Green Beauty Blogger Spotlight : Lilly Genuine Glow
Happy Monday beauties. I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday weekend! We are so excited to introduce our new GREEN BEAUTY BLOGGER SPOTLIGHT SERIES on To Health and Beauty and carry it into 2017! As many of you know, we are part of such an amazing digital community that shares a passion for natural skincare, clean beauty and living a healthy lifestyle. It is so exciting to see the community grow every year, and as token of appreciation, we wanted to dedicate this series to the green beauty bloggers who inspire us by spreading the benefits of going green. Keep reading below to get to know green beauty blogger and certified health coach - Lilly Wallace from Genuine Glow. |
Tell Odacité beauty lovers a little bit about yourself and what inspired you to become a green beauty blogger?
I was born and raised in Italy, but moved to the United States after marrying my husband, who is from New York. Right before we got married, my mother had passed with an especially aggressive form of brain cancer. Caring for her during her illness had been a life-changing experience — her sadness, her pain, her hunger for life — my life perspective changed. I started it all new. Got married, quit smoking, started to exercise — not to be thin, but to be fit, strong, and healthy.
As I spent time reading and researching health topics, I became aware of the fact that many cosmetic products contain questionable ingredients that could cause harm to humans and the environment. Once you learn that every pollutant that you throw out in the environment comes back to you in the form of a harmful toxin, you really start to think differently. I began to green-up my makeup bag and personal care stash and while doing that, I decided to share my best finds on my blog. There were only a few green beauty blogs at the time, so I felt like my contribution could have helped many other women like me. I started buying lots of products to try and write about, and months later, thousands of people were reading my blog daily.
How did going green impact your life? What was the most challenging about making the switch?
When I started my switch over seven years ago, it felt truly overwhelming. It seemed like every day I was discovering a new, scary fact — plastic bottled water, city water contaminants, pesticides in foods, flame retardants in the sofa, and the list goes on. There weren’t as many resources as there are today, and the few that were available were not as “complete”. I had to visit different websites to read about about different issues. For example, I read one lady’s blog to learn about household toxins, one other website to learn about water filtration, and then there were very few beauty blogs — maybe three or four? It was frustrating. So initially, it was stressful, but then as I made certain changes I started to experience some benefits. The first was getting rid of all fragranced products — synthetic perfumes, dryer sheets, synthetic candles. Once they were all gone, my headaches disappeared. I suddenly could smell things I couldn’t smell before. It’s like I had re-acquired my olfaction. A bit like when you go sugar-free, and all of sudden you realize how the sugary foods you were eating before are unbearably sweet if you return to them.
What is the mission of your blog and what message do you want to send to your followers?
My mission is to help my readers find whatever they need to feel and look their best — the perfect moisturizer, the right supplement, the most helpful wellness/beauty tip. I not only try and review tons of beauty products, but I am also a certified health coach, and consider beauty an extension of wellness. Our skin doesn’t glow when we’re stressed out and your body is inflamed — it does when we’re well, which is typically a result of eating well, exercising daily, sleeping plenty and spending quality time—preferably laughing with our loved ones.
Last but not least, could you tell our readers what your all-time favorite Odacité product is and how you use it in your skincare regime.
Sorry, I can’t pick only one! The new Synergie Immediate Skin Perfecting Mask has been one of my favorite weekly/bi-weekly treatments to deep cleanse and exfoliate my skin gently. I also love the the Serum Concentrates. I like to add a few drops of serum concentrate to a little Argan oil or Rosehip oil to customize my treatment according to what my skin needs. The new toner will likely end up to become a favorite, too. I have been using it every day since I received it.
Stay in touch with this beauty on Instagram and Facebook @genuineglow, check her Youtube channel or visit her amazing and inspiring blog here. xo