What do you do when your doctor tells you that you need to leave the industry you love, and the only one you’ve worked in?
Clare McGrowdie is a hair and make-up artist of more than 20 years, with experience in salons, editorial, film and red carpet – and she loved it. After seeking medical advice for persistent health issues, she was eventually given the diagnosis: multiple autoimmune and endocrine disorders.
The implications were devastating – her job was making her sick. The high-end, professional products she handled all day, every day comprised a combination of chemicals her body simply couldn’t take. The career she loved was causing inflamed skin and chronic fatigue so severe she couldn’t continue to do it.
So she went “clean” – and hit another setback. She set out to replace the luxury skin care and make-up she was accustomed to with safer versions. But there weren’t any.
“I had to find products that worked, but were natural and non-toxic.
“You’ve got health food store and make-your-own, and both of those didn’t appeal to me at all.
“It’s an incredibly confusing world too because a lot of things are marketed as natural, but actually they’re far from it.”
But it got her thinking. If, as a professional, she struggled to find safer cosmetics, imagine the challenge for those outside the industry.
So Bond Clean Beauty was conceived.
It all came down to the ingredients.
“Basically we don’t stock anything that can lead to a carcinogen, that can lead to any disruption, whether that’s endocrine, neurological, or organ toxicity. “So anything that helped create what I have, that’s off the list.”
She’s even narrowed it down to one list: Bond’s Baddies – what we don’t put on our skin.
She says she still has a long way to go, but the change has made a huge difference to her own skin and health.
“Wearing makeup is now just like wearing skincare, with a bit of pigment in it. A lot of them are really quite healing as well.”
So she now has first-hand, professionally documented evidence of the power of going natural.
“But even if you don’t have symptoms, even if you’re not sick, these products are still for you – they could contribute to your future. And they’re great products to use.”
And the products aren’t just good for us.
“Sustainability, where they source their products from, and their entire production is an important part of the process too.
“Their impact on the environment and whether they’re animal friendly and human friendly as well.
“One of them sources from the Amazonian rainforest. So they actually help upkeep that rainforest. Three per cent of their profits go to that.
Another is completely wind-powered.
“I’m hoping it’ll become the norm.”
Her biggest challenge has been public perception.
“It’s that false mindset of naturals don’t work.”
Ironically she says, the active ingredients in skincare are the natural ones, while the synthetics merely act as a carrier, provide fragrance, or prolong shelf life.
She also had no business experience.
“Had I had a little bit more awareness I probably wouldn’t have been so grandiose in my ideas.”
But naivete, she says, worked in her favour. Guilty, as we all can be, of overthinking, she says having to deal with things as they arise, worked better than being aware of them from the start.
She threw herself into it headfirst, rather than taking the cautious approach.
The positive people she has surrounded herself with though, have given her the support and knowledge to see it through.
“Particularly people having faith in me. People have been really excited in this idea, and they see the future in it.”
So she says she’s found her niche in life, effectively turning a distressing medical diagnosis into a positive career change.
“Being able to stay in the industry that I’m in, and have a job that’s a little bit more suited to my energy levels is great.”
Before Christmas she opened her first bricks and mortar store on Oxford St in Paddington and she has plenty of ideas for the future – like introducing special evenings featuring wellness and health experts. Watch this space.
And her advice to others?
“Have passion. Find something that you really love.”
If she didn’t have that, she wouldn’t be able to do what she does.
“Find mentors, people who can help you and support you.”
And what does she want women to know about beauty?
"Listen to your skin. Work with it and don’t get stuck on one product.
And find your own way.
“It’s not as daunting as a lot of people think it is. There are no rules.
"They’re just guidelines, it’s a creative industry.
It’s all about having a play yourself," she says.
"Even if you don’t have symptoms, even if you’re not sick, these products are still for you – they could contribute to your future." – Hanna Thomas
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