La Bella Figura Turns One And Interviews Themselves!

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The Amalfi Coast

 Who are you?

La Bella Figura, a little natural and organic skincare brand that wants to bring "The Beautiful Life" to beauty lovers everywhere!

Where do you live?

We are based in Chicago, although our hearts are always someplace else. Mostly in Paris, Barcelona, or somewhere on the Amalfi coast.

What is your occupation?

We formulate, create and hand blend natural skincare products from certified organic or wild crafted ingredients. We bring beauty to the world and safe cosmetics to folks that trust us.

What is your astrological sign?


We are a power combo. A Leo and An Aquarian!

What do you do for fun and recreation?

We travel, write, cook, dance, meet our friends and laugh well into the night.

If you could travel anywhere, where would it be and why?

There is so much that we still need to see. There is not a place on this earth that we wouldn't see! We travel because it reminds us of Huckleberry Finn, being a seven year old, diving into our imaginations, and it connects us with our humanity.

What do you enjoy most about your life?

We enjoy loving the people closest to us every day. We hold them tight and just love! Right now we are also enjoying some of the success from our hard work and being recognized by retailers, customers, editors, and beauty writers as responsible and truthful. When we receive a phone call or an email from a customer that tells us our products has changed their skin, well it makes us cheer with joy. We love to hear it. We also love being innovative with ingredients and educating people about chemical free beauty. How some women covet the latest Stella McCartney dress or Rag and Bone jeans we covet the latest fruit or vegetable oil making news in the science journals. Don't get us started about organic essential oils because we have been amazed by the variety in the plant world and wish to try them all!

What made you try organic products?

We were tired of the greenwashing, the chemicals, toxins and lies that are constant in the beauty world. Growing up, all we ever heard was that oil for your skin is the worst culprit and leading cause of acne and irritating skin issues. Meanwhile, the beautiful women of Morocco, Italy, France, and Spain have always used a variety of oils in their skincare routine with astonishing results! The old myth that oils are hazardous and are to be avoided is absurd since no cream or moisturizer can be made without oil. It's an emulsion of water and oil! We just didn't want mineral oil to be our moisturizer so we looked towards nature and like the beauty queen she is, we found our answers. There is no going back once you go clean and organic.

If we "shadowed" you for an entire day, what beauty horror would we find out about you?

Yikes! We are both guilty of being so busy running La Bella Figura that we sometimes forget to take care of ourselves. We're getting better though because we both made a recent committment to make exercise a part of our work routine daily. It's so easy to wake up and have emails, phone calls, and meetings to attend and skip a workout, but in the end we've realized we are happier when we can squeeze in some yoga or a cardio outdoors.

What are your favorite beauty products, something you could not be on a desert island without?

We are huge fans of two of our own products. Karen would go nuts if she didn't have her Decouverte Under Eye Repair Serum! Right now if I lost my bottle of Barbary Fig Renewal Serum I wouldn't be a happy camper either. It's getting my skin gorgeous for Spring.


Other than that I love my John Masters Organics Bare shampoo and I'm loving Raw Elements USA natural sunscreen made with some great ingredients that make my skin feel soft and not tacky.

What will you be doing this weekend?

It's St. Patrick's Day in Chicago this weekend and it'll be in the 70's! We'll be out and about for sure. We have a tradition here in Chicago where we turn the river green and have a parade and celebrate in a big way. Pretty sure green beer will be on the menu too. Don't ask what the city uses to turn the river green!

Sum up a motto that best describes you:

We do what we do not because it's always easy, but because we think it's right.

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Karen

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Victoria

La Bella of the week, Heather Hamilton of Zoe Organics

This week's "La Bella" is the CEO and founder of Zoe Organics, (a clean and natural product line made with loving care for Mom and baby) Heather Hamilton.  Heather is an entrepreneur and formulates all of her lovely products herself.  She is also a mutual lover of all things Spanish.  Just look at her skin, she beams organic beauty!

Heather Hamilton

La Bella Figura:  Who are you?


Heather Hamilton:  Wife, mother, entrepreneur with fire in my belly for the inspiration that often comes in the wee hours of the morning.


LBF:  Where do you live?

HH:  In a beautiful little community just north of the Napa Valley, in Northern California.


LBF:  What is your occupation?

HH:  Founder/CEO of Zoe Organics


LBF:  What is your astrological sign?

HH: Pisces

LBF:  What do you do for fun and recreation?

HH:  I love to run. Especially when I have a few hours early in the morning to run by myself. These days you will most likely see me running with a child or two in a jogging stroller - but that's fun too! I was blessed to have spent a lot of time growing up in the great outdoors; camping, hiking, skiing, cycling, etc., so these activities are amongst my favorites, even if I don't get to do them as often as I'd like.


LBF:  If you could travel anywhere, where would it be and why?

HH:  Ha! This changes weekly - but I spent my freshman year of college in Spain and have always wanted to take my husband back for a romantic trek through some of my favorite Spanish cities. There is so much to love! The people, food, music, history, breathtaking countryside...and the language - I'm not fluent, but I should be!


LBF:  What do you enjoy most about your life?

HH:  My family. I have an incredibly loving, brilliant husband to whom I have been married to for nearly 10 years. We have been blessed with 3 gorgeous, vibrant children who challenge us, love us unconditionally, and make us better people. I can't talk about family without mentioning my parents; who taught me how to love and who fostered my passion and dreams. They are still encouraging and supporting these dreams!

I also love that I wake up every morning excited about my work. They say you are doing what you are supposed to do when it doesn't feel like work. I can honestly say that (apart from bookkeeping) Zoe Organics is energizing to me! And I love the flexibility that comes with being a mompreneur.


LBF:  What made you try organic products?

HH:  Probably the most common reason out there - motherhood. I have always been conscientious about nutrition, but it wasn't until I had my first child, in 2006, that I began to scrutinize everything that I put on or into my son. Research dug up some ugly facts about mainstream cosmetics and it was only a matter of time before I was making my own.


LBF:  If we "shadowed" you for an entire day, what beauty horror would we
find out about you?

HH:  Hahaha...most work days, I simply shower and put on yoga pants and my favorite tee or hoodie. I have the "luxury" of working from my home office and product studio, so if I'm not going out, I stay as comfortable and low maintenance as possible!


LBF:  What are your favorite beauty products, something you could not be on a desert island without?

HH:  Oh, this is a great question! I could care less about make-up (especially on a desert island), so my staples would include; lip balm (something with shea or cocoa butter) body butter or a face & body balm. Of course, I have a long list of my favorite plant ingredients, but that's probably a different question. :)


LBF:  What will you be doing this weekend?

HH:  Oh, my husband and I were just talking about it this morning. I will be making product. Lot's and lot's of it!


LBF:  Sum up a motto that best describes you:

HH:  The last Christmas we spent with my late sister-in-law, Suzanne Hamilton, she gave me a ring with the french inscription "il faut vivre et non pas seulement exister". The English translation is "one must live and not just exist". This is a reminder to me that life is most certainly a gift. I am learning to focus my energy on the things that matter most, be willing to take risks and let go of the things I cannot control.

Thank you Heather for taking the time out of your busy schedule to be our featured Bella this week.  You are a rockstar and your kids are just adorable!  Keep that fire in your belly burning and keep creating those wonderful products for Mom and baby.  We hope you all make it to a beautiful Spanish vacation soon. 

Check out Zoe Organics at www.zoe-organics.com  

Your Summer Travel Cosmetic Bag

Most of us make summer travel plans and then get excited as we imagine the outfits we are going to wear as we walk the streets of Naples or on the island of Vieques or even a simple camping trip in Michigan.  Britney Spears cutoffs, anyone?

What we often don't think about is how to pack a proper cosmetic bag.  I once went on a weekend trip to Vegas with my sister and laughed as she pulled out three cosmetic bags, one for makeup,  she explained, one for skin and haircare products and lastly her contacts and vitamins/medicine bag!  I'll kindly leave out the fact that she brought a full sized suitcase we had to check in and wait an hour for at the airport.  (Oops...couldn't leave that alone!)

I have become an excellent travel packer.  The reason being: it saves time and I have never been known to wait patiently in lines.  Last year I went to Buenos Aires for 10 days in December with a carryon and a large bag that I called a purse.  (United made no qualms about it, so there!)  Most women I know (ahem, a certain best friend that lives in LA and travels to Brazil with two huge suitcases like she's about to be lost on a desert island) can't imagine how I've been able to pull this off, but I have.   I have also expertly been able to compact or shrink size my cosmetic bag and those of you that know me also know how I love my beauty products.  I would like to pass on my wisdom on this issue and hope you consider these tips as you pack your bags.

THINGS YOU ABSOLUTELY NEED:

Makeup-Bring an eyeshadow pallete that contains several colors for choice options.  This will keep you from bringing 6 or ten eyeshadows jamming up your bag. The same for blush.  Pour foundation in a small container, maybe one you've recycled from a product sample.  You only need one mascara ladies!

Emergency Kit-Mini tweezers, mini nail kit, mini sewing kit.   Necessary medicines in a contact lense container is brilliant, one side for advil and the other for vitamins.  Or, if you're my sister bring two contact lense containers,  you'll still be better off than bringing bottles of advil and vitamins.

Hair and Skin Care Products-Save your samples for this!  Samples of your favorite organic beauty products are your friend on vacation.  They are luxurious and take your vacation to an adventurous level.  If you don't it is a MUST to pour your favorite styling aids in those small 1 oz. containers you stole from the hotel from your last vacation and are hoarding in your bathroom drawer.  This saves so much space in your bag.  I also bring a multi-purpose moisturizer (Tesoro-Mediterranean Blend) that I can use on my face, hair and nails in a pinch.

Tesoro Mediterranean Blend

Save Room-Purchase a new olive oil hand cream in Italy, exfoliator in France or Decouverte under eye repair serum in Chicago.  Discovering new beauty products from around the world is my favorite thing ever.  First stop in Spain, the local Farmacia! 

These tips should help you get through security and that TSA agent.  You know the one just waiting to open up your cosmetic bag and rummage through, pulling out "suspicious" bottles of body wash in  horrific 4 oz. containers.

Happy Travels and happy shopping at the Spanish Farmacia.

Victoria in Barcelona

                                                           
                                                        
www.labellafigurabeauty.com  

Review of La Bella Figura by Activist and Actress Shiva Rose on The Local Rose

Allure

La Bella Figura 

June 27, 2011

        

One of most favorite things about this site is that I get to discover natural products that really work. This new line of skin care is truly amazing. The two ladies behind it Victoria and Karen named their company after an Italian expression of finding beauty in everyday life.

La Bella Figura use wonderfully rich oils in their products but the two main ingredients that make their serums stand out, are their use of argan and barbary fig oils. These oils are acquired through fair trade agreements and are truly beneficial to the skin.  I have been using the Moroccan Face Gold and the Tesoro for a few weeks now, and my skin feels noticeably more supple and soft. They also have a great eye repair serum with a good dose of omega 3 to combat dark circles and wrinkles.  

labellafigurabeauty.com

 

Visit Shiva Rose's lovely blog The Local Rose and learn to live a greener existence without the carbon footprint and without sacrificing beauty. We love her posts and her message!