Today I am interviewing one of my good friends, Alyssa from Nomad Forest.   Alyssa has been blogging about simplified and intentional living over at Oak and Soul but has recently shifted her passion for natural beauty and sustainable fashion to create Nomad Forest and the gorgeous Nomad Forest Skincare.

1. What inspired you to create Nomad Forest?

Over the last couple of years, I’ve had a big shift in the way that I look at consumer products. I used to buy without thinking about where something came from or what might be in it and I gobbled up fast fashion and cheap makeup as much as the average girl.

At the time I didn’t know better, and as soon as I knew better, I started learning how to do better. The biggest thing supporting exploitative and harmful business practices is ignorance. The best way to combat that is to have educated consumers. People have no trouble understanding the importance of these issues, but there’s a learning curve involved with changing your shopping habits and choosing new products.

My own journey through this process was the real inspiration for Nomad Forest. It can be confusing and overwhelming at first, but it’s rewarding too, and I want to share that. I want more women to make natural skin care and sustainable fashion part of their lifestyle because it’s important. I want Nomad Forest to be a resource to help women do that, one step at a time.

2. Walk me through the step-by-step process that it took to create Nomad Forest. 

Omigosh the process started with absolutely no real vision for the future. The name popped into my head one night and I got out of bed to go buy the domain immediately. I knew I would do something with it, but I had no idea what that project would end up being.

I’d been working with my best friend on another project, Oak & Soul which was intended to be a ‘one-stop shop’ for all the things Robyn and I are interested in, (but) we cast the net a little too wide for one blog and felt we lacked focus.

So the question became, what are we MOST passionate about and what do we have the most to say about?

So Oak & Soul kept simplified, intentional living, and Nomad Forest got natural skin care and sustainable fashion. I want to give women that little push they need to start actually taking action when it comes to what they put on their bodies. Choosing topics to write about was easy. Then came building the bones of the website, getting out there on social media and researching and writing posts for launch.

Doing the skin care line came naturally.  I’ve been tinkering with recipes for my own use for years and my friends and family have been great about giving me the encouragement I needed to put it out there. So the foundation of the line existed, it was just a matter of putting it together into something saleable… figuring out packaging, designing labels, finalizing what would be included in the first launch of the line.

Oh, and creating some variety in the scent combinations for the perfume, lip balm and deodorant… that was a lot of fun!

3. Who are your biggest influences?

Joshua Becker of BecomingMinimalist.com has been a huge influence for me! Discovering minimalism was the first step in developing a more conscious lifestyle and Becoming Minimalist was the first ‘voice of minimalism’ that really resonated with me.

Kris Carr is a big one on the health and wellness side of things. She’s a huge advocate of a more natural lifestyle and clean eating and I look to her a lot as a resource for my own wellness journey.

Kristen Marr from LiveSimply.me is another big influence. Her natural beauty advice was a huge help when I was starting to evaluate my own routine, and her recipes were some of the first I tried when I started tinkering with homemade skin care products.

4. What does an average day look like for you? 

My days are pretty flexible, I work exclusively from home right now so I’m able to have full control over my schedule.

I generally start my day slow and spend the morning tending to household and homestead tasks. I love mucking around in my gardens and hanging out with our flock of backyard chickens. I also try to spend some time reading every morning. I always have a few books on the go.  Right now I’m reading ‘Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows’, ‘Big Magic: Creative living beyond fear’ and ‘Factory Girls: From village to city in a changing China’.

I tend to be most efficient in the afternoon and evening so that’s when I try to sit down and dig into blog and business stuff. I’m a big fan of batch tasking for efficiency.  So I tend to pick one or two tasks to spend a few hours on each. I may spend most of an afternoon scheduling social media posts and creating in the product kitchen. Or I’ll spend an afternoon outside by the chicken yard writing content and the evening working on product packaging.

I’ve really tried to move away from complicated to do lists and regimented schedules. I try to pick my day’s focus based on how I’m feeling that day. If I’m in an inspired mood I write, if I’m not I pick a business task. If I’m feeling creative I tinker with skin care recipes. Of course, it’s not always possible to do that, sometimes there are deadlines that need to be met, but for the most part, I try to let my own natural rhythm guide my day.

5. What are the most important implications when selecting your skin care products for Nomad Forest Skincare?

The most important thing to remember is that what goes ON your body, goes IN your body. Our skin care products get absorbed and end up in our blood stream.

I’m not an alarmist and I don’t claim that every ingredient with a hard to pronounce name is dangerous BUT we are giving ourselves a lot of exposures to a lot of different compounds and we don’t have a full understanding of the long term effects of that.

There is very little regulation about what goes into skincare and cosmetic products and some ingredients are known carcinogens. I think it’s really important to start questioning how often we expose ourselves to ingredients that can be detrimental to our health. There are alternatives, so to me, there’s no reason to take on the risk of long-term daily exposures to the mystery brews in conventional products.

6. What is your current beauty routine?

Very simple!  My face, body, and hand lotions are all homemade, as well as my lip balm, shaving cream, and deodorant. All those concoctions are primarily shea butter, coconut oil, beeswax and essential oils, just in varying amounts.

Soaps, shampoo and hair conditioner I still purchase but have switched to natural versions. I’ve been experimenting with different brands and I’ll be profiling some of my favorites on the blog.

I don’t wear much makeup and I don’t wear it often so this is another area I don’t DIY just yet. Right now I just have concealer, mascara and eyeliner fromThe Body Shop and that’s as much as I’ll wear if I’m getting dressed up.

Keep in mind, I didn’t realize how badly The Body Shop green washes when I purchased those products. I’ll use them until they expire, and then look for more natural, smaller companies to support instead. The journey toward more conscious consumption isn’t about becoming ‘perfect’ all at once, it’s about continually evaluating your habits and improving a step at a time.

Other products I haven’t sourced natural versions of are toothpaste and mouthwash. I do plan to change that and start experimenting with homemade, but it’s not something I’ve tried yet. For myself and for my readers, switching to natural is all about progress, not perfection, so I don’t beat myself up for not having explored that area yet. One step at a time 🙂

7. What’s your best advice for handling criticism?

The #1 thing would be to accept that you will NEVER please everybody and no matter how awesome or wonderful your ‘thing’ is, there will always be someone with something negative to say. The only way to avoid criticism is to never put yourself out there and that’s a terrible option!

Consider criticism unavoidable and know that it has nothing to do with your intrinsic value. Because for everyone out there hurling a negative remark, there are plenty of other people who think you, your message, your (venture is) pretty awesome.

8. What have been your biggest hurdles?  How did you overcome them?

I started having some health challenges last year that forced me to take a step back from my career as a veterinary assistant. The work became too physically demanding for me to manage. It was a tough time because I really didn’t know what else to do with myself.

In January I started blogging on Oak & Soul and I found I really enjoyed the process. Now I’m starting another blog and a business that I’m really proud of and excited about and I don’t think that would have happened if I had continued on my previous career path. So as much as there was a hurdle to deal with, it was a catalyst for something positive.

I still have to manage my energy and have to remind myself to slow down. On a rough day, I may spend more time in bed than being productive, but I’ve learned that that’s OK. It’s OK to listen to your body when it requires rest, and sometimes it’s necessary to leave a self-imposed to-do undone. That would have made me crazy before, but I’ve come to accept that I can’t hustle all the time and keeping my batteries fully charged has to be my #1 priority.

9. For someone completely new to the topic, what is your definition of sustainable and natural? What is it not?  

Really good question! And super important because there are so many companies out there claiming to be sustainable or natural when they’re not.

To me, sustainable fashion means actively trying to reduce the ecological footprint of the production process AND addressing any ethical concerns of the supply chain such as labour conditions in the manufacturing process. To me, it’s really key that we consider BOTH the environmental and the ethical aspects of the supply chain.

Also critical is a consideration of fashion lifespan. We can’t just consume our way into sustainability – buying less is just as important as making better purchasing decisions. So we need to stop this cycle of quick trend turnover where clothes are getting worn a handful of times before becoming out of date.

For skin care, natural means free from synthetic compounds and unnecessary filler ingredients. We need to set a new standard for what we allow into our bodies. Again, I’m not going to claim that every synthetic ingredient is harmful, but there’s too much we don’t know about what we’re putting on our skin. So for me, going natural means turning to plant and vegetable oils, seed and nut butters and beeswax.

Simple, effective, safe and straight from nature.

Now keep in mind these are my own definitions, but these are not regulated terms we’re talking about. Any cosmetic or clothing company can slap ‘natural’, ‘sustainable’, ‘ethically produced’, etc on their labels and it doesn’t necessarily mean a thing. Consumers are increasingly demanding green and eco-friendly options which are obviously a great thing BUT many companies sustainability claims are highly suspect.

We really have to be aware of ‘greenwashing’ of products to appear more eco-friendly than they truly are.

10. Along with sustainable fashion and natural beauty, you are also a big advocate for minimalism.  Describe to me how you first implemented minimalism into your lifestyle. Why was this important to you?

I got bitten by the “wanderlust bug” and desperately wanted to travel the world.  I found stories of people who had sold all their stuff and hit the road in search of adventure super inspiring and it really drove home the idea that stuff doesn’t satisfy the way that experiences satisfy. It changed my priorities and I started to see every dollar spent on clothes, home decor or electronics as money that could have been put towards traveling.

So my minimalism began as a lesson in frugality, but the bigger lesson was learning that none of those things that I gave up had actually enhanced my life. It was way more fulfilling to travel, see new places and have exciting experiences like going skydiving and bungee jumping, or traveling solo to South Africa for mountain climbing and shark diving. The revelation that experiences outweigh stuff every time was life changing and opened the door for me to seek out some really awesome adventures.

11. How would you convince a kid that he/she should care about wearing fast fashion and using mainstream beauty products?

I think it all comes down to education and awareness. Consumers of all ages have a tendency to see an item on a shelf and take it at face value. We tend to avoid the questions (1) Where did this come from? (2) Who made this? (3) What’s in this?

It’s important to encourage everyone to think a little further down the supply chain, and that’s the key to changing consumer habits overall, in any demographic.

I think kids are very aware of the environmental issues we’re dealing with now, and I think they are empathetic to issues like exploitation of factory workers. So if they know about the issues and understand that they can make a difference by supporting better business practices I’m optimistic they’d choose sustainable, ethically made products.

12. If a reader came to you and asked, “Alyssa, I want to live a fuller and happier life, what are the three most important pieces of advice you would give me?”, what would you say?

#1: Prioritize experiences over stuff, always, every time. Travel, see new places, learn about the world and different ways of life. Get a new perspective!  Travel is a great tool for self-development, solo travel even more so. I think everyone should try traveling solo at least once in their life because it can be so transformative.

#2: Don’t live your life in default mode. Don’t be afraid to make choices that are unconventional if they feel right for you. Just because a certain path (school, career, marriage, kids) is popular doesn’t mean it’s necessarily right for you.

#3: Find something you’re passionate about, something that you love. Cooking? Horseback riding? Eco-conservation? It doesn’t matter what it is, it just has to be something that lights you up. It doesn’t matter if it’s a career or a hobby or something that you just enjoy reading and thinking about… but find something. Explore your interests, try new things, whatever you need to do to find something that captures you – and then make sure to build room in your life for that thing!

13. After the launch of NomadForest.com, what are you looking forward to next?

I’ve been working so hard getting Nomad Forest ready to launch I’ve been neglecting my first baby, Oak & Soul. I’m looking forward to being able to get a little balance back and make sure that one project isn’t dominating over all others.

And I’m super excited to work on expanding the skin care line. I’m starting with a relatively simple product line but there are so many more creations I want to introduce!

14. If our readers only take one thing away from this interview, what would you like it to be?

That we as consumers need to keep asking “Where does that come from?”  We have to make a point to educate ourselves about what’s in our products. We need to shift our mindsets away from the high consumption, low price model that dominates the fashion industry and we need to stop slathering ourselves with chemicals day after day after day without thinking twice about it.

Informed and educated consumers can change the world – but we have to know and understand the issues at play.

If you would like to know more about Alyssa, head to her blog Nomad Forest.  If you are interested in sampling or purchasing from her Nomad Forest Skincare, we have a special coupon code!

Use the code: PerhapsKale15 for 15% OFF up until December 24th! 

Time to get on those Christmas gifts and stocking stuffers!!

Thanks for reading!