I just wanted to say a huge thank you to those who participated in our naming contest on Facebook and here on our blog. We have chosen the winners and they are:

• Tangomint by Kristi Mason for MB11
• Raspberry Pi by Donna Holbrook for 216 
• Gemazing by Lissa Lynne for 215

Thank you again, everyone, for participating. We hope it was as fun for you as for us and be sure to stay tuned because we will be having another naming contest for some new lipsticks in the future 💋

Ashley

Help us give our new gloss a name. To enter simply leave your name suggestions in the comments of this photo. PLEASE only leave ONE name per comment. You are welcome to suggest as many names as you’d like but please post them in individual comments. Comments with more than one name suggestion won’t be counted. If we choose a name that has been suggested multiple times we will choose the one who said it first. We will close the contest at the end of the day and the chosen name will be announced Monday.  The chosen name will win $100 in Red Apple Lipstick store credit. ☀️

UPDATE: We’re no longer taking name suggestions for Day #3. We will announce the winners from all three days tomorrow. Thank you all for your suggestions <3 PLEASE NOTE THAT SUGGESTIONS MADE AFTER CLOSING WILL NOT BE COUNTED. Thank you. 

Ashley

Help us give our new gloss a name. To enter simply leave your name suggestions in the comments of this photo. PLEASE only leave ONE name per comment. You are welcome to suggest as many names as you’d like but please post them in individual comments. Comments with more than one name suggestion won’t be counted. If we choose a name that has been suggested multiple times we will choose the one who said it first. We will close the contest at the end of the day and the chosen name will be announced Monday.  The chosen name will win $100 in Red Apple Lipstick store credit. ☀️

UPDATE: We’re no longer taking name suggestions for Day #2. We will announce the winners from all three days Monday. Thank you all for your suggestions and stay tuned for the final day of the naming contest tomorrow <3 PLEASE NOTE THAT SUGGESTIONS MADE AFTER CLOSING WILL NOT BE COUNTED. Thank you. 

Ashley

*CLOSED* Help us give our new gloss a name. To enter simply leave your name suggestions in the comments of this photo. PLEASE only leave ONE name per comment. You are welcome to suggest as many names as you’d like but please post them in individual comments. Comments with more than one name suggestion won’t be counted. If we choose a name that has been suggested multiple times we will choose the one who said it first. We will close the contest at the end of the day and the chosen name will be announced Monday.  The chosen name will win $100 in Red Apple Lipstick store credit.  ☀️ *CLOSED*

 
UPDATE: Day #1 is over. Day #2 will start tomorrow and winners from all three days will be announced Monday. Thank you. 
 

Ashley

Hey Red Apple Girls,

We’re releasing three new glosses for summer 2017 and need your help in giving them names 😊

NAMING CONTEST RULES AND IMPORTANT INFO:

Each day starting June 9th until the 11th we’ll post a photo of a new lipgloss color. To enter simply leave your name suggestions in the comments of each photo. PLEASE only leave ONE name per comment. You are welcome to suggest as many names as you’d like but please post them in individual comments. Comments with more than one name suggestion won’t be counted. If we choose a name that has been suggested multiple times we will choose the one who said it first. We will close the contest at the end of each day and the chosen names will be announced Monday. We’ll be giving away $100 in Red Apple Lipstick store credit to the chosen names. PLEASE DO NOT LEAVE YOUR SUGGESTIONS HERE AS THEY WON’T BE COUNTED. 

Have fun, enjoy the creative process and I look forward to going through your suggestions 💙

Ashley

Hello Red Apple Girls, In this post, we’ll be discussing reviews. Can you trust them?

The answer to this question is yes and no. When someone writes a review they are only sharing about their experience. It doesn’t mean that you, as an individual will have the same results. You could have the same skin color, hair color, eye color, skin type, issues, etc. and you might have a different experience in using a product even if it has the best ratings. This is because you are unique and different. So if a product doesn’t work for you, it doesn’t mean that the reviews are false. It just means that the product didn’t work for you and that’s ok. 

Also, keep in mind that not everyone writes a review. I would say that a good percentage of people don’t like to write bad reviews (myself included). Especially about a company that they love. Instead, they’ll message or call the company to discuss the issue and have things resolved privately. So just because you don’t see bad reviews doesn’t mean that they’re not there. This does mean that you’re not going to see all the feedback a company gets. 

There can also be issues with some companies only approving the good reviews.  I can say that we’re not one of those companies. We get bad reviews occasionally and I see it as a good thing. We need honest feedback so we know what is and what’s not working. Yes, we love hearing people say that they love our products but we also need to hear the not so good stuff as well. 

I’d like to encourage you to write about your experiences in using our products. You can also earn rewards points for doing so. Learn more about that by clicking here. Even if what you have to say isn’t good please know we appreciate your honesty. I know other customers do too. If you ever have an issue absolutely call or email us though so it gets resolved quicker. This is a relationship of sorts and open communication is vital. We won’t know there’s an issue unless you communicate with us. 

Bottom line is that the only way to know if a product works for you is to try it. Online reviews will only give you a glimpse into a product or brand. I will also mention that because we value your time, know you work hard, and money doesn’t grow on trees we offer a 6-month return policy. This means that when you try a product of ours, you are covered. If for whatever reason things don’t work out, go to our returns page, print out the form and send the product back to us for a refund or an exchange. 

Now, let me ask you, do you find online reviews helpful? Why or why not.  Thank you all for your love and support and for taking the time to read this. I appreciate it 💙

Ashley 

Hello Red Apple Girls, this blog post is going to be a little different. I recently had my 25th birthday and have been reflecting A LOT. So I thought I’d share twenty-five life lessons I’ve learned these past twenty-five years. I’m so grateful for this blessed life and I’m looking forward to what the future holds. 

1. “Hey” and I’m hungry/thirsty are not proper ways to greet someone (Thank you, Dad, for that one. He used to say ” Hey is for horses” and “Hi, hungry.” When I greeted him like that 😂”. 

2. DO NOT eat mushrooms in the backyard…they are not the same as the ones served in Grandmas salads that you love so much.

3. Life Isn’t fair.

4. People will disappoint you.

5. Start saving money early. Every penny counts.

6. You’ll get curve balls in life but always keep going.

7. Whatever you do don’t get yourself into debt.

8. If you can’t afford something then you shouldn’t be buying it.

9. You can be kind to people and serve others without being a doormat. 

10. Question things but don’t be paranoid.

11. Work hard. 

12. Explore the world around you.

13. If someone gives you a compliment don’t reject it. They are giving you a gift.

14. Use your artistic talents.

15. You become like the company you keep.

16. Sometimes you need family to help keep you in check and call you out on your BS. 

17. If you can’t take care of your skin you shouldn’t be wearing makeup (Always wash your face!). 

18. If you have a problem with someone talk to them directly. 

19. It’s ok if someone doesn’t like you. It’s impossible to make everyone happy and with some people, you could be as close to perfect as humanly possible and they’ll still find something they don’t like about you. It’s not your problem. 

20. Relax and go with the flow more. You don’t always need to have a plan. 

21. Things get better.

22. It’s ok to say no and set boundaries. 

23. The key to aging gracefully is to not smoke or drink (courtesy of Great Grandma Teague).

24. Once you sit, that’s it. In other words, don’t stop being active. Exercise your body, mind, and spirit. ( first part courtesy of Great Grandma Billy). 

25. If you are looking for the bad in people or things you will find it. The opposite is also true. 

Thank you all for taking the time to ready this. Now, I would love to know what has been the best life lesson you’ve ever learned or what advice would you give to your younger self? 

Ashley 

Happy Earth Day Red Apple Girls,

In this blog post, I’m going to share with you three ways you can help to reduce waste when it comes to cosmetics.

 1. Refills– Having a refillable palette means you can purchase the shadows you like and can continue to use the same palette while purchasing new shadows when you need to.

2. Repurpose– We’ve all purchased something that we ended up not liking or didn’t work for us. If you are not able to pass it along to someone else I’d like to encourage you to see if you can find another purpose for the item. Often I will end up mixing a lipstick I don’t like with one I love and it creates a beautiful, magical and unique blend. We do have a 6-month return policy though so please don’t ever hesitate to message us if something just does not work. You should be happy with your purchases.

3. Recycling Or Trade In Programs– Look for recycling and trade-in programs. While we don’t have a recycling program ourselves we do have a trade in program. If you send us your old makeup with the trade in form you can exchange them for a discounted price on our products. Click here to go to our trade in page and learn more.

I’m sure there are plenty of other ways to reduce waste with makeup and I’d love to hear your suggestions. Also, I’d like to know in what ways you think we can do better in regards to being more eco-friendly. There is always room for improvement and without feedback, we won’t know what you need or want 💙 💚

Ashley

As people, I believe we are naturally inquisitive. We desire to question things and for the most part, I think this is great! Always questioning things and people though can start to get overwhelming and may make you feel paranoid. This is how I started to feel anyway. My parents taught me at a young age to question everything but there just came a point where it was too much! I think as with most things in life there needs to be balance and faith. In this blog post, I’d like to discuss the idea of finding the good and finding the bad in things particularly when it comes to ingredients.

Being the person who answers customer service questions, I get asked about ingredients all the time. There is so much information out there that things start to get muddled and confusing so of course, people have questions. Most of the time the questions I get are in regards to whether a particular ingredient is “safe” or not. This can be difficult to answer because there are many factors involved so really all I can give is a perspective and generalized answer. I believe that the following are just a few things to consider: 

-where a particular ingredient is sourced from

-how an ingredient is sourced 

-how an ingredient is made 

-the chemistry of your own body

-the state of your current health 

-the chemical makeup of a particular ingredient 

-how the ingredient will be used and what it’s purpose is 

-what other ingredients are being used along with the ingredient in question 

-what percentage of an ingredient will be used 

-how often will you use the product containing the ingredient

-how easily can your body detox or flush out an ingredient 

-does the ingredient linger in the body for an extended period of time 

As you can see it’s complicated. There are of course the common knowledge things like Lead that have been studied over and over again to show it’s negative effects on the body. So how does a person decide what ingredients they’ll use and which ones they won’t? Really it comes down to the individual to do their own research. Don’t do research just to find what you want to hear but look for the good and look for the bad and make a well-rounded, well-researched decision for yourself. Also, listen to your gut instincts because you will often find that for every negative thing you’ll find a positive. For every person that says something is good for you, there will be another that says it’s not. That’s just life. Everyone has an opinion or different conclusion. So you need to decide for yourself what is best for you and your body in this particular time and place in your life. Along the way, you may change your mind, and that’s ok. 

As an example, one thing I get asked about is Titanium Dioxide. I’ve looked into it myself and from what I understand the potential concern comes when this particular ingredient is inhaled from products such as loose mineral makeup and aerosol spray on sunscreens. Now maybe it’s true, maybe it’s not. For myself, I’m ok with it being in my makeup because I don’t wear it every day. I’m even ok with it in my loose powder foundation because I use a sponge to apply it vs a makeup brush. This may shock you but I also never wear sunscreen so the spray on sunscreen isn’t a concern for me either.  

Now you might be wondering why I don’t wear sunscreen when dermatologists and estheticians say you must do so to avoid skin cancer and aging. This wasn’t a decision I made from research. Honestly, it just never sat right with me to cover my entire body with sunscreen (even the more natural kinds) every day, all the time. To be clear I’m not saying don’t wear sunscreen. I think if you are going to be outside for a long time, there’s not another way to shade yourself or protect yourself from the sun and it’s just a once in awhile thing then yes, you should probably wear sunscreen. Generally, though, I believe that anything in excess can be toxic for you. This includes natural things. When something is used too much or too often I believe it can become toxic for you and your body may even start rejecting it. I’m assuming this is possibly part of the reason why products can stop working over time. 

Raise your hand if you’ve ever purchased something that someone else recommended and it didn’t work for you *BOTH HANDS RAISED* This is simply because they are not you. The chemical makeup of your body is unique and special so you have to find what products and ingredients work best for you. It’s a fun and exciting process of discovery. So in conclusion, I would like to encourage you to take the time to do your own research and make decisions for yourself. Don’t just take anyone’s word for it. You know your body better than anyone else so listen to it. Also, I’d like to encourage you to take it easy and not stress over ingredients too much because it really can become overwhelming and from my own experience it just does more harm than good. It’s not about being on a witch hunt to find the bad ingredients, condemning brands or people who use ingredients or products that you don’t like it’s more about the journey and discovery of finding what works best for you and your body. 

Ashley 

PS. One thing that I’ve found to be really helpful is making lists of ingredients I’m ok with and then also list ingredients I will absolutely not use. You might try doing this. I’ve found it to help give me some clarity.