Welcome to Pretty Natural

I've been a beauty junkie for about as long as I can remember. As a kid, I loved applying makeup to my Barbie Styling Head, playing with my mom's Mary Kay makeup kit, and dog-earring the pages of the Avon catalogs that a family friend would leave at our house. 

In 6th grade my mom finally allowed me to wear blush, and I've been experimenting (sometimes disastrously—blue eye shadow, I'm talking about you!) ever since. But my tastes have changed since the days of Love's Baby Soft, Bonne Bell Lip Smackers, and Maybelline Kissing Potion. Now, I'm interested in beauty products and services with an eco element—things that are both skin- and Earth-friendly.

I'm not alone: In December The NPD Group, Inc. released a report, Natural-Organic Trends in Beauty 2008, that showed two out of three beauty product users were interested in some form of eco-beauty products. And while interest is higher than actual usage, it certainly seems like beauty companies are paying attention to those results. From the cosmetics aisles at Target to the beauty counters at Macy's, there are more natural, organic and eco-friendly items to choose from than ever these days. 

Pretty Natural is all about those products. It's my attempt to find the newest and best (at least by my definition) in "green" beauty, and share those findings.