Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.
I’m super excited to tell you about Haut cosmetics and skincare from Canada. I really love that they are 100% vegan! I think their products are super unique, and I’ve never tried anything like it. I love their luxurious cool packaging! They also have fabulously soft, synthetic make-up brushes! Haut’s ingredients are locally-sourced, chilled to perfection and blended up fresh in their lab before being shipped directly to your doorstep.
My favorite Haut products right now are the balancing mist, coconut cream moisturizer and of course the bb cream that Vegan Presence subscribers got to sample in their December package! When I wear the bb cream, I don’t feel like I’m wearing make-up, I feel like I’m putting on a skin treatment. The fact that it conceals flaws is an added bonus. Be sure to use Haut’s recommended Fresh Start Brush to apply the bb cream and remember a little goes a long way. I have one and its ridiculously soft on the skin. You can use the bb cream alone or under their bio-mineral foundation crafted with healing clays, for more coverage.Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.
I also was pleased that several of the colors worked on my skintone. My biggest gripe about mineral make-up is finding a suitable color that is as close to my skin color as possible so it doesn’t look like I’m wearing make-up. “Burnt Almond” works best for my skin tone; although, I could get away with using other colors on their palette as well. Haut specializes in custom blending if you’re still not convinced. Joanne was able to choose my color from looking at my photograph.
I think another winner that I can’t imagine anyone not liking is the balancing mist. It’s a really beautiful toner that is versatile and has many other uses. It has a gorgeous scent of roses and the only ingredient it contains is rose water. It’s the best rose water toner I have come across. I also love the texture of the coconut cream moistuizer and I love all the healing ingredients it contains.
Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.
Now, I want to introduce you to Haut founder and make-up artist Joanne so you can learn more about this awesome vegan company first-hand!
Andrea: Please introduce and tell us about yourself.
Joanne: Thanks Andrea. My name is Joanne, I live in White Rock, BC, Canada which is less than two hours from Seattle and I created HAUT COSMETICS ten years ago. My life began on a small farm on the Canadian prairies. I grew up watching my dad paint the most beautiful scenic paintings and my mom paint on the most perfect liquid liner application every day. I have had a passion for mixing color and experimenting with different brushes for as long as I can remember.
Andrea: How was Haut Cosmetics born?
Joanne: It’s an interesting story. I actually started out in the fitness industry.I loved it so much that I thought I would never do anything else. However, at 23 years old I gradually became very sick. For the next few years I spent a lot of time in hospital emergency rooms and on the couch in unbearable pain. The experience changed me. I read a lot of books trying to figure out what was wrong with me and how I could get my health back. The medication I was given was strong and I could feel the side effects. I was confused as to why no one seemed to want to get to the root of things. Then I read a book that inspired me to make some changes in my life (The Path To Phenomenal Health by Sam Graci). I eliminated meat, dairy, processed foods and sugar from my diet. I introduced more raw foods and raw juices and within a couple months I was back on my feet. I learned the hard way that everything we put into and onto our bodies matters. It can be the most healing whole food or the most toxic chemical soup. I started reading every label from food to cosmetics. I thought about all the people I loved, putting these scary ingredients on their skin every day so I began experimenting with color, texture and product anatomy. I started using food-grade ingredients and custom blending makeup products for my family and friends. At the time, ‘natural’ and ‘organic’ was not the trend, but the results my family and friends saw were noticeable. That was the very beginning of the creation of HAUT.
Andrea: What sets you apart from other mineral make-up companies?
Joanne: I am often reminded by new clients that the line is unique. When I am training makeup artists I start by saying ‘Forget everything you think you know about makeup application and just start fresh’. The tools in the line are just as important as the products. You can get a completely different effect from one brush to the next, but when we use just our fingers, it provides only one type of application.
Secondly, there are so many different skin tones in the world and I wanted to offer the luxury of custom blended foundations. Not only does it make each person feel special to have something made just for them, it just makes sense with all the mixed ethnicities today. I wanted each person to be able to celebrate their skin tone, not feel like they were hiding it. That is where ‘Hide Nothing’ comes from.
I also wanted to create products that had more than one purpose. That to me is truly eco-friendly beauty. For example, our Aloe Cream Tints can be used to fill in brows, as an eye shadow, cheek color and lip color. I also do not add any fillers so that the color can be dramatic if you need it to be, the coverage is the best it can be and the skincare-quality ingredients are not diluted. Our full size products seem small compared to most but when they are filler-free a little goes a very long way.
Andrea: Can you tell us what exactly is a bb cream and how do you recommend using it?
Joanne: BB cream stands for ‘beauty balm’ or ‘blemish balm’ and I created mine when I heard of bb creams being made with ingredients like placenta and bleach in them. I also saw the need for a vegan alternative to the traditional ‘bb cream’. I have actually never tried another bb cream. Mine provides moisturizing benefits, natural sun protection, coverage and brightening, and ingredients that can soothe inflammation. I think most bb creams are quite diluted because the one thing I always need to remind new clients about is that you barely need to pick up any product on the brush to get the desired coverage. With the fingers the product tends to go on too heavy so I encourage my clients to use the A Fresh Start Brush to apply the bb cream. It is to the bb cream what the kabuki is to the mineral foundation.
Andrea: Describe your skincare and make-up routine.
Joanne: My makeup routine and skincare routine are pretty much one! I try to encourage this way of thinking. If your makeup is sitting on your face all day it should be skincare-quality, should work like skincare, and should be thought of as skincare with coverage and color.
My philosophy is that most women overdue it when it comes to caring for their skin. I have observed how women seem to have a long list of skin problems and very few men do. I know that stress, hormones and diet can contribute to this but I really think men are onto something. The average male does not do much as far as a skincare routine, if anything, and yet they age so well.
So I use the Skin Elixir to cleanse my skin in the morning and evening and do a little ‘facial massage’ to improve the tone. It does not make your skin oily, it actually balances it out whether it is too oily or too dry. I alternate once or twice a week with the exfoliating Glacial Clay Cleanser and also use the GCC once a week as a detoxifying facemask. The Coconut Cream is a moisturizer and makeup primer in one so I apply this before my makeup and at night. I use the Purifying Primer once a week in the morning or at night. Both products have amazing anti-aging benefits but completely different ingredients. It is like a well-balanced diet for your skin. The Balancing Mist I spray on my face last to set my makeup and also throughout the day to tone and re-hydrate. I also love using the Skin Elixir and Balancing Mist in my hair. Both create amazing shine without weighing hair down.
Andrea: What’s your favorite Haut product?
Joanne: Ohhh that’s a difficult one! I guess I would have to say as a makeup artist I have the most fun with my Aloe Cream Tints because they take very little blending, have so many uses and are always fun to experiment with on different skin tones and with different makeup brushes.
Andrea: How long have you been vegan and why did you become vegan?
Joanne: I have been vegan for about a decade. As I mentioned, I gave up meat in hopes that it would help me regain my health. I had planned to re-introduce it back into my diet when I started feeling better. However, when I tried I did not enjoy it like I used to. You might laugh hearing this but I was a closet-vegan for a while. When I was younger I was secretly a little judgmental of vegans. I think eating meat is so deeply woven into our cultures and traditions that I just didn’t understand how someone could give it up. I also kept it to myself because didn’t feel like I was up for being attacked by all my non-vegan country friends.
Being that I grew up on a farm I was not aware of ‘slaughter houses’ when I was younger. What we didn’t raise ourselves we would get from other local farmers. However, the more I learn about the meat industry, the more I notice the confusion I used to feel about why someone would adopt a vegan lifestyle is really how I feel about eating meat now. There are too many starving children in the world and yet 70% of grain in the US goes to feeding livestock. Like James Cameron said, “You can’t be an environmentalist, you can’t be an ocean steward without truly walking the walk and you can’t walk the walk in the world of the future, the world ahead of us, the world of our children, not eating a plant-based diet.”
Andrea: What is your favorite vegan food?
Joanne: It is always changing because I get bored quickly. Right now, because I love authentic Mexican food it is Amy’s Organics Vegan Enchilada Dinner, which is also gluten-free. I do not have a lot of time to cook these days and with Amy’s Organics I feel like I have my own personal healthy vegan chef in my kitchen.
Andrea: Tell us about your anti-bullying campaign
Joanne: I witnessed kids being bullied growing up and as a scrawny little girl I experienced it myself. It changes a child forever. Now bullying is happening on a whole different level with the help of the internet. Children are also entering school age being a lot less ‘street smart’ it seems than we were growing up. We had to figure out a lot of things on our own because our parents were busy trying to put food on the table and we did not have to be under their watchful eye 24/7. We had to learn to problem-solve and work out our issues a little more on our own and we did not have to worry about what was going to be posted on Facebook. I think the bullying of the vulnerable, whether it is cruelty to animals or to children or to women, breaks my heart, especially when the end result is a fear-filled death because then it is too late. I think it is important for parents to educate their children on what to do if they are bullied. I support bullying.org, an online resource that helps educate parents and teachers about bullying and provides online mentoring in an anonymous way for victims of bullying. A friend of mine is a jewelry designer and makes these cute pendants from recycled scrabble tiles. For every pendant that is sold, $2 goes to help fund bullying.org.
Andrea: If we were stranded on a deserted island what is the one HAUT product we should bring with us and why?
Joanne: I would want you to have the Glacial Clay Cleanser because it is wonderful for healing wounds, protecting skin from sunburns. Clay is used by animals in the wild as a potent antiseptic. Green Clay like this one has even been shown to work well as a treatment for food poisoning, gout, other various intestinal problems.
Andrea: Thank you for sharing! We enjoyed getting to know you!
Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.
I plan on trying the skin elixir made with argan oil and vanilla and the clear bio-cocoa balm (recommended for guys too) next! Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.
If you want to treat yourself to a luxurious and pure makeup and skincare line, Use Coupon Code d88vpb to receive 10% off Full Size Haut Products by February 1, 2014.
I highly encourage you to watch the Haut make-up application videos here.
Andrea, Co-Founder of Vegan Presence
p.s. What’s your favorite Haut product or which one do you want to try?