodies. Our skin is our largest organ after all! 

We can't control everything in our environment that can impact our long-term health, but choosing healthy foods and safer skincare products, is something we can do to reduce our risks.

Makeup is one area that we want our products to really work. 

This mission is about education first, product second.

More than anything, I want to share this information with you and raise your awareness, so you can start making safer choices for you and for your family.

To learn more, watch this short interview with MSNBC.

You might be wondering, "Well, what can I do?"

Check your products for safety information. The Environmental Working Group (EWG) is a great nonprofit that researches products and ranks them on safety. They have an immensely valuable database called, "Skin Deep."