PANDORA'S BOX: Josie Maran, Green Beauty Machine
By Leah Melby FOR LA2DAY.COM 25 Jun 2008

Eco beauty products aren't easy to trust. When something's that good for you, how great can it possibly feel? Food and drink, along with almost every passion, have proved time and time again that what is bad feels so good. Beauty bible disciples know it too, so doesn't common sense restrict organic makeup products from being amazing?
Josie Maran, a tried and true beautiful girl, disagrees. Her namesake cosmetic line is nipping at the heels of the multitude of skincare lines that jumped on the green phenomenon. An abundance of organic and natural creams and cleansers exist but cosmetics have been slow to pick up the baton. Before making a living as the face of Maybelline for ten years, Maran was a daughter of bohemian Californian artists who didn't care for makeup. When the model became pregnant with her daughter the search for natural yet sophisticated makeup intensified. One beauty epiphany later and Maran had her own line.
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Josie Maran's Cosmetics combine eco-awareness with an earthy, bohemian personality. |
The earthy bohemian personality of the brand is obvious as soon as the tubes and compacts come out of their boxes. All containers are a polished rose bronze color and we die for the natural colors. Fairytale's a half peach, half tan eyeshadow that makes for perfect solo wear. Layer it with Iron, an olive, earthy brown, for night or dramatic days. Her lip gloss is hard to beat as one of the few we've tried that's glossy without being fly-trap sticky. The color's a sandy seashell shade called Optimism that has just the requisite amount of glamour-girl glitter (by right, of course, we mean a tiny dose. This is no Viva Glam.)
Lip glosses and eyeshadows are beauty staples in our bag, but we were really surprised by her lipstick. Always kind of intimidated by the deeper color, lipsticks have never really been taken up by the younger generation - we were raised on Bonne Bell and Juicy Tubes. Throughout the day multiple glances in the bathroom mirror confirmed that it wasn't too rich or intense. Instead, the sheer wine colored Mysterious was the raspberry stain I've always dreamed of finding.
Before you think it can't get any better, brace yourself. In addition to products made of organic and nontoxic ingredients such as avocado, coconut, olive and soybean, all Josie Maran packaging is earth-friendly. The recyclable or biodegradable pieces stick true to their hippie ancestry. The compacts are made from a corn-based plastic and the lipstick in aluminum.
This is the most green I've ever been. And, really, debauchery only gets you in trouble anyway.
Prices range from $16-$42. Josie Maran cosmetics can be found on josiemarancosmetics.com or at Barneys New York.






































Leah! this must be why you
Leah! this must be why you look so fab!
Thanks for the info, love the green aspect!
deb