Q & A with Meryl of Hynt Beauty and Ashley of The Green Bunny

Hynt Beauty is a brand to be noticed. Not only for their clean and safe cosmetics, but for the beautiful woman behind the brand as well. Meryl Marshall, the founder of Hynt Beauty, has created her brand so that women won’t have to worry about their makeup being safe – she has made it her mission to meticulously choose and source the best ingredients that will benefit the skin while also providing superior makeup quality. As a breast cancer survivor, clean ingredients are a must, and she is dedicated to making safe cosmetics a standard in the beauty industry.

Hynt Beauty prides themselves on being an honest makeup brand and makes every effort to fully disclose all of their product ingredients so their customers know exactly what they are getting. Not only is their line organic based, they use the finest botanical elements and, their makeup is free of parabens, nanoparticles, synthetic fragrance, petrochemicals, artificial preservatives, bismuth oxychloride, carmine, FD&C dyes and gluten. Their products are also primarily certified vegan by PETA and have received low hazard ratings on the Environmental Working Group’s Skin Deep Database.

An eco-luxe beauty brand + a clean beauty lover = A collaborative dream team!

If you don’t know Ashley from the Green Bunny, you are missing out on an amazing woman and an even more amazing green beauty resource! Ashley is the content creator behind the blog and YouTube Channel, The Green Bunny. After an accident while traveling abroad, her eyes were opened to the ingredients that were in mainstream beauty products and she was appalled. She immediately ditched all of her makeup and started fresh, and in late Summer 2015, her YouTube channel and blog were born! She creates weekly videos on her channel which include product reviews, makeup tutorials and monthly favorites. Her honesty and humor make her a stand out and an absolute pleasure to watch. In addition to her own videos, she also is the face of the Integrity Botanicals YouTube channel where she produces weekly videos there as well! And if this girl couldn’t get any busier, she also went ahead and teamed up with Hynt Beauty to create two custom colors for their line.

We are so excited to have both Meryl and Ashley on the blog today talking makeup, ingredients and the product collaboration that they worked on together. We will also be featuring a very exciting giveaway with them, so make sure to catch that at the end of this post!

The Greenly Guide: Can you tell us what inspired your interest in natural beauty products?

Meryl: I was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2004. After my surgeries and treatment, I began the process of reading about the possible dangers of ingredients in everything from our cleaning products, lawn care, food and health and beauty products. I was appalled at the notion that many of the products that I was using were potentially harmful to myself and my family. I honestly thought that if a product was on the market, there were regulations in place regarding their safety. Nothing could be further than the truth.

I began to make small changes to overhaul over to a healthier lifestyle which included scrutinizing ingredient listings on packages and making better choices in general. These are just a few of my changes: I easily found skin care that kept me happily hydrated. I ditched anti-perspirant immediately. I created a more structured routine for exercise. I reduced my use of a microwave to once in a blue moon. I started a new collection of cleaning products that I felt comfortable with. I mainly use a spray bottle of my concoction of water, vinegar and tea tree oil. I learned which fruits and vegetables should only be purchased organic as opposed to conventional offerings. These are just some of my new confident choices.

The Greenly Guide: And from that interest in natural products, what made you decide to create Hynt Beauty?

Meryl: In the past, I always treated myself to fine quality cosmetics, but now I have to avoid the department store cosmetic counters. I went into Whole Foods and purchased some cosmetics there. I was gravely disappointed in so many aspects, like color selection, fine textures and the lack of glamourous packaging. I do not find wood or white packaging sexy. It just isn’t ‘me.’ White packaging gets so stained from the product and frankly is a turnoff to me. I tried another brands mascara and even after wiping it down, it looks awful.

I don’t feel that the packaging has to connote the goodness that is inside. I wanted an affordable brand that could be loved and trusted. A $45 lipstick is unnecessary. I wanted products that appeal to a wide age demographic. I began a ‘blacklist’ of nasty ingredients that I found objectionable and that list has been fine-tuned several times. Almost all of our packaging can be recycled.

Hynt Beauty is a brand to be trusted and loved. It is a brand that has a watchdog at its helm. I am a breast cancer survivor and I am picky and choosy on the good stuff that goes into the product line.  Quality, Safety and Performance is my mantra. –Meryl Marshall

The Greenly Guide: What was the first official Hynt Beauty product that you created?

Meryl: I worked with my favorite cosmetic chemist, Kristina on our Duet Perfecting Concealer. I wanted a multi- tasking product that adhered to my blacklist yet contained state of the art natural ingredients. We tried using some organic ingredients but for some reason the outcome did not yield the texture that we were shooting for. Many times ingredient consistencies vary from different manufacturers. There was plenty of back and forth until we felt satisfied. I test marketed what I felt was the final working product with several makeup artists as well as bloggers well versed in natural makeup. The response was overwhelmingly positive.

The product was originally in a cute pink tube but that was a lesson learned. The tubes were clogging and the tips were coming off with the force of getting the product out. We experimented with several different replacement options and ended up with the safest one-a glass jar. I would like our customers to understand that our concealer is an effectively preserved, waterless formula so bacteria growth is not a concern, especially with the user implementing good hygiene.

The Greenly Guide: What challenges have you come across in working with natural ingredients and how have you resolved those challenges?

Meryl: I have encountered issues with natural binders that don’t ‘hold’ as well as their synthetic counterparts.

Also, the issue with natural preservatives is a slippery slope. Makeup, especially the type used on the eyes, MUST have a preservative. I have women calling asking why we used tocopherols in some of our products. Really? There are not too many choices in the natural realm that are considered a low hazard rating on EWG/Skin Deep. It would be irresponsible to market a product without an effective preservative system in place.

I know of one popular company that used to tout that their cosmetics do not have any preservatives….funny they don’t do that now. Liability is a serious issue and eye infections and rancid product is unacceptable.

Organic ingredients can many times cost more than double when compared to their conventional counterpart. Also, I do my due diligence and contact manufacturers of ingredients to research the byproduct ingredients. For example, I have found parabens being the preservative in several ingredients; those of which are not disclosed by other companies because the percentage is below 1% in the entire formula or they are not aware of it. I seek ingredients from sources that I deem responsible and that fully disclose the information that I personally require.

The Greenly Guide: Can you talk a little about your ingredients and any used in your products that are particularly unique or beneficial to the skin?

Meryl: I love jojoba oil. This is a wonderful ingredient that has multiple uses. It is loaded with beneficial vitamins and ideal for sensitive skin. It is found in several of our products, namely our Forte eyeliner pencils, pressed shadows, Encore pressed powder and our award winning, beloved Duet Perfecting Concealer. I use organic jojoba oil to remove my eye makeup.

We use state of the art Eco-Cert ingredients especially in our Aria Pure Lipsticks which feature a patented 100% GMO-free plant based complex that boosts water absorption and hydration levels by +25% across 3 epidermis layers of the lip.

The Greenly Guide: What separates Hynt Beauty products from other green beauty brands?

Meryl: Hynt Beauty is a brand to be trusted and loved. It is a brand that has a watchdog at its helm. I am a breast cancer survivor and I am picky and choosy on the good stuff that goes into the product line.  Quality, Safety and Performance is my mantra.

HYNT BEST SELLERS

Our Duet Perfecting Concealer is a beloved product that is award winning. It is a multi-tasking product. Mix in a bit of our Skin Prep or Sun Prep and you have an awesome liquid foundation/CC cream/tinted moisturizer. It is also a terrific eyeshadow primer.

Our Velluto Pure Powder Foundation does not contain Titanium Dioxide which is a heavy white mineral powder which can look a bit grey and mask like looking on the skin. I like makeup to look natural in natural light. Also, we do not use a cheap filler like Bismuth Oxychloride which causes itching in many people.

SOMETHING YOU WON’T FIND IN ANY OF THEIR PRODUCTS?

Meryl explains what ingredient is completely absent from their line and what product she uses every night:

“We do not use Dimethicone in any of our products, a great binder often found in skincare and color makeup. While not harmful to the skin, it tends to bind to and suffocates the skin – especially not a good thing when you are working out and sweating.

I use our hot selling Skin Prep every night before bed. This product has a high percentage of Algae and Hyaluronate Acid that is very moisturizing without being greasy. I hate anything greasy. It gets all over my pillowcase and hair. I find that this product brightens my skin. I always recommend Skin Prep to those with acneic skin as it has anti-acne properties without irritation.

I use our Sun Prep Broad Spectrum SPF30 Sunscreen religiously every morning as a primer prior to makeup application. I cannot express how important it is to protect your skin from the sun. Never, ever rely on makeup for sun protection. This Dimethicone free product provides an excellent canvas and really works well with our makeup.”

The Greenly Guide: Can you share your ‘going green’ story and what motivated you to start using cleaner products?

Ashley: In March of 2015 I was traveling abroad with my sister and I fell down an entire flight of stairs. I ended up having to be admitted and operated on and it was truly one of the most scary experiences of my life. I have never been hospitalized before or had my health at risk in that way so while being cooped up for five months trying to heal post-op, I of course fell deeper into Youtube. I was watching Ashley or MakeupTIA who used both green and conventional products and once I started to read up on the chemicals in cosmetics I was shocked. Makeup has always been one of my biggest loves so I almost felt betrayed! I am super all or nothing so I ditched my entire makeup stash, slowly started to curate a cleaner one, and then came my Youtube channel. The timing was all sort of perfect because I wanted a channel since I was 16. Now I have been doing it for a year and the rest is history.

The Greenly Guide: How do you find green beauty products and how do you decide which products and brands you are going to try?

Ashley: Honestly, the Internet! Youtube was such a big inspiration to me before starting my own and people like Ashley (MakeupTIA) and Teri (TeriMiyahira) were really my main source of figuring out what products to try. Now, I just keep up with a lot of brands on social media and since I am a content creator anything new of course really excites me.

The Greenly Guide: What tips do you have in avoiding green washing?

Ashley: My biggest thing with consumption in general, not just green washing, is of course educating yourself. Familiarize yourself with ingredients even on a basic level to weed out the most toxic and most commonly used, and utilize resources to do so such as the Think Dirty app and EWG. It is so important that you can read labels on your own and figure out what you are comfortable using because it is different for everyone. There is no all-encompassing way to green your routine, education is key!

The Greenly Guide: You have so much wonderful knowledge, and your YouTube channel is so helpful for finding tutorials and hearing about natural health and beauty products – what other plans do you have for your channel in the future?

Ashley: Thank you! Oh man, of course, tons. I want to use my platform as a place to hone in on my creativity, and ultimately create a safe place for people of all genders, ages, and walks of life to enjoy. YouTube has been so special to me for lonely times I experienced in high school, or difficult times like trying to heal after surgery that if I could offer that comfort to anyone else that is very special to me. I would also like to raise awareness and start conversations. Topics such as fast fashion and how to avoid it, feminism, fashion as a whole, the environment, these are all things I am interested in and would like to start incorporating into my channel. I think having a voice big or small I want to share things that are aesthetically pleasing and beautiful but also indulge the mind.

There is no all-encompassing way to green your routine, education is key! – Ashley, The Green Bunny

The Greenly Guide: I would love to hear more about your collaboration with Hynt Beauty and what your process and inspiration was behind the colors you created for them.

Ashley: My collaboration with Hynt was actually such a smooth transition. Having already been obsessed with Hynt Beauty from their ethos to their products, I kind of already had ideas in my head. Since we utilized their already fabulous formulations, I was the mastermind behind the colors and names, which was a total treat. I was missing the perfect nude blush in my collection. Everything too pink, too peach, too warm, too shimmery. I wanted a good matte blush that was along the lines of my old favorite, Tarte Exposed. I named the blush Notoriously Nude since I am a total fan of word play, alliteration, and well, it was just a good nude blush! As far as the gloss goes, I wanted what I call the perfect “lipstick topper.” There are a lot of glosses that pack so much color it’s like they’re a super shiny liquid lipstick and that’s not what I wanted. I wanted something that would look good on someone of the most porcelain skin, or someone with a rich chocolate complexion hence the name “Une Femme Mauve.” Une Femme actually means The Woman or A Woman in french and it’s a good neutral mauve tone that looks great on top of basically any lipstick and for any occasion.

The Greenly Guide: Any other information you would like to include that you would like your followers to know about you?

Ashley: Just thank you for all of the love and continued support. Creating a little mini collection with Hynt I mean is beyond a dream come true and without my loyal little audience it wouldn’t be possible. I would also love for anyone to share their experiences with the products and photos with me so I can share them as well, just use the hash tag #gbxhynt.

WANT TO KNOW MORE? Watch Ashley’s video HERE that is dedicated to discussing her Hynt Beauty collaboration and products!

And if you just cannot wait to pick up some of Hynt Beauty’s gorgeous products, Ashley has offered her discount code where ‘gbunny20’ will save you at checkout! Click HERE to shop!

 [[CLOSED]] Congratulations to the winner @cleanbeautycleansoul

Let’s get back to that giveaway, shall we!?

The Greenly Guide has teamed up with Hynt Beauty & Ashley to offer 1 lucky reader the chance to win BOTH products that Ashley created for the line – the ‘Notoriously Nude’ blush and ‘Une Femme Mauve’ lip gloss!

Full contest details are listed below and will also be posted HERE over on our Instagram feed, so be sure to head there to officially enter!  Best of luck to everyone who enters!

Giveaway is open to Hynt Beauty lovers WORLDWIDE!  Must be 18 years or older to enter.  Contest will run from Friday, October 28, 2016 through Saturday, October 29, 2016 at 11:00 PM EST.  Winner will be chosen randomly and announced at the bottom of this post as well as over on our Instagram feed on Sunday, October 30, 2016.

HOW TO ENTER: 

–Make sure you are following The Greenly Guide, Hynt Beauty and Ashley over on Instagram

–Comment on the Instagram giveaway photo tagging three friends

–Leave us a comment below telling us if you are someone who can never get enough blush in your collection or if you are more of a lipgloss lover! (make sure to include your Instagram username in your comment here so we know it’s you!)

***OPTIONAL–Receive 5 extra entries by reposting our giveaway photo on Instagram (make sure to tag us in your repost!)