Clean Beauty Crusader Cassandra McClure
We are incredibly excited this week to be introducing you to one of our dear friends - Cassandra McClure. She is a multi-hyphenated entrepreneur with a tremendous passion for clean and safe beauty. Her clean journey began when her health suffered due to the toxic ingredients in conventional products and she went on to make a huge shift to clean products. Through her experience, she has become an expert in the industry. She now has extensive knowledge about everything from clean beauty to house cleaning products.
Cassandra has single-handedly started many different ventures all with the universal aim of educating and inspiring people to lead safer, healthier lives with respect to the products they use in their daily lives. One of her first products was the Lash Binder, a false eyelash applicator that makes applying lashes easier, quicker, and much safer. For each Lash Binder that is sold, one is donated to a cancer patient who lost her lashes to chemotherapy. She is also the host of the No. 1 Clean Beauty podcast, founder of Clean Beauty Con, and brand owner of the Clean Beauty Kit, a subscription box for all things clean and safe.
Cassandra is another one of Mona’s quarantine friends. ‘She loves gifting. Her time and experience are her biggest gifts to her community and friends that she gives as much as she can.’
Here is the conversation we had with her this week.
Before all your clean beauty ventures, what did you do?
I was an award-winning makeup artist and published model. I was always savvy about making sure of being in the room. Whether it was center stage or behind the scenes, I was there making my presence known. That was incredibly important for me and still is to this day.
One instance I remember, for example, is there was an international Indie Beauty Conference where you had to pay almost $1000. With the flight tickets, hotel, and expenses everything added up to be quite a lot. So, I approached them in a different way. I told them I was already an indie content creator and asked them how I could help them. They were in need of a makeup artist and just like that I was backstage meeting up with everyone I wanted to. I’ve always thought out of the box and achieved my goals.
My roots were actually scrappy, working for free in the fierce, competitive environment of LA. I made sure to get by by using my strengths to my advantage.
2. For someone who is new to it, define clean beauty.
There is actually no universal definition for clean beauty and that can be controversial. Personally, clean beauty to me means no synthetic fragrances, sustainable packaging, and a conscious brand made in the USA. Those are my core principles for the products I use but it can be different for everyone. One of our ambassadors is allergic to Jojoba oil and that ingredient is everywhere now. To her clean beauty means jojoba-free products.
Being organic and cruelty-free is also very important to people now. The biggest trigger has been synthetic fragrances for me which is part of my story of going from a conventional makeup artist to a completely clean one.
3. Have you been able to convert your makeup kit to an entirely clean one?
Yes, a hundred percent! In fact, everything in my home from the candles to the cleaning products I use is clean and safe. Something really unfortunate I’ve learned from when women send me their products to evaluate for the Clean Beauty Kit, is that their claim of completely clean fragrance is not always true. More often than not I end up with a runny nose or irritated eyes, which I know are telltale signs that the fragrances are not actually safe.
It actually gets scary when you are not involved in the process of your products. That’s why I absolutely love USA-made products. It allows brand owners to know exactly what goes in their products and ensure a clean formula. I also admire brands like Mona Moon Naturals, for instance, that are so involved that they grow their own botanicals and are really hands-on with their products so that they know exactly what goes in their products. That makes a huge difference. Of course when you scale a business things change but you have to have those core principles intact.
4. What inspires you to keep up with so many different business ventures and how do you keep them all going?
Well, its funny because I struggled with that for a long time and actually brought it up to you. You had some great advice. I remember you assured me by saying my podcast was not going anywhere. It keeps getting great ratings and reviews as new people constantly discover and learn from it. It’s like a free educational online course almost - always available. We set up the Clean Beauty Con the same way where all the incredible knowledge from some incredible women of the clean beauty community is always available whether you attended or not. You can watch our past summits on our website and even Facebook if you wanted to.
I think I built everything strategically in a way that I have quality content available forever, whether in video or audio formats. Even the Clean Beauty Kit is a monthly subscription so that if you discover it today you can get a subscription or a custom box where I create boxes catered to your specific needs.
I don’t sleep as much as I probably should. I sleep pretty late and am up early ready to go, go, go. I don’t really have any hobbies because I am already really passionate and excited for all my ventures, making my job my most favorite thing. If I didn't have all these things going on I would probably get really bored and tired.
I would also be upset if I had to sit on my desk from 9 to 5. I love being creative whether it is creating content from my backyard or running my subscription business from my own home. All this keeps me going and always thinking ahead to the next thing.
I’ve never been afraid of throwing spaghetti at a wall and seeing what sticks. That is what I’ve always done and will always do. I just know when I keep getting boosts of energy from what I do that this is exactly what I want to keep doing.
5. Have you always had this ‘go-go-go’ mentality?
Yes, pretty much! I am always intentional with my time whether it is spending time on social media for work or spending time with a friend sipping wine. Both are different things which I consciously keep separate. It’s important for me to make time for every part of my life.
6. If someone wanted to begin making clean swaps, what are the three things they should start with?
I would say when it comes to beauty products, start with lip products like lip balm, lipstick, or lip gloss because you directly ingest those. For haircare, swap your shampoo and conditioner because they are easily absorbed through your scalp and into your bloodstream. Even body wash for that matter. You cover the largest organ of your body with that - your skin! The third would be the floor or carpet cleaner you use. If you walk through your house without any socks or slippers then the bottom of your feet absorb all those chemicals pretty quickly and easily.
For product discovery, I always send everyone to my kit. Yes, it’s my own subscription box but in terms of price you get over $200 dollars of value in products for just $49.99. We also have custom boxes available.
7. Where can everyone find you?
My website cassandramcclure.com has links to everything I do from my podcast to the Clean Beauty Kit.
You can also find me on Instagram @cassandramcclure.