Tata Harper Learning Event + Natural Beauty Tips

Tata Harper Resurfacing Mask was the very first product I bought to try and review for this blog many sleeps ago. 😉 When Tata herself came to Neiman Marcus Fort Worth at the end of June to teach about natural skincare, I couldn’t RSVP fast enough. I knew all her products were pregnancy safe and more natural, but I learned so much from her in the 2-hour session that I had to do a blog post on it all. My fingers were buzzing about typing notes into my phone dying to relay it all to you!

A few things that I loved about this event. First and foremost, Tata isn’t into sales. She says it herself. She even mentioned OTHER beauty brands, which I think speaks volumes. She didn’t push products, instead, she spoke about ingredients, the natural product movement, and studies. Her background is in industrial engineering, not sales, or even beauty. By her teaching about the natural beauty industry and not just pushing product, I felt like I was able to make such informed decisions on what I wanted to purchase for myself as this was a customer event. It worked because I left with quite the bag of product I bought! ha. You all know that I like to enjoy a gray area when it comes to products. I really enjoy a lot of natural beauty items and I also really enjoy some drugstore finds. When it comes to retinol, I think the brand you are using is more important than anything. Everyone has their own balance they like to create, but I thoroughly enjoyed learning how potent Tata’s products are. So often, one equates natural products to products that don’t work as well. And that should totally be removed from the narrative! Her products are made on her converted dairy farm in Vermont and then head straight to store shelves, so they aren’t sitting in a warehouse somewhere with active ingredients losing any amount of potency. But before I talk about her products, let’s talk about her background.

With her background in engineering, how did Tata Harper become THE Tata Harper we see at every luxury department store?

Tata’s stepfather was diagnosed with cancer and when she would take him to his appointments, doctors would say, “He should try a natural approach to products he uses on his skin.” She explained back then the only place to truly get natural products were apothecaries and that the natural movement was more about an environmental movement than efficacy. She would buy these expensive jars of products for herself as well and felt they never worked. So she’d head back to Neiman Marcus and buy other products she knew worked.

The other frustrating part she found was that when she would ask stores for natural skin care, they’d offer her items with “honey” or “rose“, but in those products that had honey or rose as an ingredient, there were 50 industrial chemicals mixed in. She joked, “We are not cars. Why do we want chemicals that are in cars on our face?” Besides, the industrial ingredients aren’t the active ingredients. They were added as a functional aspect of the formula. The preservatives, the emulsifiers to mix oil and water, the stabilizers for ph, the masking agents. So she started to focus on how to replace those PEG ingredients {pPolyethylene Glycol}.

She took her love of science with her old dairy farm and converted it into a factory to make her own products that focused on efficacy over sales. And she studied ingredients all over the world. She found that the Germans make the best natural preservatives with radish root. She found that Italy has these trees with tree sap that make the best ingredients in her other products. etc. She gets her ingredients from 64 countries as well as the farm they are all made on. Because everything is created in her factory in Vermont, the shelf life from production to your bathroom counter is extremely quick! When buying natural products, you do NOT want a shelf life of 5 years. That means the active ingredients have lost all potency since we are talking fresh products from the earth. That is where we can misconstrue natural products with products that don’t cause a change in your skin tone or texture.

For two hours over green tea and lemonades, Tata taught all about her line, this movement, and she helped break down the terms the “clean beauty industry” likes to so eloquently interchange. Of course, we know these terms, but having Tata re-express it in her elegant, yet no fuss manner was like getting tutored by the ultimate study guide. I feel like it really stayed in my head!

Remember, organic is a farming method for ingredients. You can have something be 100% natural that is grown inorganically. Clean beauty just refers to the movement. It’s all a relative standard. Think of it in terms of eating clean. For some, that means no Diet Cokes and less processed food, for others that means a 100% plant-based diet. When you see something that says “clean” it just means it has better ingredients and is making an effort! Non-toxic means there are no ingredients that are linked to diseases and natural means all ingredients are naturally derived. 

While all of that verbiage isn’t my wheelhouse as I don’t only promote clean beauty, having her break it down was really helpful for so I hope it is for you, too! Tata’s line is 100% natural, non-toxic and cruelty-free.

Here are 12 quick tips that Tata taught, so you can incorporate these while buying your skin care products. Some things we have talked about on COF and some are new, but her enforcing these skincare truths was so incredibly helpful!

  1. Oils are the most effective way to take out the bad parts of the skin: dirt, makeup, grime from pollution. This is why people reach for an oil cleanser when first double cleansing. It has nothing to do with people having dry skin.
  2. When double cleansing, you should never be using the same cleanser twice. It’s effective by using different products like an oil cleanser and then a clarifying cleanser.
  3. The top two causes of aging: the sun and pollution. When finding skin care items, make sure your ingredients are combating those factors!
  4. Our organs reset at night in our circadian rhythm which is why it’s important for your really powerful skincare products to go on in the evening. It’s easy to get tired and skimp on your routine, but if you can remember to do your skincare routine right before you cook dinner, do that so you don’t go to sleep having just used a makeup wipe.
  5. Exfoliate in the morning! If you don’t want to cleanse in the morning, don’t skimp on exfoliating. You want to remove those dead skin cells from your skin healing at night and be fresh-faced for the day. Tata applies her exfoliator in circular motions to get a nice white lather. Tata Tip: Her exfoliator won’t get super white on your face if you are super dehydrated, which is a sign to drink more water. Then, she applies her Resurfacing Mask OVER the foamed exfoliator. Let’s it sit for a bit, then removes. This gives you an insane post-facial glow and was one of the tricks we did in our self facials.
  6. Masks are medicine cabinet items. They shouldn’t be used in a routine, but more as medicine to treat what is going on.
  7. When shopping for skin care, if you struggle with breakouts you want clarifying items. If you struggle with blackheads, you want purifying items.
  8. When layering skin care items in your routine, you always go liquid to thickest. Oils always go lasts. Oils penetrate everything to get to your skin, but not everything can penetrate oil.
  9. Essence is always different than toner. Essence is the opposite and is a penetration enhancer. You’ll always apply your two most important anti-aging products after essence: eye cream & serum.
  10. Why use an eye cream if you could just put a serum around your eye? Serums don’t have high concentrations of anti-inflammatories or products that boost circulation. A lot of times you have dark circles from stagnant blood flow that needs to move. So when applying your eye cream, you really want to massage your eye. Tata applies her eye cream and massages her eye in a clockwise motion 5 times.
  11. Clinical tests in skin care subjects use a product ever 12 hours. So when applying your routine, use your serums twice a day. Even if you want to use two different serums like a vitamin c and an anti-aging, apply both just layer them.
  12. People that have oily skin need the same amount of moisturizer. Water in a moisturizer is different than oil. They produce more oil, not more hydration.

Here’s what I bought from Tata’s class to try!

I hope you enjoyed these tips she taught over her class as much as I did. If you want to try her line, this is a great set for $75 which features a ton of product.

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4 Comments

  1. Sounds like you had a blast at the event, Katey! I’m jealous! ❤️✨

    Charmaine Ng | Architecture & Lifestyle Blog
    http://charmainenyw.com

    Published 08 Jul 19Reply
  2. Misti wrote:

    You might want to NOT get skincare advice from an ex engineer. So many of these tips are wrong. You should actually NEVER exfoliate during the day because of sun exposure, drinking water has NOTHING to do with having dry skin since dry skin is lacking oil and doesn’t have that much to do with dehydrated skin either.

    Published 08 Jul 19Reply
    • Katey wrote:

      Hi Misti! I was just sharing her tips and what works for her line. Her exfoliator and products are made to be used in the morning. We can always be kind in our comments even if we disagree. Thank you for reading! xx, Katey

      Published 08 Jul 19Reply
  3. Marian Richards wrote:

    Loved this post!!!! My salon carries her products and I have always wondered about them!! So much fun seeing your post and review!!!

    Published 08 Jul 19Reply