Organic Spa talks toxin-free beauty with Noreen Diani, founder of The Organic Face
Noreen Diani, founder of The Organic Face, has spent a lot of time combing vanity cabinets and taken on the role as a self-admitted “mad scientist” for her new line of toxin-free cosmetics. “My mother was a makeup artist,” says Diani. “I used to travel with her and watch her transform ordinary women into picture-perfect magazine models. I was so fascinated with it that I chose it for my career.”
Diani spent 18 years in the makeup industry. After a while, a bout with a series of undiagnosed ailments (from fatigue and blurred vision, to rapid heart rate and migraines), jumpstarted her passion to create her own company.
“I had gotten sick, and I didn’t know what was wrong with me,” says Diani, a Staten Island, NY, native. “I went to several doctors, and had tests. Conventional medicine couldn’t find anything wrong. They blamed it on stress, but I thought ‘Maybe it’s something I’m surrounding myself with?’ I started to look up ingredients, and educated myself. When I was finished, I was completely horrified. I wasn’t a chemical-conscious person, I didn’t live an organic lifestyle, but I decided to try to find something to replace my kit with that was completely chemical-free.”
Her one-year-old vegan and cruelty-free line served as a sponsor for Mercedes-Benz New York Fashion Week 2015 at Lincoln Center, as well as Los Angeles Fashion Week 2015 at The Taglyan Complex. Aside from making women look magazine-ready, Diani is passionate about education: “The average woman doesn’t realize she uses 12 products a day, between her hair products and toothpaste and deodorant, and there are over 500 toxic chemicals in these products that they’re exposing themselves to. Over time those chemicals build up in the body and create symptoms,” says Diani. “We’re all about educating women and I wanted to create something that they could feel safe using, or even for their children to get hold of.”
Here, Diani lets us in on some of her secrets.
What are some of the harmful chemicals you’ve found in cosmetics?
Propylene glycol (a derivative of anti-freeze) and parabens, hormone disruptors that may cause cancer. Tripolin, found in lipsticks and lip glosses, is used to clean hospitals, and it’s also in toothpaste. The lake-dyes (FD&C and D&C) are really bad for you as well, and can be cancer-causing.
Your idea for The Organic Face?
I had severe allergies and very sensitive skin. I went from having perfect skin to my skin being a complete mess. In my industry, my skin needs to be flawless. I started buying fair market trade organic bases and being a scientist in the kitchen. It took me two years to really come up with formulations that worked. And, I became my own study.
Your dream for the brand?
I want it to be a brand that every woman has in her makeup cabinet or drawer, that she can feel confident is healthy for her. I’m a risk-taker and I don’t want to give up. I want women to know they have a clean product that they are putting on their bodies.
What’s your advice for skeptics?
I tell them to let me do their makeup and they can see for themselves. Just because it’s organic, doesn’t mean it’s not a good product. It can be sexy and it can be edgy, and women can get that reward of looking beautiful.
Your favorite part about what you do?
I get to make women look and feel beautiful.
Explore Diani’s all-natural products at theorganicface.net