The philosophy and living color of Cosmoetics is about adornment as an act of nourishment, not as a chemical veneer, integrating natural creations from the cosmos. Plants are cosmic chemists, endlessly assembling the molecules of the world into colorful, fragrant blossoms. This plant perfection is what we want to mix and meld with our microbiome. Plant tissues produce lipids and aromatic essences that work synergistically with our cells, feeding immunity and stimulating circulation. When you can use ingredients that ignite life, why settle for synthetics that may compromise beauty at the cellular level?
The current culture of cosmetics is relentlessly industrialized. While many synthetic ingredients get mythologized and filters are used to advertise, we compare and overanalyze with false assurances of self-esteem from chemical creams. In the pursuit of perfection, we have sprayed on tans and Obsessions, filled our minds with flawless Photoshop impressions, and endured serious synthetic aggressions. We have plucked, polymerized, plasticized, plumped with fillers, preened with petroleum creams, peeled with chemicals, and preserved with parabens. We have over-stripped, over-squeezed, and tried to appease the skin we are in as we attempt to scrub clean with dubious daily routines, while many modern cosmetics cause our skin cells to atrophy, shrivel, and shrink.
When the cosmos provides such exquisite elements, why settle for the toxic trade-off of chemical cosmetics? Much modern makeup is a synthetic scourge that compromises skin and cellular health. Coal tar colorants and petroleum derivatives are neurotoxic and act as hormone disruptors. Petroleum polymers and silicones create a façade of smoothness while stifling the respiration of pores and stripping the lipid barrier. Meanwhile, parabens and phthalates are the primary microbe mutators and pervasive endocrine disruptors.
Makeup that Nourishes
Makeup that nourishes is found in ingredients of natural minerals, plant pigments, and a bevy of botanicals that can be crushed into powders, waxed into lip balms, and pressed into tints. While the purest natural makeup may not offer all the color options and coverage concoctions for being red-carpet ready, it is lovely for day-to-day needs, providing subtle enhancement while simultaneously nurturing the skin. No matter the type of makeup, replenishing your skin while removing makeup at the end of the day is key, and a natural approach is vital.
The Holy Grail of Cleansing: The Professional Oil Cleansing Protocol
The most important step in any skincare routine is cleansing. Leading makeup artists and estheticians who rely on the pure efficacy of Living Libations regard the Best Skin Evers as the ultimate reset button for restoring the skin to its natural, balanced state. Oil cleansing is the gentlest and most thorough method, able to restore the skin’s balance and integrity without compromising the protective acid mantle. This protocol is highly recommended for "confused" skin and inflammation, as it regulates oil production and brings the complexion back to external homeostasis.
The Expert Technique: The Thorough Cleanse
This protocol synthesizes years of professional experience, emphasizing the double-cleanse method for makeup removal to loosen debris and ensure maximum absorption of beneficial lipids.1. Makeup Removal (Optional Pre-Cleanse)
Product: The Seabuckthorn Best Skin Ever Balm is preferred for makeup removal.
Protocol: Apply the balm to dry skin. Use quick circular motions to dissolve pigments. Emulsify with warm water, and gently remove the excess with a damp cotton round.
2. The Double-Cleanse Ritual
Use a clean cotton round (experts caution that detergent residue on washable cloths can cause irritation, making disposable rounds a preferred choice):
Initial Cleanse: Apply 1-2 pumps of BSE to the cotton round. Move about the face and neck in circular motions.
The Repeat: Apply 1-2 more pumps and repeat the circular motions to ensure a final, thorough clean, often required for maximum efficacy.
3. Moisturize + Final Massage
After cleansing, splash the face with cool water and apply a pump of BSE to damp skin to maximize hydration. This method is excellent for gua sha or fascia massage.The Skin Reset Protocol
For clients with acne, rosacea, or generalized imbalance, professionals recommend an initial 7- to 10-day reset:
The Reset: Stop all other products (makeup, SPF, other actives) and use only the BSE to cleanse and moisturize. This alleviates the chemical burden, allowing the skin barrier to heal and normalize. The BSE does the opposite of clogging pores; it brings the essential balance required to diminish congestion.
Choosing Your Serum: While Seabuckthorn BSE is an iconic favorite, Immortelle or Sandalwood BSE is often recommended for highly sensitive, reactive, or blemish-prone skin, as its lightweight nature is profoundly soothing.
Best Practice: Multitasking Makeup Removal + Cellular Renewal
The health of your skin is restored while you sleep, making your makeup removal a key step for cellular renewal, not just cleansing. Reach for restorative formulas that actively nourish and adore your eyelashes, brows, and dermal tissue as you sleep. Our oils and balms are designed for therapeutic removal and targeted healing.
The Cleansers + Targeted Treatments
Makeup Dissolvers: Our Good Night Oil, Best Skin Evers, and the Seabuckthorn Best Skin Ever Balm are all excellent options. Makeup artists particularly love using our Chocolate Lip Balm to gently whisk away mascara and stubborn eyeliner, demonstrating the pure efficacy of the oils.
Seabuckthorn Balm: This rich balm is ideal for those who require extra emollients or who wear heavy foundation or bronzer. It provides superior cleansing, brightening, and clearing benefits, offering maximum hydration for skin that thrives on balms.
Ozonated DewDab: This oxygenating, slugging balm works as an overnight treatment, leaving skin bright and nourished. It is especially effective for treating blemishes and scarring. To improve blemish marks and reduce hyperpigmentation, gently massage a small amount of the DewDab (or Seabuckthorn BSE) into the targeted area with quick circular motions for 3–5 minutes several times a week. This action promotes smoothing, refines pores, and provides deep moisture.
Commendable Castor Oil: Rich in remedying ricinoleic acids and emollient esters, is a superlative satiater and doubles as a delightful makeup dissolver! Its unique chemistry effortlessly dissolves pigments and protective compounds without stripping precious lipids.
Final Tone: To finalize your cleansing ritual, use an excellent toner like Frankincense Face Tonic, Rose Complexion Mist, or a simple dilution of Apple Cider Vinegar in pure water.
The Return to Renegade Beauty
The penetration of chemicals commonly used in cosmetics creates a vicious cycle of dermal dysbiosis and early cellular aging that is difficult to escape. Our aim is to elucidate how we can easily replace the "need" to care for our skin with caustic chemicals, using instead a garden of life-enhancing, balancing botanicals. We can create cosmic cosmetics, or cosmoetics, for the pure pleasure of beautifying. Now more than ever, we can luxuriate in the ancient art of applying to our skin the plant essences that were once so precious they were revered more than gold.
This natural return affirms the creed of Renegade Beauty, which asserts that the sun, the moon, the wind, the rivers, the rain, the soil, the trees, and the botanical blessings of plants are all here to bathe in, on, and around us. Our bodies—our skin—are in a vital relationship to the whole cosmos.
“Where shall you seek beauty, and how shall you find her unless she herself be your way and your guide?” —Kahlil Gibran
Drink in the dew of perfumed petals, allow innate intelligence to inspire your life, and let nature attend to your Renegade Beauty, bringing forth the breathability and beauty of your own nature to shine through.
