Natural Beauty Expert Jessa Blades On Makeup, Crystals, More

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Welcome to Beauty Diary: seven days of getting glam with an industry insider. From publicists to professional makeup artists, this a week in the life of someone who lives and breathes beauty.

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• I always try and walk through Ft. Greene Park on the way to the subway. Brightens up my day to walk through the trees and grass and remember to breathe.
• Huge order of herbs just arrived! Red clover, nettle, lavender, damiana, chamomile, oats and lot of others. So excited to blend and pack tea for tomorrow's David Lynch Foundation event.
• Making a huge batch of my Mountain Woman Tea to give the panelists at tomorrow's conference. It is a blend to help soothe and calm a frazzled nervous system—something we ladies deal with on a daily basis. The goal of the tea is to nurture and support from
• A much needed at home spa night: epsom salt and baking soda bath, an apple cider vinegar rinse for my hair, Kahina argon oil mud mask, dry brushing, Tahitan body oil, and a bit of muscle mend for my tired muscles.
• David Lynch Foundation hosted an amazing event: Women, Meditation and Stress. I got to attend the conference and do the makeup for the panelists: Candy Crowley, Lena Dunham, Pam Peeke, Rehana
• Some of the goodies that I used on the panelists. They all loved the remedies by H. Gillerman Organics and the toning mist by Kahina Giving Beauty.
• A pedicure treat at my favorite nail spot Tenoverten in Tribeca. Always hard to choose a color but I went with a dark green, channeling a sexy mermaid vibe.
• Heading to a birthday dinner at La Esquina, stopped at Opening Ceremony. Fell in love with their super cute Q-Tips. I probably need these in my kit.
• I've curated the apothecary & beauty section of the newly opened Caron Callahan shop at the Wythe Hotel. Today is my day in the shop. Michael from Field Apothecary stopped by to drop off an or
• This is me, trying on clothes in the shop. This is the Lauren Manoogian Capote Coat that I've been dreaming about. It has a hood AND pockets—perfect for travel. I might even want to sleep in in it. I must m
• I love moving around the items in the shop. This was one of my arrangements that I made that I was pretty proud of. Vintage Boro textile with the newest edition of The Travel Almanac, a
• Amazing makeup delivered! Loving the new mascara and makeup from Kjaer Weis. So hard to find a healthy mascara that works. And I am obsessed with their liptint in Romance. I wear it on my lips AND cheeks. The perfect color for fall, nice and bright
• Goodies from Hudson Made NY and Field Apothecary. Such amazing healing products coming out of the Hudson Valley. I'm pretty excited about supporting such awesome, local, small batch products with integrity.
• My kale, banana, date, yogurt, almond smoothie creation. I really don't like eating in the morning, but have no problem drinking things. This blender has changed my life by making it super fast and easy to blend up whatever frozen veggies/fruits I have in
• Here I am with my friend Obi of Juniper Ridge outside of their opening party at Fellow Barber. Obi is distilling some pine from California. It is unbelievable to expe
• My friend Odile and I spending time in the custom wooden outdoor shower they had created. This is a movie being projected on our faces. It smelled like the woods in there!
• I somehow twisted my ankle and am now sporting a very sexy ace bandage. I ran into my friend Victoria of Vega Jewelry and she pulled a crystal out of her pocket so that I can rest it on my ankle to heal it. Every
• My friend Cara and I are working on a natural dyeing project together. Today is flower bundling day and here she is looking adorable with all of her goodies for our project. I love the eucalyptus sticking out of
• After we spread the silk out, we added the dried and fresh plant material: hibiscus, safflower, eucalyptus, pokeberry (from my yard), calendula, and roses. I love using plants with healing properties to dye the fabric and then we will use the fabric for a
• The next step is steaming the rolled up silk over a pot of water.
• And after the steaming, all you have to do is shake out all of the plant material. And voila! A beautiful piece of dyed silk. SO simple. And so easy to clean up. I just have to walk the steamed flowers over to my compost pile.
• Meeting with the fabulous Jeralyn Gerba of the travel site Fathom. She suggested Mulberry and Vine for a meeting spot and I'm now obsessed with this place. So clean and pretty and the food is all super healthy and deli
• A morning stroll through the Ft. Greene Farmer's Market is my favorite way to start the weekend. Pumpkins are in!
• Up in Beacon, NY for a makeup job. First time ever I got to do makeup outside on a balcony, while overlooking a waterfall. Not a bad view and so soothing to hear the rushing water in the background while I was working.
• Arrived early for a friend's party. Just in time to help roll veggies summer rolls. Loved adding tons of fresh basil, cilantro and mint to mine. 
• The dinner party!
• Morning tea at Reynard at Wythe Hotel with my friend visiting from Portland, Maine and her 11 month old baby. I wanted another coffee but chose a Mt. Olympus flower tea instead. I've never tasted that herb before but it was delicious.
• While at the hotel I popped into the shop to deliver some more apothecary items. So excited to have curated the items for the shop and be able to feature such awesome brands like: Soapwalla,
• In my line of work, sometimes in between jobs, you have to hold your recently cleaned makeup brushes out the sunroof to dry.
• Finished my day with some sparkling Malvessa wine at Roman's (my neighborhood hang out and favorite restaurant in NYC). Geneva, a friend and server at Roman's, explained that this sparkling Malvasia wine is what fairy princesses drink. That description wo

This week, makeup artist, natural beauty expert, and herbalist Jessa Blades gave us a look into her busy—but balanced—life. Dedicated to all things natural, Jessa founded her own company, Blades Natural Beauty, with roots in simple routines, pure products, and expert advice. She also hand blends her own tea, runs an online shop, does fashion and celebrity makeup, and spreads her ten years of natural knowledge by consulting, contributing, and teaching. The girl has her fingers in a lot of pies.

A week with Jessa includes running upstate for a makeup job next to a waterfall, checking in on her curated shop at Caron Callahan within the Wythe Hotel, dying silk, healing a sprained ankle with a crystal, and doing Lena Dunham's makeup for a panel on meditation. That's just the tip of the iceberg—you'll need to click through her diary to believe what this chick packs into a week.

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· Blades Natural Beauty [Official Site]