About

20+ years in the skin care and beauty field
Makeup Artist ~ Esthetician ~ Formulator
Experienced Print Contributor, Beauty Copywriter, Editor and Blogger

A warm welcome to you! My name is Karley and I started this blog back in 2007. Chic and Green launched in July of 2007 and became The Beauty Blogger on March 1, 2015.

Makeup Artist/ Skin Therapist

I have spent more than two decades in the cosmetics and skin care industry, dating back to started a Mary Kay business in my dorm at the age of 19. Soon after, I was working for Lancome as a weekend freelancer while in college. My first full-time job after college was as Clarins Counter Manager. Brands I have worked with include Estee Lauder, Clinique and Laura Mercier. I have continued to work in this industry in a freelance capacity, most recently for Cargo Cosmetics as a regional educator and makeup artist and educating about skin care for Exuviance (NeoStrata) at ULTA stores across Western New York. I have also served as a Brand Ambassador (Passionista) for the Estee Lauder company Prescriptives.

Writing/Press

An expert in the beauty field and award-winning beauty blogger, I have worked as a print magazine beauty editor, contributing writer, and more. I have penned hundreds of beauty-related articles and my work has appeared in publications such a USA TODAY. I have been interviewed by Canadian Living as an expert in my field and have been featured in Green Mom Magazine, the Democrat and Chronicle, Daily Messenger and more.


Actress Alicia Silverstone has mentioned Chic and Green on the popular website The Kind Life, and the blog has been featured as part of the Today Show blog network and former MSNBC Going Green Network.

While my kids were little, my "day job" was freelancing for beauty and skin care brands writing ad copy, company blogs, newsletters, press releases and site content. I continue to write on a limited basis for beauty and skin care brands, including Seed Body Care.

An eco-beauty nerd (for a time)

In 2005, I took a major interest in alternative health and wellness. My dad had just died at 56 of pancreatic cancer, I had two babies at home, and I began fearing that the ingredients I was using could make us sick.  I spent several hundred hours of online coursework in the field of aromatherapy and became a certified aromatherapist. Additionally, I completed studies in Holistic and Clinical Aromatherapy, Botanical Medicine, Traditional Chinese Medicine, and Integrative Therapies and Healing Practices, taking courses through University of Minnesota's Center for Spirituality and Healing.

I went hardcore, I suppose, you'd say. I ONLY looked to the EWG as my main source of info. I left fear trick me into being almost alarmist about ingredients. When you write professionally, though, facts are a must. You cannot turn in an article without fact-checking it (or at least you shouldn't) and you need to be sure that the sources you are using are unbiased, legitimate sources with sound facts behind them. Bloggers can say ANYTHING they want. Anything. They do not have to fact check. They do not have to quote people other than Dr. Mercola, the Food Babe or David Avocado Wolfe, and that is where the natural beauty blogs have gone -- fear over facts. I used to be part of the probem.

I think that when I started doing print work, that light bulb went off and fact-based writer self had a heart to heart with "green mom blogger" self -- I would NEVER turn in an article with statements based off of internet memes. No. I do research. I look at double blind studies. I look for peer-reviewed articles. I look at the science, not the innuendo.

My whole blog was founded on this fear trap I had slipped into. Thankfully, I woke up. 

Don't get me wrong. I am still an avid label reader. I look for paraben free products. I don't like artificial fragrance. However, I am much more balanced. Blog posts do not make claims about ingredients without SCIENCE.

My Passion for the Industry

I founded this blog in 2007 to share my passion for beauty and skin care products. I combine research, as well as expertise and training in esthetics, the skin care use of essential oils, makeup artistry and skin care formulation for my articles.

My own line of skin care, which I crafted until 2009, was featured in publications such as Martha Stewart Whole Living (Body + Soul) and made an appearance in celebrity swag bags at the Blue Planet Film Festival. It was recognized by the CCIC as an official Leaping Bunny certified cruelty-free company.

In 2015, Chic and Green became The Beauty Blogger. Same girl at the keyboard. Same obsession with ingredients and products --but with a much wider focus.

It all started with a mom with two babies and a desperate need for "me time" -- that outlet was starting this blog. Here we are, now 9 years into this blog. I am a magazine beauty writer, with an emphasis on researching skin care ingredients. I love that I can write about what I love and that it is my profession.

I live in New York with my husband, two sons, and our spoiled little puppy.