In addition to being the beauty editor for Peppermint Magazine, she has recently started a website, Ikigai, dedicated to sharing the most beautiful and healthy beauty products out there. Moreover, her website has lots of tools to educate yourself on natural beauty products including a comprehensive glossary of ingredients.

I recently got to catch up with Kate am thrilled to share a bit more with you about this gorgeously green gal:

What does Ikigai mean? Is there a story behind the name?
There sure is! Ikigai is Japanese meaning the things in life that bring meaning and joy – the things that fulfill us. That resonated for me, the idea of pampering yourself, but at the same time making ethical choices that don’t damage the beautiful world around us. I get tremendous joy and meaning from being in nature, especially now that I have the beautiful Queensland beaches and hinterland on my doorstep. I want to look beautiful and have luxurious things but still live in harmony with the planet that sustains us – and I don’t see any reason why we can’t do both.

What are some of the small things that you do in your day to day life that are green?
My fiancé is a serious coffee fanatic – he has four cups a day – so we invested in a coffee machine which means no more disposable cups. When I thought about my daily coffee purchase, I realized that if everyone in Australia gets a takeaway coffee in the morning and throws the cup away imagine the amount of waste!

I am also very lucky that we live close to the city so I can walk to work. We very rarely use the car and walk as much as possible. And even though we live in a tiny unit, we have herbs and tomatoes growing on our balcony which is very exciting… I don’t have green fingers at all and I normally manage to kill plants, so it’s quite a miracle that they are still alive.

It can be overwhelming to look at your beauty products and think that you may have to replace them all- what is your advice to gals who are just starting to green their beauty routine?

Yes I totally understand that feeling of being overwhelmed - that is why Ikigai was born. I was sooooo exasperated with purchases I made thinking they were a greener choice, only to research the ingredients and find that they had lots of chemicals in it and only a dollop of good stuff. I got very downhearted and discouraged – not to mention bewildered! It’s because of that experience that I wanted to bring a bit of glamour into natural and organic products so that girls like me don’t have to compromise on their yummy products – plus I wanted to provide a place where there were ONLY products you can trust, so you can find everything you need without the hassle.

So, cutting to the chase…. My advice would be to have a look at the shopping guide I’ve put together which explains some of the worst chemicals that can be found in cosmetics. You can find it here. Take it into your bathroom and read the ingredient lists on your products. Then sort them into ‘good’, ‘medium’ and ‘bad’ piles depending on how many nasties they have in them. Chuck the bad ones out, use up the medium ones and replace them with a better choice when you’ve finished, and hang onto the good ones. I’d say to be in the ‘good’ category they shouldn’t have any of the ingredients on the hit list.

Perfume, parfum or fragrance is a tricky one – generally it’s a pretty safe bet that this refers to synthetic perfume but sometimes (like with Lush products) it’s referring to essential oils that are added for their aroma. If in doubt, exercise caution! Generally speaking, the easiest areas in which green your beauty routine are shower gel, bath and body oils, body moisturizers and facial care products. Hair care, toothpaste and deodorant are a little harder but it’s definitely worth persevering until you find the right ones for you!

What is your favorite travel destination in Australia?
I would have to say the Queensland hinterland. Springbrook Falls, where you can walk behind an amazing waterfall, absolutely blew me away. Stunning!

Thanks to Kate for sharing her passion with us, I hope you’ll all check out Ikiagi and Peppermint Magazine!

Upon discovering Josie Maran’s makeup line and subsequently all of her green goodness I felt like I found a kindred spirit! The girl’s got IT, and I don’t just mean the IT that launched her into supermodel status at a young age. Josie’s vivacious lease on life and her attitude towards responsibly glamorous beauty is what makes her stand out.

As I pealed back the layers of Josie’s commitment to green initiatives (dutiful research in the name of blogging) I was impressed by her approach and the personality exuded in her endeavors. You can’t help but want to be her best friend, after all, her fledgling cosmetic line of her own namesake is an effort to create a luxurious line that is known for its love and respect of people and the planet.

Watch this tour of her eco-friendly home and learn how she grows, juices and composts! Plus, I love that she calls her chic green interior style "chic-ological".

All images are from Josie's blog, check her out!

“We live in a very old home from the 1920s. While it's incredibly well made, it certainly can't compete with the energy efficiency of new homes today, so we've made a few adjustments. We took out the hot water tank and installed a tankless system, which provides hot water only as it is needed. The unit kicks on when there is a demand for hot water, thus avoiding the standby heat losses associated with storage water heaters. And you'll never run out of hot water no matter how much it is used unlike the older tank systems.” "Our windows are original to the house and we definitely lose a lot of our cooling and heating through the wooden frames and thin glass. We applied a window tint that reflects up to 78% of the sun's heat that comes through the window. The tint is a huge help to keep us cool during the Texas summers! Also, my husband laid an extra 2 layers of insulation in the attic and the temperature in our house literally dropped overnight. And the best part is the drastic reduction in our electric bill!"

"We take our filled recycle bin to a nearby drop-off location since they have containers divided by materials. This makes it easy to know what you can and can not recycle and allows me to repurpose more than what the trucks will take."

Style:
“I wear a lot of vintage clothing. I have two dealers in Houston that I have on speed dial and they're always my first stop when I'm in of a dress! And besides, I always feel special when I have on a one-of-a-kind dress or statement piece that can't be found hanging on the racks at department stores. It's an easy way to be unique and keep pieces out of our landfill. And when you're done with something, be sure to donate it. One man's trash is another's treasure. Case in point: my vintage furniture and clothing!”
“Designers and artists are starting to go green and make items with a low impact on our environment; it's great! I think everyone is becoming more and more aware”

Green Advice:

“I most definitely subscribe to the thought that it's not about doing it all. But if everyone did something, the impact would be incredible. And it doesn't take a huge altering of lifestyle, just takes an extra smidgen of awareness.”

Thanks Courtney for the insight and inspiration!

(To see more of Courtney's house check out this feature at Beach Bungalow 8)