Beautycounter Event at Park Kitchen

I had the amazing opportunity to attend the Beautycounter event here in Portland last night. I was asked to attend the event by a Beautycounter consultant, Andrea Giaudrone (visit her Beautycounter page here), and I am so glad that she told me about the event. I am always looking for events to go to, and being affiliated with Beautycounter, even on a small scale, made me beyond thrilled to attend. I was also told that I could bring friends, so I invited some great girls to attend the event with me. The event was hosted at Park Kitchen, on 8th and Glisan in Downtown Portland. It was the perfect location, and it could not have been a prettier day for the event. 

Upon arrival, we were warmly greeted by Laurel Woloszyn, Beautycounter's own in Field Development, and their Regional Director. I loved her energy, and her attitude was positive. The warm greeting totally set the event for me. My group found some seats, and we were immediately offered appetizers. The presentation of the appetizers were simple and beautiful. We were first offered these little samplers of asparagus soup. I loved the edible flower, and the cup itself. It was a very nice touch. 

The green strawberry salad was different and unique. The appetizers of the event defined what I envisioned Park Kitchen to be like, and what they served. I would love to come back for an actual meal, and to give a proper review. 

The mix and mingle portion of the event bled over into the actual event's time by a few minutes. There were more people than expected, at least more than I expected. It was a great turn out. I met a lovely woman with whom I could talk about the various blogs that we both follow and love. I do talk about blogging often, but the people that I talk to don't normally read the blogs that I frequently read, so it was refreshing to meet someone who shared my interests in blogs. 

When the event began, Laurel's energy continued to light up the room. She was so engaging, and then she passed the floor over to Beautycounter's Director in Policy and Partnerships, Lindsay Dahl. I loved Lindsay, and how driven she is about passing a law to regulate the ingredients in cosmetics, and beauty products. She was also engaging in her presentation, and she deepened my motivation, my strive to clean up our cosmetics industries, and provide safer products. Before she became a part of the Beautycounter team, she made great strides in unlocking detrimental chemicals that lurk in items we use, and touch everyday. Lindsay also touched on the harmful chemicals that are masked by the Certified Organic seal, or all-natural label proudly presented on the packaging. Those badges sometimes don't mean a thing. Most of the time, those badges are exploited, meaning the product inside the packaging may contain organic green tea, or organic fruit extract, but the rest of the product contains harsh ingredients. Thanks to Beautycounter's "The Never List," we can knowingly shop for safe products. It will take a few extra minutes in the beauty aisles, but at least it will be a safe product that you can trust. Keep "The Never List" bookmarked, somewhere easily accessible so you can scan the list while shopping for beauty products. 

Not only are there frightful ingredients in products all around us, but there are also toxins in packaging. Lindsay discussed how packaging is just as important a focus to Beautycounter, as is the focus of making safe product. For their packaging, they are extremely selective in choosing plastics that don't leach harmful chemicals, and that are also environmentally friendly. 

Both Laurel's and Lindsay's passion for the company was greatly shown at the event, last night. It was awesome to know that something is being done about the unsafe ingredients in the beauty products that we all love, and were roped in to trust. The event made me want to work harder at purifying my makeup bag, and beauty routine. 

Shown above is Beautycounter's Everyday Essentials line, which I am in love with! I did a post about the Everyday Essentials line a while back, and you can read about it here. I fell in love with the simplicity of the product, and the way it transformed my skin with just a few uses. I hope to purchase the Everyday Essentials line piece by piece in the near future. I am definitely purchasing the Routine Cleanser and the AM Hydrating Cream first. Those two are my favorites out of the line. Shown below is the chic makeup collection from Beautycounter. I definitely want to try their Blush Duo in Bloom/Tulip. A really neat fact about the compacts from Beautycounter, their packaging is made out of paper, which can be recycled! Just pop out the mirror, and tray before recycling. I was all over that. 

The event ended after some Q&A, which most of the questions asked can be found on Beautycounter's FAQ page here. My group left shortly after the event ended, and we walked a short ways to Whole Foods Market. We walked straight to the Health and Wellness section, and took out our "The Never List" cards, and began scanning ingredient lists. Most of the beauty products sold at Whole Foods Market pass with flying colors, because Whole Foods Market has standards that they follow with the beauty and wellness items that they sell. 

The Beautycounter event was so inspiring, and it really impacted the way I will shop for beauty products. My standards went up from being a moderate amount of picky, to being picky. Period. 

Visit Beautycounter's website here, and read Lindsay Dahl's blog here to learn more about the journey to instating a law for regulating our cosmetics and beauty products. 

/Every ingredient selected for safety/ 

              /Each ritual created for beauty/