Ariana Whittingham Interviews Whitney Hartman for Ecocious

Whitney Hartman is a friend of mine and the only person allowed near my face with a pair of tweezers for the past 5 years… She is, hands down, the best brow specialist I have come ever crossed paths with and my brows (and face) wouldn’t be the same without her!

 

Whitney’s talent has accrued from being a beauty therapist in the industry for the past thirteen years. Her journey started with studying makeup in the States, where she first specialised in editorial and bridal makeup. She began working, managing salons and spas earlier in her career before the natural transition into makeup. At Mecca she developed experience as a skin specialist and even coordinated brand events whilst also working freelance for select shoots and bridal bookings, a quick skim through her instagram @whitneyhartmann and you will find many familiar faces she has worked her magic on. As Whitney continued on her craft she noticed her attention being drawn to brows and skin. Many of her clients presented with “compromised brows” and voiced they were not happy with the shape and felt their brows were disappearing after years of over tweezing - Whitneys inner voice spoke up as she felt drawn to solving this issue. She honoured her desire to the cause and devoted additional training and education into learning how to restore an eyebrow and became a TrueBrow Specialist.

 

Many days spent in her studio restoring natural brows later was when she truly fell in love with embracing your natural beauty. Whitney has had her natural brow studio for the last 7 years and is still just as passionate as she started. In 2021 an additional new venture was birthed (alongside her bff & co-founder Mandi) The Clean Swap Box is a seasonal, sustainable clean beauty subscription box which supports female founded brands! I have talked about them on my instagram as I absolutely love these women and what they are doing and couldn’t be more proud of their new business. With all of her knowledge and experience I HAD to steal a bit of Whitney’s time to share some clean beauty wisdom with you all, enjoy!

 

Ariana: As a beauty expert please share why only using clean products is your preference? 

Over the 13 years I have been in the beauty industry I have tried it all! I have always been an ingredient junkie, but when it came to skincare my focus was always on the results, key active ingredients and the technology in the products I was working with, not so much the "extras" that you find in many of the products.  

Years ago, I was gifted an amazing book called the guide to green beauty and that's where my perspective really changed. I found myself shocked at the amount of toxic chemicals that are put into our personal care products and the fact that these ingredients are actually approved even though there is research showing that some of these common ingredients cause and contribute to a whole range of health concerns.

I began reading the labels of everything I had in my bathroom cabinet and realising I was using an insane amount of chemicals on my skin (the largest organ in your body) every single day. I had spent so much time and money on taking good quality supplements and eating well but what I was putting on my skin was literally counteracting all my hard work. So, I decided it was time to start making the switch.

In the past 5 years the choices we have available with clean and green beauty has become incredible, which has made it very easy for me to start swapping out the conventional brands I was using to healthier choices.

 

Ariana: How can we help consumers differentiate Clean Beauty vs. Clean Beauty imposters? ("greenwashing"). What are your tips or guidelines for customers to follow when looking for new products and brands?

Check your ingredients labels!

Most brands will have their "hero" ingredients on the front of the bottle, used to market their product, usually included in the name of the product itself... flip to the back of the bottle and if that hero ingredient isn't in the first five on that list then the amount of that ingredient is most likely under 1% - so your paying for the marketing, not so much the quality of the product or ingredients.

Know your nasties!

Our shared goal is to educate you and do the groundwork for you so you don't have to. We also have a list of no-no ingredients. It's so important to know the most common nasties you'll find in general skincare brands and once you know these if you see it on the label, don't buy it!

Shop from trusted stores like ecocious.com.au OR do your own research!

It's smart to go and check out a brand's website and read the founder's story. When a brand has gone the extra mile, they love to share what they have been up to behind the scenes. 

A lot of brands nowadays are partnering with organisations like 1% for the planet, plant trees or sharing the stories of where they sustainable source their ingredients which is so amazing. 

Shoppers are becoming a lot more invested in where they spend their money and a lot of brands have had to up their game and start showing efforts to becoming more sustainable and "cleaner" or "greener" in their practices, however there are still a lot of questionable brands out there so do your research!

 

Ariana: Right now, sustainable materials are equally more expensive and less accessible than the wasteful alternative. What options would you suggest new brands consider?

As a business you want to do the best you can where you can. This is something we really strive to do where possible and there are so many great companies who are providing more eco friendly and sustainable options.

We love No issue for stickers, tape and tissue paper.

Mailer boxes can be made from recycled and fsc standard materials. This is really important to consider and tackle, as we know so much gets thrown in the bin and being a "clean beauty" or "green beauty" brand you don't want to add to the enormous amount of plastics that a lot of online companies still use.

  

Ariana: What does sustainability mean to you? What advice would you like to share with our readers as they deepen their own sustainable lifestyle? 

Well for me, I want quality of life in the future and the only way we can do that is if we take care of our home, today. I would like my kids, and their kids to have a beautiful planet to grow up on just like I did and all the future generations to come. 

Sustainability is the only way to be sure that is an option. Switching to cleaner skincare is a great way to start because your looking after your own health and wellbeing, but also what you're washing off your face everyday goes down the drain and into the waterways, swapping to clean skincare won't be poisoning our beautiful oceans. 

Most importantly, where and who you purchase products from is important.

Do they use sustainably sourced ingredients?

Are they sending you products wrapt in bubble wrap and unnecessary plastics?

You have a choice in where you put your money and who you support.

The industry will change when people gravitate towards supporting ethical brands. 

 

Find more from Whitney at @whitneyhartmann