Meaning, in your recycling bin...
This post comes from regular contributor Arden Fanning Andrews.
“I’ve been wearing ‘Prickly Pear’ from the Joshua Tree palette, with ‘Reawakening’ on top and it makes the green of my eyes POP,” celebrity makeup artist Katey Denno tells me as we chitty chat about Aether Beauty’s line of organic, shea butter-infused shadows wrapped in a feel-good wardrobe of recyclable paper. “Aether is leading the way in cool, aesthetically pleasing paperboard packaging, the likes of which haven’t been seen before – there’s nothing boring or crunchy about it,” she points out. It’s a conversation that’s especially relevant when statistics show that even though around three-quarters of American waste is recyclable, only one (tiny) third is ever actually recycled or composted. And she would know. Denno has gained a reputation as the cool girl of conscious beauty, with a roster of A-list clients like Emma Watson, Beanie Feldstein, and Naomi Watts that lean on her mental library of high-performance, non-toxic beauty secrets.
Aside from eco-compacts and true-to-life shades, the ingredients inside are incorporating more than the usual smokey-eye pigments. “The Rose Quartz Palette is made with real Rose Quartz!” founder Tiila Abbitt enthuses. “Rose Quartz emulates love, self-love, and being open to love.” Part of that loving feeling means that 1% of proceeds go to The Water Project, which has already helped over half a million people gain access to clean water sources. “For years I’ve had rose quartz around the house. They’re such beautiful stones,” says Denno, who speaks to the cosmetic power of a crushed-up infusion of energetic crystals. “These eyeshadows are buttery soft and easy to apply with your (sanitized) finger or a small, fluffy brush to give lids a wash of sheer color and lots of shimmer.” And if your crystallized gaze has any potential to play a part in attracting love to your life, all the better.
“I’ve been wearing ‘Prickly Pear’ from the Joshua Tree palette, with ‘Reawakening’ on top and it makes the green of my eyes POP,” celebrity makeup artist Katey Denno tells me as we chitty chat about Aether Beauty’s line of organic, shea butter-infused shadows wrapped in a feel-good wardrobe of recyclable paper. “Aether is leading the way in cool, aesthetically pleasing paperboard packaging, the likes of which haven’t been seen before – there’s nothing boring or crunchy about it,” she points out. It’s a conversation that’s especially relevant when statistics show that even though around three-quarters of American waste is recyclable, only one (tiny) third is ever actually recycled or composted. And she would know. Denno has gained a reputation as the cool girl of conscious beauty, with a roster of A-list clients like Emma Watson, Beanie Feldstein, and Naomi Watts that lean on her mental library of high-performance, non-toxic beauty secrets.
Aside from eco-compacts and true-to-life shades, the ingredients inside are incorporating more than the usual smokey-eye pigments. “The Rose Quartz Palette is made with real Rose Quartz!” founder Tiila Abbitt enthuses. “Rose Quartz emulates love, self-love, and being open to love.” Part of that loving feeling means that 1% of proceeds go to The Water Project, which has already helped over half a million people gain access to clean water sources. “For years I’ve had rose quartz around the house. They’re such beautiful stones,” says Denno, who speaks to the cosmetic power of a crushed-up infusion of energetic crystals. “These eyeshadows are buttery soft and easy to apply with your (sanitized) finger or a small, fluffy brush to give lids a wash of sheer color and lots of shimmer.” And if your crystallized gaze has any potential to play a part in attracting love to your life, all the better.
Plus, they’re verrrryyyy user-friendly. “How many times have we all been drawn to a beautiful palette only to find the powders don’t deposit color evenly, become streaky, and don’t transfer to skin as the color they appear to be in the package?” Denno asks. “These are truly what you see is what you get.”
She also touts Aether for that rare mix of payoff and the ability to blend right onto your lid. The shades punching up Denno’s emerald eyes sport another unexpected infusion: Organic hemp seed oil in a moisturizing matte finish. “The Joshua Tree Palette is twelve matte shades inspired by the colors found in the Joshua Tree Desert,” Abbitt shares of her inspiration to give 1% of proceeds to the Mojave Desert Land Trust. Plus, Abbitt incorporated a shadow-meets-skincare bonus: “The organic hemp seed oil helps to add moisture into your skin as well!”
She also touts Aether for that rare mix of payoff and the ability to blend right onto your lid. The shades punching up Denno’s emerald eyes sport another unexpected infusion: Organic hemp seed oil in a moisturizing matte finish. “The Joshua Tree Palette is twelve matte shades inspired by the colors found in the Joshua Tree Desert,” Abbitt shares of her inspiration to give 1% of proceeds to the Mojave Desert Land Trust. Plus, Abbitt incorporated a shadow-meets-skincare bonus: “The organic hemp seed oil helps to add moisture into your skin as well!”
To squeeze every last drop out of your palettes and then send them to their next life the right way, Denno created a streamlined guide for even the laziest beauty enthusiast:
SUPERNATURAL BROW FILLER
“The Joshua Tree palette has a range of great eyebrow filler colors (and many more if you want to go bold and choose a pop of color to feather into your brows),” says Denno. The natural oils in the formula are just as good for nourishing those little baby hairs. Use feathery strokes to fill in the gaps or recreate brushed-up, Amandla-Stenberg-at-the-Oscars-level arches.
BACK TO YOUR ROOTS “Particularly right now when everyone has a head full of growing-out roots, you can use a similar color to your hair from the Joshua Tree palette for coverage,” says Denno, who points out that hairstylists do this all the time on set and for red carpet events to fill in sparse hairlines or thicken areas that look thin. “If you’re feeling bold, try covering your roots along your part with a serious pop of color.”
KISS-PROOF POWDERS “Pressing a matte shadow on top of your lipstick will help it stick around longer, and give it a fun 2-texture look,” says Denno, who achieves the culty powdered lipstick look with this trick. If you want to give the metallic lip craze a try without committing to another beauty purchase, try test driving the effect. “A shimmer shadow will do the same, and give it a little sparkle.”
HIGH BEAMS Yet another perk of skincare-infused non-toxic beauty shades: You can bend the rules. “Use the sparkle eyeshadows from the Rose Quartz palette on your cheeks as a highlighter or blush,” says Denno. Like a one-stop-shop, the Rose Quartz palette shape-shifts yet again.
AND FINALLY, SAYING GOODBYE… “For those who are going to buy this and not read the box or the website’s recycling instructions, here’s how simple it is to make sure this isn’t being added to the garbage dump or the floor of the ocean,” Denno shares in a no-nonsense PSA.
SUPERNATURAL BROW FILLER
“The Joshua Tree palette has a range of great eyebrow filler colors (and many more if you want to go bold and choose a pop of color to feather into your brows),” says Denno. The natural oils in the formula are just as good for nourishing those little baby hairs. Use feathery strokes to fill in the gaps or recreate brushed-up, Amandla-Stenberg-at-the-Oscars-level arches.
BACK TO YOUR ROOTS “Particularly right now when everyone has a head full of growing-out roots, you can use a similar color to your hair from the Joshua Tree palette for coverage,” says Denno, who points out that hairstylists do this all the time on set and for red carpet events to fill in sparse hairlines or thicken areas that look thin. “If you’re feeling bold, try covering your roots along your part with a serious pop of color.”
KISS-PROOF POWDERS “Pressing a matte shadow on top of your lipstick will help it stick around longer, and give it a fun 2-texture look,” says Denno, who achieves the culty powdered lipstick look with this trick. If you want to give the metallic lip craze a try without committing to another beauty purchase, try test driving the effect. “A shimmer shadow will do the same, and give it a little sparkle.”
HIGH BEAMS Yet another perk of skincare-infused non-toxic beauty shades: You can bend the rules. “Use the sparkle eyeshadows from the Rose Quartz palette on your cheeks as a highlighter or blush,” says Denno. Like a one-stop-shop, the Rose Quartz palette shape-shifts yet again.
AND FINALLY, SAYING GOODBYE… “For those who are going to buy this and not read the box or the website’s recycling instructions, here’s how simple it is to make sure this isn’t being added to the garbage dump or the floor of the ocean,” Denno shares in a no-nonsense PSA.
- Pop out the metal tins once you’ve used up all the shadows, and toss them in your metal recycling bin.
- Snip off the elastic (consider using it as a hair tie if you don’t want to throw it in the trash).
- Toss the empty palette in with your paper recycling. Voila!
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