What Our FP Beauty Buyer REALLY Uses!
Jessica Richards, Free People’s own beauty guru, shares her five favorite products with us…and YOU…
Before I was even introduced to Jess (at our recent Beauty and Wellness event in Studio City), she was on my radar. Hair pulled back in a chic low bun, revealing even more of her radiant and naturally glowing skin, as if a sunbeam was hired to follow her around the store. Seriously, this New Yorker shone. Jess lives in Brooklyn, where she is also the founder and owner of beauty boutique, Shen. “What began as a neighborhood haven for undiscovered, organic lines and exclusive British imports soon started attracting consumers from Manhattan, Europe, Asia and beyond. Jessica is renowned in the industry for her considered, relevant curation, and has been featured in the New York Times, Vanity Fair, Interview, Allure, Harper’s Bazaar, The Huffington Post and Goop,” reads Shen’s website. To say she is experienced and knowledgeable is a considerable understatement. She knows what is in each product, how it will affect the body, how to use it, what to expect from it, and how it may — and should — personally pertain to you.
During the event, I kept finding myself gravitating toward Jess, being reduced to an inquisitive toddler in her presence. As someone who is currently attempting to make the jump to all-natural beauty products, I was a constant eruption of questions. She patiently walked me through each product, resulting in my leaving with three pieces, all of which I use nearly every day. I also bought three of the products featured below. Jess is the real deal — utterly honest, she will not try to just sell you something. She wants you to feel beautiful, inside and out.
What Jess swears by…
“I live and die for Kopari Body Balm. Considering that I am constantly traveling and need a body moisturizer that can also double-down as a makeup remover, a hair mask and a foot/hand balm, this is my go-to for my bag.”
“Since I have been trying not to drink much coffee (and especially trying to cut out cream due to some health problems), I am addicted to the Four Sigmatic Mushroom Coffee Mix which I combine with Tocos to give it the creamy milky effect that I am usually incredibly heavy-handed with. The cordyceps in the coffee mixture helps with mood stabilizing so there is no up and down effect like you’d get from caffeine.”
“The strangest product on the Free People site, and possibly my absolute favorite, is the ORG Mineral Face Peel. When it was first sent to me, I had to call and ask how to use it. I was told to ‘just put on my dry skin and rub.’ So I did, first to my hand, and totally freaked. Dead skin all balled up, but my hands looked so nice. That night I took it home and applied to my face and neck. What I found most interesting – and disgusting at the same time – was how truly dirty my neck was because I realized that I never really exfoliate my skin. I now use this product every Sunday night religiously to reveal new, younger skin and help keep acne at bay.”
“For makeup, my two go-to’s are the RMS mascara in ‘Defining’ — organic and fantastic — and the Vapour skin foundation in ‘120’, the best organic glow foundation to make every woman look her best!
Thank you, Jess! We’ll catch up with you soon.
+Shop the entire all-natural beauty and wellness collection here…
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