Jessie is a talented, young professional with a drive for betterment. She will inspire you to improve yourself and your surroundings. Find out below for advice on how to eat better, her recipe for a surprising face “wash”, and a lipstick that won’t budge.
First, congratulations on being pregnant! How has being pregnant changed your outlook on beauty?
I would say that it has probably just reinforced my recent approach to beauty, which is that I tend to go for convenience with a focus on healthy. I’ve never been really into lot of makeup unless it’s a special occasion, probably because I tend to be a little lazy and I just don’t like spending a lot of time on it I tend to go for looking rested and healthy skin, so I choose the route that takes less time to do that. Being pregnant has just reinforced that because I have even more things to think about besides makeup now!
I know nutrition is really important to you, so how long have you eaten a vegan diet?
It’s been over 7 years since I’ve been vegetarian and over 4 years that my husband and I have followed a whole-foods, plant-based diet. It’s important to note that vegan doesn’t accurately describe how we eat — oreos and french fries are vegan, but they aren’t really healthy. Our diet is all about being as healthy as possible, so it centers on maximizing our intake of unprocessed, whole plants, and minimizing everything else. But, when I say 4 years, it’s probably only like 2.5 since I haven’t “cheated” a little bit. Cheese was, and probably still is, my favorite food even if I don’t eat it now, so it took a while before I could break the habit of eating some after a few glasses of wine.
What got you into wanting to change your diet?
It was a multistep process. When my husband and I started initially dating, we toyed with the idea of being vegetarian because neither of us were very big meat eaters to begin with. We eventually got very into health and nutrition and just started doing more and more research to figure out what the scientifically-supported “best practices” were. We saw the documentary Forks over Knives, and it talks about the evidence between food and health. I had a very visceral reaction to that documentary. Ultimately, I felt like I can pretend like that evidence is not there, but I can’t pretend like I don’t know it now. Since that documentary, we’ve actually scoured around looking for more evidence of ‘are we wrong’, and we’ve only found more evidence supporting this lifestyle. The other huge motivator is the link between animal agriculture and sustainability. My husband and I are huge environmentalists. Given that animal agriculture is literally the biggest driver of climate change on the planet due of the combination of deforestation, water use, and waste, we felt like we couldn’t really call ourselves environmentalists if we ate any other way. Cowspiracy is a great documentary that goes into the details on the link between animal agriculture and climate change.
Are books or videos that you would recommend?
Yes! The single best source I would recommend, from a nutritional standpoint, is Dr. Michael Greger’s book How Not to Die. It’s a recent publication that summarizes nutrition and health. It’s chapter after chapter that describes scientific information on how to prevent and/or reverse the fifteen top causes of premature death such as heart disease, diabetes, high blood pressure, and cancer. Half of the book is actually just references, which I love, because evidence is critical.
What advice would you give to someone who is wanting to live a healthier lifestyle?
It doesn’t have to be an all or nothing thing, especially at the beginning. Start eating more plants and less other things and just keep trying to shift in that direction every time you can. The science backs up that diet. The common thread is more vegetables. Even if you won’t go 100% immediately or ever, it still helps to give an effort. To be fair, eating things known to be linked to disease “in moderation” probably means you will be moderately sick. I think the ultimate goal is to continue moving toward more and more plants, but every choice adds up one way or the other. Setbacks shouldn’t be a reason to give up entirely.
How do you take care of your body now?
I’ve been trying to maintain my same fitness routine while being pregnant. Before being pregnant, I was not very consistent. I had a hard time sticking to an exact schedule, but now I exercise 30-60 minutes three or four times per week. I usually do some sort of circuit-type training video. I was into running in the past, and I trained and completed a half marathon last year just to say I did. I like the videos better, though, because of the convenience of not having to go anywhere. Running seemed to be a little harder on my joints than varied circuit training. Even though I’ve managed to keep doing that while pregnant, I do have to adjust my exercises the bigger I get. I also back off on intensity, so I’m not overdoing it. I like doing the videos because I feel strong and capable when doing everyday tasks such as going up stairs or squatting to pick things up.
What is your everyday beauty routine?
Every day is pretty simple. I have pretty sensitive skin, so I’ve had to find a really gentle routine to avoid redness and breakouts. I wash my face in the morning and night with nothing but oat flour. I actually grind oats in my vitamix. I basically put a half tablespoon in my palm and add just a little bit of water to turn it into a paste. It sounds weird, but it feels awesome! If I do need an actual cleanser because I have a full face of makeup to remove, I actually use our puppy shampoo, which is something I sort of started doing on accident. Tropiclean pet shampoo is really gentle because it’s soap-free and essentially just made from water, aloe, oatmeal, and a coconut-based cleanser. Afterwards, I use my oat float. As far as other products, I use Burt’s Bees Hydration Day Lotion or Burt’s Bees Renewal Day Lotion because they don’t irritate my skin. I tried the whole moisturize with oil craze, but that didn’t seem to work for me. In terms of daily makeup, the only two things I wear are Maybelline Expert Wear eyebrow pencil and Maybelline’s The Falsies Big Eyes mascara. Because my eyebrows and eyelashes are so blonde, I look pretty washed out without those. I’ve literally been asked if I was sick the few times I’ve gone to work without wearing those two things.
How do you change your look for special occasions?
I go full out! I use everything you can think of for special occasions. I’ll use the bareMinerals bareVitamins Prime Time foundation primer, Urban Decay’s Naked Skin Weightless Ultra Definition Liquid Foundation, bareMinerals Matte Foundation, and Maybelline Master Contour for contour, blush, and highlighter. As far as eyeshadow, eyeliner, and lipstick, I don’t stick to a single brand. I typically use random hand-me-downs or gifts that I’ve gotten from family members and friends. However, I recently purchased Revlon colorstay overtime liquid lipcolors in stay currant and constantly coral. I really like these because I hate having to worry about lipstick coming off. That stuff stays PUT once it dries. I usually have to scrub my lips with a combination of sugar and oil several times to take it off. It’s pretty much the opposite of my everyday look, and I don’t go out of my way to make natural choices here just because I use it all so infrequently anyways.
What’s a common misperception about beauty in your opinion?
A lot of people think their acne is an oil problem, but it can actually be a problem caused by dry skin too. I was very acne prone when I was growing up, but my skin has actually cleared up since being pregnant. For most of my life, though, I assumed I had acne because my skin was oily and used all the products designed to remove oil – oil-reducing face washes, astringents, oil-blotting sheets, etc. It finally hit me that my skin is actually dry, and that’s what causes my acne. It was a vicious cycle of irritated dry patches that end up flaking combining with my skin trying to overproduce oil to counteract the dryness. Oil + flaky skin = clogged pores. As soon as I started treating my skin like it was sensitive and dried out (i.e., oatmeal and good moisturizers), things got a lot better. I think a lot of people fall prey to that misconception.
Have you found a deodorant that works?
Works is a relative term. I actually make my own deodorant. It’s a recipe I got from Debbie (featured in a previous blog!). I use half baking soda and half cornstarch. Then, I add essential oils such as lavender to make it smell nice. I actually have a set of essential oil blends I got on a trip to Egypt that I’ve been using lately. I really like this deodorant better than any other deodorant I’ve used because most commercial deodorants irritate me. It is messy, though, because it’s a white powder. Some people add coconut oil to make it less messy, but I’m so sweaty. I’m fearful to add oil. If I really want to make sure I’m dry, I use Certain Dri. This is the one product where I deviate from my all-natural choices and just go for the chemical intensity because I do it very rarely. It’s essentially a super strong aluminum chloride antiperspirant, and there are links between these kinds of antiperspirants and cancer. I really limit it to just super special occasions like weddings where stains could mess up pictures. It’s prescription strength, but you can get it over the counter at Walgreens.
What’s the one thing you always have in your bag?
Chapstick! I’m completely addicted to nourish’s lip balm. It has natural beeswax and shea butter. It’s the only one that doesn’t dry me out.
What advice would you give your younger self?
I would probably tell my younger self to stop acting like exercise is so terrible. Start off slow. It can be a pain in the butt, but if you incorporate it slowly, it becomes a part of your lifestyle. I wish I would have figured that out sooner than oscillating between nothing and going so hard with it.
What is your beauty philosophy?
For me, it’s really about feeling good about myself and doing whatever it is that makes me confident and happy while also maintaining convenience, so I don’t feel compelled to spend a huge amount of time on my appearance. There are certainly other things that I could be worrying about. Spending time on your appearance is certainly one way to build confidence, but it is not the only way. Special occasions are for feeling fun, so those are different.
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