BFR Blog

Do you know what Labor Day actually stand for? And why you have this day off every day? We have working men and women to thank for this National Holiday. Labor Day is the annual celebration of workers and their achievements originated during one of American labor history’s most dismal chapters. In the late 1800s, at the height of the Industrial Revolution in the United States, the average American worked 12-hour days and seven-day weeks in the pursuit of basic living.

On this Labor Day, we'd like to celebrate some of the powerful women etching a new path and stepping up into executive roles. Here are six of the CEO's and COO's leading the way and inspiring us on this Labor Day. 

Whether you’re an animal lover or not, you can agree blinding bunnies and injecting puppies full of poisons is an unnecessary and inhumane practice. Beauty products that have been tested on animals are banned in the EU. It’s just not necessary to perform animal testing to create safe products to make you look pretty.

This Cinco de Mayo you can find us with our Really Red Lip Cream lined glass in one hand and a guacamole topped chip in the other. Check out a couple of our fav drink recipes for a Spicy Mango Margarita and classic Michelada.

By Stephanie Milner Giles 

So much of what we do and how we feel internally and externally is directly related to environment. During these winter months, it seems no matter where you reside or visit it’s difficult to escape some sort of cold snap. With that comes dry, itchy, sometimes flaky skin. How do you revive that smooth, soft, radiant glow your skin once had? Let’s talk about ingredients and do’s and don’ts.

Call me a crazy cat lady but the more natural the ingredients = the better. Yes, some natural ingredients have chemical names such as Vitamin E is TOCOPHERYLACETATE (or a version of). As a consumer, I try to educate myself on what’s super harmful and what’s super beneficial as ingredients are not regulated as strictly in the US as they are in, let’s say Europe. 

As far as your skin, a few things to try to avoid: products containing alcohols, sulfates, petroleum, synthetic dyes and fragrances. Enjoy a long, hot shower with a harshly strong soap? Well your skin doesn’t. That hot water and harsh soap is striping natural oils and damaging the outer top layer of skin cells. So what can you do to lock in water, close the barrier and maximize moisture? Turn the water temp to lukewarm, use a more mild cleanser and within 3 minutes after towel drying apply a rich moisturizer, nourishing oil or both!

Ingredients to consider adding to your daily regime: hyaluronic, glycolic and lactic acids, shea or cocoa butters, essentials oils such as rose hip, jojoba, carrot seed, chamomile and ylanng yang to name a few. Don’t believe the hype that oils will make your skin more oily, in most cases it’s not true, they actually absorb into the skin more easily than some cream based moisturizers. Also, don’t be intimidated by products, I believe trial and error is the most effective way to find what works best for you and the health of your largest organ.

By Jada Mohammed 

Holidays mean parties, and sometimes those parties have overlapping dates. Your dramatic Smokey Eye is cute for late night cocktails after work, but might be a little too much for the office lunch party planned on the same day. How can your makeup bag help you transform looks on the go, you ask? Boy, does Beauty For Real have some tips for you!

The Basics

Every look needs to have a foundation, pun intended. In order to achieve any level of glam, you need to start with the basics.

• MVP Tinted Moisturizer + Concealer
• HI-DEF Mascara
• A brow product of your choice

All of these first-step products will set you up for your glamorous look of choice.

Casual Glam

• Bronze + Glo
• Shadow STX: Midnight Marathon, Ever Starstruck
• Lip Gloss + Shine
• I-LINE Eyeliner: Whiskey, Chocolate Fix, Champagne Buzz, Black Magic

Slightly highlighting your features is perfect for showing off your inner makeup enthusiast without being overdressed for your casual event.

Star-Studded Glam

• Blush + Glo
• Shadow STX: Midnight Marathon, All Day Latte
• H20 Matte Liquid Lipstick: My Pleasure, Bring It 
• I-LINE Eyeliner: Storm, In the Navy, 24 Karat, Jade, Platinium Blonde, Totally Titanium, Black Magic

Dark and bold colors will assist in highlighting your features while adding an extra diva factor to dress things up.

Everything you need to transform your look can fit right into your purse. You can switch your looks back and forth on the go with a makeup wipe and some Beauty For Real holiday magic.

By Portia Enriquez 

I don’t know about you, but I’ve noticed an increase in the need and want of cosmetic products that are free of parabens.  Back when I was in college, in 2006, I can't remember my girlfriends caring about the ingredients in our makeup as much as we do now.  With the advanced technology and research that we are able to do these days, it isn’t a surprise to me that makeup lovers are educating themselves on how parabens can be harmful, especially to women.  

If you don’t know what parabens are, they are preservatives that can be found in makeup and personal care products that assist in preventing the growth of harmful bacteria and mold. It's essentially an ingredient used to give products a longer shelf life. We don’t want our any of our makeup to get icky but studies show that exposure to parabens can have a negative effect on the estrogen that we produce in our bodies. How much is too much is still being studied.  Parabens are xenoestrogens, which means they mimic oestrogens that we have in our bodies AND oestrogen has been linked to breast cancer and reproductive problems amongst women.  It also is linked to the early onset of puberty and a low sperm count in men (so boys beware!).  Oestrogen can stimulate some breast cancers to grow so this is something that we don’t want an abundance of in our system.  So what do you care about more, your makeup staying mold and bacteria free or your health? 

With October being Breast Cancer Awareness month, I want to challenge you to stay paraben-free this month!  Take a look at the ingredients in your makeup, skincare, and personal care products and if you see any paraben ingredient in it put it aside for later use. Take a field trip to your favorite boutique, cosmetic, or convenience store and replace those products with paraben free ones! You might take a little longer in choosing the right ones, but remember that this is preventing you from exposure to harmful ingredients!  You never know, you might end up finding yourself a new favorite product! Happy Shopping!

It’s officially fall as of September 22nd and I couldn’t be more excited about it! For me, fall means cooler weather, warm cookies, and lots of new trends! Fall is when everyone breaks out their most fashionable pieces and struts their glowing skin down the street. One trend I’ve been seeing a lot lately from runway to magazine shoots to beauty gurus Instagram’s is a bold graphic eye look paired with fresh, glowing skin. This makeup combination creates a striking look that turns heads and has everyone wondering if you just stepped off the NYFW catwalk.

Unexpected graphic eye looks seem to be a huge trend in the fashion and beauty industries this season. New York and London Fashion Weeks gave us a plethora of new graphic eye looks to try out. I’ve gathered together a few of my favorite looks and decided to recreate them using Beauty For Real products. Let’s get our catwalk on…

Look 2 - Chloé SS18 Makeup by Aaron De Mey

1. Repeat steps one and two above for complexion perfection.
2. Take Blush + Glo in “In The Pink + Get Lit” and apply the blush shade to the apples of the cheeks. Apply the blush very lightly on the skin, almost so it looks like there is barely any product on the skin. Apply the highlight to the tops of the cheekbones, down the bridge of the nose, and above the cupid’s bow.
3. To complete the eyes, take I-LINE 24/7 eyeliner in “Black Magic” and apply along the upper lashline and wing the end of the eyes to create a cat eye. Take a very small brush and lightly blend the edges of the liner to give it more shape but to also smudge the edges so as to not create a sharp line. Apply the Black Magic to the bottom lashline and waterline and smudge out to connect to the wing of the cat eye. Apply a light layer of Hi Def Mascara to complete.
4. For the lips, keep them natural! Exfoliate them using the Lip Revival Scrub and lightly define the lips to even them out. That’s the complete look!  

Look 3 - Beauty For Real Photoshoot Makeup by Leslie Munsell

Photo by George Kamper 

1. Start by again smoothing the skin using steps one and two from Look 1.
2. Take Blush + Glo in “In The Pink + Get Lit” and apply the blush shade to the cheekbones and apples of the cheeks. Apply the highlight to the tops of the cheekbones, down the bridge of the nose, and above the cupid’s bow.
3. Apply Bronze + Glo in “Cocoa Cabana” to the top of the forehead where sunlight naturally hits the face. Apply a light amount of Cocoa Cabana under the cheekbones to sculpt the face a bit.
4. Time for eyes! Apply I-LINE 24/7 eyeliner in “Black Magic” to the outer V of the eye area. From the far corner of your eye, apply upwards towards to brow and connect with your natural crease. Line the crease moving towards the center of the eye and blend all line and product well. This should leave most of your lid available to apply “In The Navy” eyeliner and blend into the Black Magic. Apply the Black Magic to the bottom lashline and waterline and smudge out to connect to the wing, keep the lines sharp and clean with a cotton swab. To finish, take I-LINE in “Champagne Buzz” and apply to the inner corners of the eyes to brighten this bold eye. Finish the eyes by applying a major layer of Hi Def Mascara for added drama and volume.  
5. Finish the look by using Lip Revival Scrub to prep lips for liner and lip cream. Apply D-FINE Lip Pencil to outline and fill in lips and top it off by gliding on “Kiss Me” Lip Gloss + Shine.

I had a great time recreating each of these looks on myself and cannot wait to see yours. If you give these a try, be sure to tag us and use hashtag #ImForReal to give us permission to repost!

Xoxo, Lyss 

By Caitlyn Halliburton

It doesn't take much to figure out that human beings aren't the only living creatures on this planet. Stretch that notion a little further, and it becomes quite obvious we also aren't the only creatures to experience pain and suffering. That being said, why is it we have found it acceptable to test chemicals on animals?

The first documented instances of animal testing go back to the 19th century. While we aren't sure how long animal testing has actually been going on, it's safe to say it's been a while. Naturally, as the cosmetics industry is reliant upon the mixing and formulating of different chemicals, the industry quickly fell into the practice of testing on animals in the early 1900's.

Before understanding why animal testing is harmful and unnecessary, it's important to understand what this process entails. As you probably already know, there are many different ingredients that go into many different types of cosmetic products. Every single ingredient is tested for its reaction to living organisms in its purest form. Therefore, when companies test their products on animals, they aren't simply swiping some mascara onto a little bunny's eyelid, they're bathing it in stearic acid to see whether or not it kills, causes inflammation, makes hair fall out, or produces any other undesirable side effect.

What this means is animals used for cosmetic testing are suffering the effects of each and every chemical in its purest and most potent form, even if a product only has a minute trace of a chemical..

What good does it do to put an animal through such suffering if humans aren't going to get this kind of exposure to the different chemicals in our products?

Furthermore, humans and species used for animal testing have different biological makeups. If you're not familiar with how chemistry works, different biological makeups mean different chemical compositions. Different chemical compositions mean different reactions to foreign chemicals. Simply put, testing chemicals on animals doesn't sufficiently determine what kind of effect those chemicals will have on human beings.

What we learn from this is animal testing is not only cruel, it's also an inaccurate measure of a chemical's effect on human beings.

So how can we accurately determine a chemical's effect on human beings?

Well, lucky for us, scientists are pretty good at their jobs and have already advanced new ways of testing chemicals for human use. Currently, there are cost-effective methods cruelty-free brands use in lieu of animal testing: computer generated models and human cell-based tests.

Since scientists learned how to split and clone cells in the early 1900's (anybody ever read The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks?), any kind of testing imaginable can be done with a 100% living human cell. Any chemical we think we want to put on our bodies for whatever reason can be tested accurately and relatively cheaply, considering our labs have a solid supply of human cells and can always get more if they need it.

Computer model testing is a fantastic feat in technology as it replicates a liver's reactions and chemical processes through complex algorithms. Basically, a computer is programmed with bodily functions to mimic a human's biological response to different chemicals. However cool this process is, it is also widely underused in chemical testing laboratories, which makes it's genius unresolved.

Both computer model and cell testing are humane forms of alternative testing that are proven to render more accurate results at a much lower cost than animal testing.

Fortunately, more and more countries realize this and are taking steps to ban this unreliable, cruel, and expensive practice. The United States has propositioned the Humane Cosmetics Act, which would prohibit animal testing on cosmetics. Despite legislation's slow action, many brands collaborate with humane societies in order to demonstrate their commitment to cruelty-free products.

Beauty For Real is one of those brands who have taken progressive steps in ensuring no animal goes harmed during the formation of our products. We have taken the necessary measures to become PETA approved as a sign of our dedication to a cruelty-free world. If you're ever wondering what products are officially cruelty-free, simply check the packaging for the little pink bunny logo.