Liladescent Ethos and Philosophy

The blog ethos is vital for the project; it enables the readers to understand exactly what the project aims to do and how it does that. A carefully put together section is required, as it will set the tone for the rest of the content. I want my readers to be clear with what content to expect as the search for organic beauty is harder than it seems with marketing strategies such as greenwashing.

 I have decided my blog will not be exclusively vegan friendly, I find the vegan beauty world confusing and as I am not vegan personally, I do not have the current passion to delve deeper.

Looking at RMS beauty’s philosophy/ethos had helped me identify what needs to be included, and what is beneficial for me as the reader.

RMS beauty have a section dedicated to the ‘world of RMS’ which is really helpful for the reader, the first section being their philosophy, which outlines the strict use or organic products and past personal experience when it comes to chemicals in regular beauty products. I know when I purchase a product from RMS I can feel comfortable in knowing all about the product ingredients and company just from one page.

The project ethos isn’t only important to my reader but for me personally, the project ethos will be a useful guide when looking into new products to review.

"After many years in the fashion and make-up industry, I've learned a lot about the impact of daily exposure to chemicals in beauty care products. I've seen what works and what doesn't live up to its promises. I see the results of taking a quick-fix approach to looking good. I know first-hand the price our health can pay in the pursuit of beauty. I realized that what women need is a cosmetics line that is as pure as possible, one that creates a solid foundation for anti-aging and long-term beauty."

Quote source: http://www.rmsbeauty.com/pages/about-us

Looking at a few organic beauty bloggers ‘about me’ page I have found what I would like to avoid in my text, here is Amanda from theorganicbunny.com, her mission is to prove that an organic lifestyle can still be glamorous, which personally I feel is a much known fact among the organic beauty community, with the likes of Amanda Kerr choosing organic products.

As well as organic beauty there is a ‘home’ section on Organic Bunny, I was confused to find a hot pink plastic kitchen appliances set, which is not organic, environmentally friendly or natural. It shouldn’t be there in my eyes, so I am hoping not to make mistakes like this that would cause my readers to lose faith or interest in my blog. 

Organic VS Vegan

To vegan or not to vegan, that it the question…

After having a converstation in my 1:1 with Emma and Elizabeth about potentially writing an article on organic vs vegan beauty. Having thought more about it, this may not be the best decision for my blog. I do not want to cause offence or emit any kind of negativity so may leave it alone.

The definition of vegan is a person who does not eat or use animal products. I've been thinking about what my brand manifesto will be and the vegan issue keeps cropping up.

Social media is exploding with vegan beauty right now with Lime Crime, Jeffrey Star and Kat Von D's make-up line fronting the online vegan market. However I don't really buy it, I am all for animal rights and and buy cruelty free, but I feel the vegan market is more green washing than good practise.  

 As I am not that familiar with vegan brands I decided just to type the word vegan and makeup into google to see what came up. One of the first options was Superdrug's own brands- B. Makeup.

I had no idea this brand was vegan, I am surprised, it is really that easy and affordable to buy vegan brands? Maybe not, after visiting the website and scanning for a vegan logo, it was apparent that the only certification this brand has is the leaping bunny cruelty free certification sitting alone at the bottom of the page. But I thought this was a premium vegan brand? Would they not have the certified vegan logo on show? Or at least have a combined cruelty free and vegan certification? Not as far as I can see...

 I thought the ingredients list on a random product might help me determine whether this brand is vegan like they say, or could it be that only selected products are vegan? Its hard to say, because there isn't an ingredients list available on the product I chose, which was the B. sweet Popping Candy Highlight Serum. If a brand is vegan, why would they hide their ingredients? Rather than being transparent, this suggests there maybe something to hide in this already confusing situation. 

So as it stands, I know this brand is cruelty free, but I don't know if they are a "premium vegan make-up brand". 

As I am not personally vegan and find it all a bit confusing my blog will not be exclusively vegan, but market posts that do not use animal products as vegan to appeal to that audience.

Still Life Inspiration

Still life photography is an important element when constructing the blog. The style and appearance of the site will be clean and minimal reflecting the project ethos as said in my proposal, which translates to the image making.

The images that inspired the most are images with clean white backgrounds, I found when searching for inspiration images seemed much to busy with a background colour and a few too many props.  

I also found I was most inspired by images taken from a birds eye view, I appreciate uniformity and having items laid out with precision, which may be influenced by my military background.

Image Sources:
1. https://www.instagram.com/structure_minerals/
2. http://www.apoterraskincare.com/
3. https://www.instagram.com/structure_minerals/
4. https://www.pinterest.com/
5. https://www.instagram.com/structure_minerals/
6. http://iphonephotographyschool.com/cristina-colli/

Image sources

1.https://www.instagram.com/structure_minerals/
2.https://www.pinterest.com/
3.https://www.instagram.com/structure_minerals/

The use of handmade paper is something I’d like to look into, as I do not want background colours I feel I need an element of colour/texture to keep the images interesting. I could use small pieces to place products or crystals on top, although I will need to test this idea.

Images sources:
1.http://aquariansouldesigns.com/
2.http://depositphotos.com/6037649/stock-photo-handmade-paper.html

Smart Girls Go Green 2k16

#smartgirlsgogreen is a hashtag used by Content Beauty one of the competitors mentioned in my proposal. I have learnt much more about the shop since my proposal and has become my favourite online beauty and wellbeing stores.  What attracts me most to the London based shop/website is the completely transparency with customers, ingredients are clearly listed and explained with a list of ingredients that it doesn’t contain, so you can be really sure of what you are purchasing. The products are all free from ‘bad mojo’ which is light hearted and fun, as at times the subject can be really serious when talking about contaminants of emerging concern.  

 The communication between the company and customers is also impressive, most questions are answered via their Instagram page and it feels as though they truly value their customers, which I can’t say for many normative corporations (which only seem to respond to negative comments-I'm talking about you Lime Crime!) This is something I have to be very aware of, I want to produce informative and helpful posts that are unbiased and transparent with my readers. I feel my passion and dedication is important for this project to be a success.


Some other brands I've discovered through Content Beauty are:

W3LL PEOPLE is an uncommon beauty dream team founded by an elite makeup artist, cosmetic dermatologist and treehugging entrepreneur. We're passionate about making positive choices in life, particularly when it comes to self care. Skin, our largest organ, absorbs about 80% of what we put on it. This crucial fact drives our mission to create super premium quality cosmetics without using the potentially harmful artificial chemicals found in most conventional makeup. 

- w3llpeople.com/index.php/our-story/

Our skin is our largest organ, and can absorb just about anything we put to its surface. ILIA is formulated with this in mind, and dedicated to creating the purest products possible. The ethical-sustainable approach embodied in each piece is filled with certified organic bio-active botanicals that nourish and rejuvenate the skin.

- iliabeauty.com/pages/about

Founded by veteran makeup artist Kirsten Kjær Weis, Kjær Weis cosmetics was created to fulfill a need for natural and organic color makeup that doesn’t compromise luxury or performance. Years of research and development have gone into what you see here: a high-performance makeup, created from the most luxurious organic ingredients in the world. And did we mention it all comes in a gorgeous silver signature “KW” compact?

 - kjaerweis.com/philosophy/

Project Brief

The brief I have set involves creating an online blog that blends spirituality and environmentalism in regards to cosmetics and personal care products, which intends to offer alternative solutions to regular beauty products. The blog focuses is beauty and wellbeing, emphasising going green does not mean sacrificing individual style, but rather enhancing it. I read Starre Vartan’s book The Eco Chick Guide to Life: How to be Fabulously Green and Christie Matheson’s book Green Chic: Saving the Earth in Style. Both in which argue that going green is timeless and doesn’t mean throwing out all possessions and starting again, but gradually replacing items. Making more conscious decisions when purchasing new items.

What to expect:

•          Certified organic product reviews  
•          Simple skincare and haircare routines
•          A crystal of the week feature
•          Articles that aim to address social issues (I.e. the availability of make-up for deeper skin tones)
•          Ingredients to avoid
•          Focusing on mental wellbeing as well as physical
•          Indulgent, sustainable luxuries (I.e. bathing in sustainable oils)

The project will be presented in blog format, at the proposal stage I was unsure on whether to create a website, blog, or both. So far, the discussions I have had with i.t technicians, peers and tutors it would seem the best route to explore is a blog.

With a blog, it enables for on the go readership with the use of smart phones, speaking to my peers, this is the method the majority of them use. It makes sense for my target market, as the age range is that of my peers.

I want to keep my blog layout as simple as possible, with two main tabs beauty and lifestyle. I want to have a timeline of posts like a conventional blog, but also have the categories within each tab to be clickable. So not only will the content be read as it is posted, but it will be easy to search for a past post for reference.

Introduction to Major Project Production & Evaluation (MFS124)

This is it! The final major project brief has been introduced and the learning has commenced. I have been anticipating this particular project from the moment I became a student here at Solent, and in the past two years I have been certain that I would be creating a project solely based around spirituality in fashion, this preference is very much inspired by my personal experiences throughout the past few years and has become a major factor in my lifestyle.

   However, the second half of my project was established after attending a guest lecture with organic and natural make-up artist Nat Van Zee, her message was clear and simple. After introducing her successful career in the beauty and fashion industry the lecture took an unexpected turn. I was shocked to hear that make-up and personal care products are considered by many to be potentially harmful to human health, not only women and young girls –but even new-born babies.  This was information I had not been aware of and hearing it in a university lecture hall meant it was something I couldn’t forget. Below is one of the clips Nat showed during the lecture.

  Returning home that evening I looked through my product shelf, I wondered if the chemicals in the ingredients list could be causing my skin condition to worsen. I have suffered from eczema for as long as I can remember, a condition which prevented me from perusing a career in hairdressing. I had tried everything the doctors suggested from steroids to sun therapy with no luck, only managing the condition. So I decided to do some research of my own into cosmetic ingredients, I found there were a lot of people asking the same questions as me in relation to skin conditions. After briefly researching it was decided my New Year’s resolution would be to give up regular beauty and personal care products, replacing them with certified organic and natural ingredients. With the hope I would see and feel improvement in my skin.

This personal quest shaped the direction of my final major project, through researching into organic beauty I realised there was a link forming between ethical beauty and spiritual wellbeing, two very personal interests of mine that could be combined to produce a lifestyle that puts human health, the environment and wellbeing first. 

#displayinitiative #responsibilityforindependentlearning

Image sources: http://www.natvanzee.com/organic-beauty-1/

Film source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pfq000AF1i8