Amber and I go quite a way back. Despite only having met “in real life” at the Glow Getter Gathering last year, we’ve grown to be good blogging friends and after hearing about the wonderful things Amber has lined up, I thought it would be a great opportunity to share her story on Curiously Conscious.
Amber is a green beauty blogger at heart, with her successful blog, Amber’s Beauty Talk, becoming a pillar of the green beauty scene. It was through the #GreenChat that Amber hosts every Sunday at 8pm (GMT) that I started to find and follow lots of other bloggers, and enjoy interacting with everyone on a level playing field. Here’s why I’m a big fan of hers, as well as her blog, and am excited for the new developments in her life…
Hi Amber! Tell me, what’s the most exciting development going on in your life right now?
Hi Besma! Well, I have a few exciting things happening in my life right now. My boyfriend and I have bought our first house together so we’re patiently waiting for that to go through, so we can move in hopefully by summer! I am also setting up a new online store called Nectar & Bumble. I have a huge passion for bees (bordering on obsessive to be honest) and I wanted to bring together bee products and also hopefully raise money for bee conservations too.
I have to say, I’m so excited about seeing your green beauty boutique, Nectar & Bumble, open soon. Has it been hard work setting everything up?
Ah, I’m so excited too! It has been quite hard work, with boring bits like setting up the website and writing terms and conditions which is completely different to blog writing and taking photos like I’m normally doing! It’s also been so much fun though, talking to brand owners and working out which products to stock…it’s so hard not keeping everything for myself!
How did you first get into green beauty?
I first got into green beauty as I signed up as Neal’s Yard Remedies consultant. I started learning about organic beauty, ingredients to avoid and it was a lot of fun. I started my blog as I really enjoyed talking about the products and then I carried on finding more organic and natural brands and it went from there… now three years on I only use green products!
What’s been the biggest change in green beauty since you first came on the scene?
I would definitely say the amount of brands has increased since I started my blog and packaging has come a long way. Natural and organic brands now don’t look out of place on the shelf next to mainstream brands and there’s so many wonderful brands out there.
How did you get into hosting #GreenChat, and what’s so great about it?
Green Chat was actually first set up by Ana (of the blog Ana Goes Green) a few years ago but unfortunately she was unable to carry on. About 18 months ago I asked her if it would be okay to set it up again as I felt it’s a great way for everyone in the green beauty community to get together every other week and talk about things we all love. It’s so much fun discovering each others favourite products or discussing things that are important like ethical fashion, ingredients etc.
What’s your number one tip on shopping for green beauty?
I would say read the ingredients list. That’s the first thing you should do before purchasing any products. If there’s any ingredients on there you can’t read or aren’t sure of, you can visit EWG to read about them. I also have a Green Beauty Newbie series on my blog with details on ingredients to avoid, my favourite books and also shops to visit for truly natural and organic products.
Do you have a must-have item that you repurchase over and over?
I love the Bodhi & Birch Neroli Luce Oil, that’s one of my holy grails along with Lyonsleaf Beauty Balm which I’ve purchased quite a few times. At the minute I’m loving a secret product I’ve been working on just for Nectar & Bumble with Mallow & White which will be on the website when we launch!
Finally, do you have anything you’d like to share with readers of Curiously Conscious?
I would say definitely give green beauty a go! If you think natural products aren’t living up to mainstream products standards, then you’re not trying the right brands. I have so many favourites and they’re all from brands who are small businesses or people who have created the products from scratch and worked their way up. I prefer supporting businesses like this and it really makes a difference to the products and also your skin!
If you’d like to follow Amber, you can find her at her blog, on Twitter, Pinterest, Bloglovin’, YouTube, Instagram, and of course her new green beauty boutique, Nectar & Bumble.
