Easy Natural Look with Ecco Bella & Paige Padgett

Hey everyone!  Hope you’re all having the most marvelous weekend ever!

As people are becoming more socially conscious, with a growing desire for eco-friendly, cruelty-free products, the market has really expanded.  It used to be more difficult to find these products, and all but impossible to find products like this that were effective and of good quality.

So, many of us would gladly give up pigmentation and performance just to have products we could use in good conscience.  But, one of the best things about the growing demand was that there are companies willing to do what it takes to meet that demand.  I’ve discovered some great products over the past few years, that meet socially conscious criteria, as well as being superior in quality and wear.

I was thrilled to have the opportunity to collab with Ecco Bella and makeup artist/green beauty expert, Paige Padgett, in creating a fun look with natural cosmetic products.  After taking a look at our social media, Paige suggested a clean eye look, with a bold lip.  She mentioned highlighter on the eyelid, with winged liner- which really excited me, because… wings and highlighter!!!

I was really excited when I got the package in the mail from Ecco Bella because I’d never tried anything from the brand before.  I knew I’d be able to use the products guilt-free, but I didn’t know what to expect when it came to performance and effectiveness.  From the formulations, I knew they’d be good quality, but WOW, I didn’t expect such a level of pigmentation and awesomeness!

I started off with a clean face, and used the Mist On Toner and Vitamin Spray.  This mist is formulated with apple cider vinegar, aloe, and organic herbs; it not only balances the skin’s pH, but also provides vitamins to restore vitality.  Despite containing ACV, it does not smell like a salad..lol, it actually has a natural, pleasant herbal scent.

I have oily skin, so I followed up with the Natural Leave-On Invisible Exfoliant and Blemish Remedy.  This formula contains AHAs and salicyclic acid to gently dissolve blemishes, and lightly exfoliate, for a smooth, glowing complexion.  You can also use this as a spot treatment directly on blemishes.  I have sensitized skin from using tretinoin, and being despite being an exfoliant, I didn’t experience any irritation.

The FlowerColor Natural Liquid Foundation REALLY surprised me.  Since this is a water-based, natural makeup, the shade range doesn’t really need to be huge, as it’s light weight and natural looking.  Of the seven shades, I was in between the Linen and Tan.  Usually when this happens, I select the lighter shade because if I use the darker shade, I have to really prep and moisturize well or it looks patchy.

As a Native, and with summer so close and being outdoors a lot, my skin gets dark FAST- so I went with the Tan, thinking I would just exfoliate and moisturize prior to trying it out.  As it turned out, there was no actual need for this- it really went on SO smoothly, and blended with no problem whatsoever, absolutely ZERO patchiness.

The first time I tried the foundation, I was thinking I would need it to be a bit more sheer since I went with the darker shade for summer, so I used a damp BeautyBlender to apply, and had fab results.  The next day, I had some redness in my nose and eye area from horrific allergies (sneezing season is already here in Louisiana…arrrgghhh!), so I used a foundation brush to get more coverage.  The foundation still went on smoothly, and looked even with both methods- very impressive.

While this will be perfect in the summer, I was still able to get away with wearing it out and about even now, and no one was the wiser.  With any other foundation, I would have really had to do some extra prep to get away with this.  Ecco Bella seriously deserves some sort of award for this foundation!

After using the foundation, I used the FlowerColor Cover Up in Medium Beige.  This shade was less yellow than I usually use, so I was a bit concerned it may not work as well.  Strangely enough, it did a fantastic job of neutralizing my dark circles under my eyes, and redness around my nose, from all the sneezing I’ve been doing.

The formula is super creamy, and very easy to blend, with no stickiness or greasiness.  I have some fine lines around my eyes, and it didn’t settle into any of them.  I also love that it’s chemical and fragrance-free, so it didn’t exacerbate any of the allergy issues in my eye area!

For my eyelids, Paige had me sweep on some of the FlowerColor Shimmer Dust in Moon.  Don’t let the word “shimmer” scare you- there are no large chunks of annoying glitter here- it’s a sophisticated, lovely shimmer that doesn’t scream “disco ball.”  It’s fun enough for a night out, but you could also easily get away with this at the office.  It’s quite pigmented with just one swipe, but I added a bit more to get a little more shimmer for a summery look.

After the Shimmer Dust, I used the FlowerColor Powder Eyeliner in Charcoal do wings.  This can be used wet or dry, depending on what you’d like to do, so it’s very versatile.  I used it with water, but during the hot summer months, I’ll probably dampen my liner brush with a setting spray to give it a bit more staying power in the Louisiana humidity.  It can also be used dry as a shadow or for a smokey look.

The charcoal was a nice change from the black I normally wear.  Since I have a crooked face and my eyes are shaped differently from each other, I have to do the eyeliner on my right eye thicker in order for them to look more even.  This doesn’t work out as well with really light colored liner, so I’m always more comfortable with darker liner.  The charcoal was darker than the grays I’ve tried, so it was still within my comfort zone, but refreshingly different.

For my cheeks, I used the FlowerColor Blush in Burgundy Rose.  Despite having used this four or five times now, I still can’t believe how pigmented it is.  I don’t think I’ve EVER used a naturally colored blush that’s THIS pigmented before.  This stuff seriously rivals some of the formulas I have in the $30-$50 price range.

You barely have to touch the brush to the cake to really pack a rosy punch.  The first time I used it, I almost felt like a clown, but then I found that I could easily blend it, so if I’d been in a hurry, I wouldn’t have felt it would be absolutely necessary to wash it off and start over.  The second time I used it was while doing a video, and I still got a bit too much product on the brush, but again, it blended out super easily.

The FlowerColor Lipstick in Merlot (did somebody mention “wine?!”), made with vegetable waxes and mineral pigments, feels more like a balm, and is a hugely welcome change from all the overly-drying super-matte formulas.  Despite feeling like lip balm and being slightly sheer, the color is buildable, and doesn’t feather.  It was also easy to apply directly from the tube without a need for a lip brush, which is what I usually use for bold colors like this.

The Merlot lipstick was gorgeous on its own, but to add a bit of depth and pizzazz for a night out, you can top it with the Good For You Gloss.  I’m always a bit weary of glosses, since so many of them tend to be sticky, and I have long, thick hair.  A slight breeze, and it become a nightmare…lol!

Paige had me use the color Power, which worked perfect with the Merlot.  I did a thin layer across the lipstick, and didn’t notice any stickiness.  Even after running a few errands in the icky weather, I didn’t find any hair sticking to my face, so this gloss was easily a win!

I finished off this look by using the Mist-On Toner and Vitamin Spray again to lightly set everything.  As I just mentioned, we were out and about in the breezy rain, and everything seemed to stay put, even without having used a primer.  Although I may need one in the summer with these products, it all looked and stayed fresh for several hours just as-is.

Overall, I’m so happy to have gotten to try these products out.  The formulas and quality were very impressive, and these will all undoubtedly be part of my regular rotation.  It was also a lot of fun to try out a new look from Paige- it was simple, yet polished, and I’ll definitely be repeating this quite a bit, especially when I’m pressed for time but still want to look fab!

If you’d like to try this look, or other products, guilt-free, head over to EccoBella.com.  Their products are also very reasonably priced, so you can keep your conscience and look even more gorgeous than you already are without breaking the bank!

Click here and use code BeauxBeauty18 at check out to get 25% off your $25 Ecco Bella purchase!

*Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links.