#HairGoals With Andrea Lee AKA Organic Beauty Lover
The blogger and OBL Club Founder invites us (and YOU) along for her organic beauty journey.
As the mastermind behind the Organic Beauty Lover blog, Andrea Lee knows a thing or two about making the switch to clean and has been reaping the benefits since 2015. She's also the creator of OBL CLUB - a product testing and reviewing platform for organic beauty lovers like her and her extended community (hello 55k+ Instagram followers). Members of the club get the opportunity to test and keep products in exchange for their review – FOR FREE. Naturally (pun fully intended), we had to sit down with her and get the scoop!
Before you discovered clean beauty, what kind of DIY skin treatments did you enjoy doing?
Before you discovered clean beauty, what kind of DIY skin treatments did you enjoy doing?
I was a huge fan of doing DIY treatments starting from when I was little. I learned this from my mother at an early age. She would slice cucumbers very thinly and apply them to my face as I laid down for over an hour. It would make my skin bright and glowy even though my skin was already flawless at that age.
Between skin, hair, and makeup, which type of clean beauty products interest you most?
Skin is most important to me and an obsession!
What are the most beneficial ingredients to look for in haircare products?
I think the best ingredients are Rosemary, Honey, Seaweed, and hair nourishing oils like coconut and Argan. I also really like Ayurveda-based ingredients such as Amla and Bhringraj.
Which ones should we avoid at all costs?
We should definitely avoid sulfates, parabens, sodium chloride, SLS, and fragrance.
Did you see any physical difference in your hair and skin after switching to clean beauty products?
After many years of bleaching and coloring, my hair went from silky and shiny to fried straw. It would look ok on the day I washed it, but as soon as I slept in it, I’d barely be able to brush through it the next day. After a few years of using clean haircare products that deeply nourish and repair instead of just coating my hair to look temporarily shiny, my hair is so much healthier and more manageable. I also do oil treatments weekly and try to eat nutritious foods.
Which EVOLVh products help you maximize those results?
The SmartColor and SmartCurl conditioners and UltraRepair Masque, as well as the SmartStart Leave-In Conditioner for an extra dose of nutrients.
What do you hope readers of your blog will walk away with from your content?
I hope to inspire people to start on their own organic beauty journey and join the vibrant and welcoming community that we’ve built! I also hope that they feel compelled to share their newfound knowledge with their friends and family to encourage them to lead healthier and more conscious lives. I try to keep my social media fun, relatable and varied, in order to do this.
Besides my blog, I also have a fun product testing club for my members (totally free) and a marketplace for people to buy and sell products that they’re not using or that didn’t work for them.
What are some stereotypes you often hear about clean beauty products and how do you debunk them?
The 2 most common ones I hear are that they don’t work and they are too expensive. There are definitely products out there that may not work and many that are inaccessibly priced, but there are so many more that do work than don’t and for the products that are too pricey the key is to wait for sales (Black Friday) or a subscription box to feature them.
