Fashion and celebrity make up artist Suzy Gerstein is one of our favorite beauty experts. Not only because she's an extremely talented artist, a loving mother, wife and a happy soul, she's also a green beauty advocate. Gerstein shares with us her favorite beauty product destinations. 

AGB: Can you tell us how you got started as a make up artist?

SG: I went to a liberal arts university where I was an English and Spanish literature double ma­jor. They didn’t really know what to do with me when career resource day rolled around and I said ‘I want to be a makeup artist.’ But I always knew. It wasn’t a direct path to where I am today- is it ever? I got start­ed as a volunteer makeup artist at Dress for Success, a non-profit organization where I got to play with Bob­bi Brown makeup on a myriad of skin tones and meet some pretty incredible women. I think I was the first who held that position there thanks to a clever volun­teer coordinator, now my good friend Catherine, who watched me obsessing over the makeup and encour­aged me to apply it on the clients. That led to a meet­ing with Bobbi herself and a stint at a Madison Avenue salon. But I really got started in fashion when I met my mentor, Chris Colbeck, after cold-calling his agency and assisting him for several years on shoots. Chris was very generous with his knowledge and time. I also as­sisted Dick Page, Lisa Butler, Val Garlandand several other industry luminaries on shoots and at shows.

AGB: When did you begin to get interested in healthier make up choices?

SG: I have always been curious about more sustainable, non-toxic, green al­ternative beauty products, but I began to become more interested in really doing my research about healthier makeup choices when I was pregnant with my son, Harvey. The more I read the more I learned that many of these companies had such beautiful stories and real­ly care about giving back to the world around them.