Clean beauty and DIY with Tess

Tess, 21 years old, authentification expert at Vestiaire Collective – Lille, France. @rosabonheur

What pushed you to make your own cosmetics and to go clean with your topshelf?
I’m a bleached blonde, my hair is really weak for a few years now, I also have acne and it is one of my complex sometimes… After reading a few articles, watching YouTube videos about cosmetics compositions, I had a sort of a choc where I told myself that it wasn’t right that industries use component like petrol in our cosmetics. It doesn’t even depend on the price, some products are really expensive and still have bad components as low cost stuff do. I also have a lot of psoriasis and I felt like my shampoo was irritating me. I also wanted to go zero waste regarding my bathroom, with all of the plastic bottles we use and then throw away… it was a global initiative.

Can you share with us your favorite recipe, the one that works every time?
Lip balm that will give you the perfect lips:
– 7,5 gr of shea butter
– 1,1gr of bee wax
– 7,5 gr of black castor oil
– 3 drops of vanilla flavor
– 2 drops of vitamin E for conservation and a little bit of pink pigment for a nice look!

How was your transition to clean beauty? Was it hard?
It begins with the shampoo, by going clean I also wanted to be “zero-waste”, so I jumped right into solid shampoo… and it wasn’t a brilliant idea. My hair were used to sulfates and silicon, so they needed a transition phase. My solid shampoo wasn’t working well, I was struggling in my shower to make sure it was clean, when dry, my hair were sticky…I almost gave up after a month. But thanks to Instagram where I share a lot, some girls gave me other brands and now I’ve found happiness with the solid shampoo from Lush : it smells good and my hair aren’t sticky anymore. For the rest, oils and creams it was easier and I really see the difference on my skin : the Amalthea cream convinced me, it’s natural, without packaging to waste, you can fill the bottle when it’s empty. For my tooth paste the Ben&ana with it’s glass packaging is perfect. I’m not perfect for the deodorant yet… it’s the hardest part for me, I need to accept that I’ll stink ahah!

How to you handle imperfections without chemical substances?
I think it’s really the key, in fact it’s quite logical, using natural product is good for your skin. When I need to, I use tea tree essential oil on my pimples. And cleansing skin with oil is a game changer!