By Lindsay Garric Special to OnMilwaukee.com Published Apr 13, 2015 at 6:36 PM

This is what happens when someone who writes a blog "with a polished finger on the pulse of beauty, fashion, fitness and nutrition trends" binge watches the first season of "Lost." While everyone else is asks, "Are they all really dead?" or "Are those polar bears aliens?" I ponder how the stranded vagabonds maintain that perfectly beachy hair, why some are not leaner from the imposed foraged diet, how some still have silky legs and clean shaven underarms and where I can get a pair of those cargo pants?

Really, "Lost" has verified that if I was stranded on an island and could bring only one item, it would be a razor. But, in a bigger sense, "Lost" has stimulated my fantasies about a live-off-the-land, minimal footprint lifestyle – minus the homicidal supernatural threats and non-option of retreating back to civilization.

There is an undeniable "look" that coincides with the eco-living trend that has evolved over the past decade or so since "Lost" debuted. I’m intrigued with how choices for the comforts and luxuries of a more aesthetic vein fit in to this neo-hippie existence, since products still foster this minimalist ideal and often bolster natural beauty.

I’ve always been fascinated with beauty and health rituals, the products and fashions that go with them; it’s what motivated this blog at its inception back in 2009. Skin care, outfits, health food, natural remedies, cosmetics, fitness regimes and youth preserving contraptions – I love it all. But, lately – in the last year or so I’ve been making an effort to pare down my personal routine, to minimize product consumption and to continue to seek out the least toxic, most natural items. I’m consciously choosing the "Lost" beauty regime instead of being forced into it.

Part of what has flowed from this is that I wear much less makeup in my everyday life. I call it a "makeup cleanse." My instinct to go barefaced as much as possible has been echoed by the emergence of the 5:2 Skin Diet that encourages going makeup free at least two days a week for younger looking and healthier skin. On these days my skin is quenched by a just a drop or two of Acure Organics Argan Oil and that’s it. I pop a little extra around my eyes and I’m done. Any left over on my hands goes through the ends of my hair on my head, which I have stopped cutting and coloring in hopes of a crown of grey curls.

I’m not quite ready to stop maintaining the rest of my body hair. That’s where I draw the "natural" line. But, just one topical product? That’s a victory for me!

If I’m going to be in the sun for more than 30 minutes, I add in one more necessity. Devita Solar Protective Moisturizer SPF 30 is the most effective non-chemical sun protection I’ve found. This was after a major fail in Maui testing many "natural" brands that left me with "Rorschach" sunburn for days. Please learn from my error here.

Natural sunscreen usually contains "physical" sun blocking agents that should not be completely rubbed in. They must sit on the skin to work, leaving a white film behind. Devita is translucent! And it really works! The "Lost" castaways must have had some Devita too, as most of them are very suspiciously lacking an overall scarlet hue.

On days I need a more "polished" look, this former makeup junkie is proud to say there are now only seven "natural" products I really use. (Before you jump at that number, please continue reading this blog and remember – I gave you a disclaimer above that I’m passionate about the products that support the natural beauty look. Plus, you just can’t completely kill an inner drag queen, even via natural means.)

Some days, all it takes is a pea-sized amount of Juice Beauty Stem Cellular Repair CC Cream with SPF 30 on the face, neck and décolleté to even out skin tone. If I need extra coverage, RMS Beauty "un" Cover up beneath the eyes and to camouflage any "spots" does the trick. To mimic the "Lost" dewy skin, I might add RMS Living Luminizer on the high points of the face.

If I’m really feeling tropical, a little RMS Buriti Bronzer gives me a light island glow. And if I want some drama, now I finish with a tiny dab of Living Libations MaidenFern Blushing Balm on the cheeks and lips for a subtle, healthy flush. Super glam days include these finishing steps: eyes are emphasized by filling in the brow with a tiny bit of whatever brow pencil is around and a couple coats of Tarte Gifted Amazonian Clay Smart Mascara.

Seven products is a major downsize from the cases full of makeup I utilize professionally and the countless items it used to take for me to give my own face a full beatdown. I even just apply the items listed above with my fingertips – not a single makeup brush is utilized! This is a big change from the tool kit I used to unfurl. Now, truly … on most days … I’m happy with just that argan oil on my skin. I’m not sure if it’s age, self-esteem, spiritual growth or what, but when I look in the mirror and see my totally natural face, I really love that person staring back at me now.

I actually like the way she looks better than the overly made up woman that wouldn’t dare leave the house without false lashes. I still like to contour and transform for special occasions, but during the process, I find myself asking why I need to do that. There is certainly an element of artistic self-expression for me. The medium is cosmetics and the canvas – a face. My overall personal style has always been a creative demonstration of who I am. But, lately I gaze at the clean mug of the woman reflected back at me in the privacy of my home and decide to let other people love that natural me as much as I do.

This embrace of natural beauty has also extended past my visage. Documentaries like "Tiny House," "Plastic Paradise," "Farmageddon" and "Food Chains" have further inspired my family and me to make the effort for a more natural, ecologically responsible lifestyle. We spend the extra money to buy locally, sustainably produced food. We’ve installed rain barrels and recycle. We conserve energy. We’re planning to build raised garden beds and a finally start a proper compost pile this summer.

TMI WARNING: I’ve even stopped using tampons and switched to the Diva Cup to cut down on my personal waste, which is also one of the most natural ways us women can embrace our body’s own amazing, self-cleansing mechanisms.

I make an effort to shop locally and buy "used" whenever possible on Craigslist, at consignment stores, Goodwill and garage sales. I have gotten way into what I think is a very earthy and ecologically savvy way to engage in my fashion habit – buying almost exclusively second hand and vintage. One of my favorite vendors and natural beauties walking the walk of this lifestyle is Hayley Young of Dayzea, an expertly curated collection of "handpicked vintage treasures."

Hayley, pictured above, is pretty much the epitome of the image of natural beauty. Her interpretation of the natural, neo-hippie lifestyle is reflected in her beautiful Instagram feed, as well.

I even find my physical fitness pursuits have taken a turn toward naturalism. I cannot stand to be suffocated by the walls of a gym any longer; instead I use the outdoors as my playground for my yoga practice, hikes, functional and primal body weight exercises, long walks and interval training. My meditation practice is an integral way for me to connect not only with myself, but also with the natural world. Meditation emphasizes a feeling of unity with everything around me. It deepens my responsibility to my surroundings.

The most important byproduct of all this natural living is how it has contributed to how I see my position in this universe. I have uncovered my true self physically and this has pushed my inner truth outwards from my core. I am able to see myself reflected in others and as part of my surroundings genuinely, confirming that I am connected to everything. This fascination with naturalism has led me to discovering who I am. I am no longer lost. I have found my authentic self – and that is the biggest natural beauty secret of all.

Lindsay Garric Special to OnMilwaukee.com

Lindsay Garric is a Milwaukee native who calls her favorite city home base for as long as her lifestyle will allow her. A hybrid of a makeup artist, esthetician, personal trainer and entrepreneur all rolled into a tattooed, dolled-up package, she has fantasies of being a big, bad rock star who lives in a house with a porch and a white picket fence, complete with small farm animals in a version of Milwaukee that has a tropical climate.

A mishmash of contradictions, colliding polar opposites and a dash of camp, her passion is for all pretty things and the products that go with it. From makeup to workouts, food to fashion, Lindsay has a polished finger on the pulse of beauty, fashion, fitness and nutrition trends and is super duper excited to share that and other randomness from her crazy, sexy, gypsy life with the readers of OnMilwaukee.com.