An Interview With Glow Cosmetics

*I received these products free for testing/reviewing purposes. All opinions are my own*

So often we hear about how lazy and unmotivated "kids these days" are, which is a stereotype I find to be completely unfair and untrue. In my job I get to meet kids every day who are involved in sports, student government, helping their community, and now running their own businesses. Hillsboro School District has a new program called IGNITE, which stands for Inspiring Growth Now In Teacher Education. This year IGNITE is partnering up with Tuesday Market to allow high school students a chance to create and run their own businesses, and I have had the pleasure of interviewing a pair of girls who have created their own skin care line.

Glow Cosmetics is an all natural, hand made line of scrubs and masks created by Becca McInally and Ruth Teklu. Each and every item is crafted with the utmost care, and have been designed to pamper and soothe your skin. The focus of the company is to use the most natural products possible, free of perfumes, parabens, and preservatives. They want your skin to glow and thrive, like a sunflower reaching for the warmth of the sun, which is why you'll find a sunflower on all of their labels. Though this is the first time either girls has run a business, they are handling it like pros and I was very impressed with their professional attitude and smart decision making. Currently their products are only available at their booth in the Tuesday Market, but eventually they would like to expand to an online market if this summer goes well.

They were kind enough to give me a sample of each of their products, so I've been able to test out the entire line. Currently they offer two different lip scrubs, a bath fizzy, a charcoal clay mask, a face/body scrub, and a body scrub. All of these items minus the body scrub are vegan, and as I mentioned earlier are hand made and cruelty free. Each product is designed to combat a specific problem while giving your skin the boost it needs. And all of the products have cute and clever names that reflect what is in them, which I really appreciated.

There are two lip scrubs in the line, a mint one called "Minty Fresh", and a licorice one called "Lick-o-rice". Both are completely edible, so once you have scrubbed your lips you can just lick the scrub off instead of rinsing it off. And the flavors are tasty enough you'll want to for sure. The Minty Fresh is my favorite out of the two, with a light spearmint flavor. The scent, flavor, and lovely light green shade remind me of a candy I use to love as a child. The Lick-o-rice one is a pale pink and is not overpowering in it's licorice flavor at all. It smells just like the old fashion licorice whips you find in good candy shops. Each container retails for $2.50, making these very affordable. And each lip scrub has a shelf life of three months, since it is free of preservatives.

The bath fizzy is a light sky blue shade and is the size of a tennis ball. The relaxing smell of lavender is strong enough to smell through the packaging, I could sniff it all day. I actually haven't tried this yet, my son fell in love with it the moment he saw it so I promised him I'd wait till his next bath to use it. The lavender essential oils in it will make for the perfect wind down bath, and the actual bath fizzy is large enough you could cut it in half to get two uses out of it. Each ball retails for $6.50, and as I mentioned are tennis ball sized so you get quite a bit for the price.

The only non-vegan item in the line is the Lemon Bar, a citrus based sugar scrub for your body. Containing fresh lemon zest, honey, lemon and orange essential oils, baking soda, and sugar, this is the perfect scrub to use in the morning to perk you up while scrubbing you down. The scent can best be described as a lemon starburst, I've probably spent an hour total just smelling it. And it left my leg feeling so soft afterwards, the dual exfoliating agents (sugar and baking soda) really do their job. The citrus oils help brighten your skin while the anti-microbial and healing properties of the honey will help heal your skin. I really enjoyed this one, the combination of the ingredients plus the smell just made me feel great. A jar of the scrub retails for $7.50 and has a shelf life of about 3 months.

My favorite thing in the whole world is coffee, so when they gave me a jar of the Daily Grind, a coffee based face and body scrub, I was ecstatic. Coffee is excellent for the skin and has been know to help diminish the appearance of cellulite, so with swimsuit season right around the corner I have a feeling this will be a popular one. While this is a courser scrub than I prefer for my face, I loved it on my legs. The difference in size between the sugar and the coffee grinds really helped in scrubbing and buffing away the dry skin I've been battling since my camping trip. And coffee grinds plus hot shower equals my whole bathroom smelling like a coffee shop, so I was in heaven. This scrub also retails for $7.50 and has a 3 month shelf life. I will be purchasing another jar of this scrub for sure before the summer ends.

I saved the best for last, a product that if you had told me was from a top skin care line I would have believed it hands down. The Diamond In The Rough charcoal clay mask, which was the first recipe they created for their line, is designed to pull all the impurities out of your skin. The bentonite clay based mask also contains aloe vera to soothe your skin, and tea tree oil to help combat acne, with the crown jewel being the charcoal, which acts like a little vacuum to pull everything out of your pores. There's a bit of a rough texture to this mask, so I scrubbed a bit as I applied this to my whole face, then I scrubbed again as I rinsed it off after it had completely dried. The grit exfoliated my face perfectly without overdoing it, and the aloe helped prevent any redness I may have caused. The mask dried up the little cluster of acne I had forming on my forehead and completely sucked up all the excess oil and gunk from my face. I would hand down purchase another container of this, this is a really great mask. The mask retails for $7.95, which I think is a steal, and also has a 3 month shelf life.

I am incredibly impressed by Glow Cosmetics and all the products they currently offer. I would love to see them be successful and grow, adding new products to their line. The fact that this whole business was designed and is ran by two girls not even out of high school yet blows my mind, I see good things in the future for Becca and Ruth. If you are interested in following the story of Glow Cosmetics you can find them at the Tuesday Market in downtown Hillsboro all Summer and you can also find them on Twitter. I wish them all the luck in their business and I can't wait to see what they come up with next.